Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.)

  “No way,” I murmured, forcing down a mouthful of noodles before I started degrading Tristan out-loud.

  Melinda, Daniel and I weren't Facebook people, we didn't like it. We didn't have anything against Facebook, it was the people on Facebook that we had a problem with. And, we didn't like to be tracked. It was a succubus and incubus thing. Sometimes, when things don't go according to plan and the subject of our demon remembers who we are, it’s not always pretty. They gather a curiosity for us and they end up adding us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. Social networking ended up being a no-go altogether. We preferred our feeds to be fresh, not something we'd already been with and tainted.

  “Anyway, ladies, as much as I would love to spend the night with two gorgeous babes, I have a date.” Noah grinned widely.

  Finally a new topic. “Oh yeah? Who with? Is it Samantha or Natasha?” I whispered their names seductively, ignoring that I was in a slump a few minutes ago.

  Noah was a player. Well, not as bad as Ryan, but he wasn't far off. He actually called it 'having fun until someone lasso's him into settling down'. Samantha, he and Natasha just had this weird love-triangle going on which I had no motivation in even explaining. There wasn't even a short side to it. It was too complicating to understand.

  “Actually, it's a new girl. Samantha and Natasha have gone away for the summer, and I already know they'll be off with other guys. I'm also thinking about settling down, you know, trying out the relationship thing.”

  “Oohh, it’s a love-square.” Melinda smirked and wagged her brows in my direction.

  I laughed for the first time today.

  Noah leaned forward and picked a piece of carrot out of my Chinese, causing me to slap his hand when he came back for more. “Aw really, Maya? I’m hurt you won’t share.”

  “And I’m hurt you haven’t added me to your list of fascinations,” I replied.

  He rested his elbows on the table, watching me with a glint in his dark brown eyes. “Trust me, if Tristan wasn't my best mate, you would be.”

  The mention of Tristan only killed my mood, but Noah didn’t notice. Instead, he leaned forward and pecked both Melinda and I on the cheek. “See you around.”

  What did he mean if Tristan wasn’t his best-mate? And what's up with guys saying 'I'll see you around'?

  I watched him leave, my confusion still burning in my brain. “Huh.”

  “Tell me about it,” Melinda said, “I can't believe Tristan took Blondie to Hawaii.”

  I was really starting to get back into my food, but she took my huh in a direction I wasn’t even directing it at. “I was talking about Noah.”

  “Oh,” she cringed, “sorry.”

  We were already on the subject now. “It is weird.”

  I could feel her relief from a mile away. She obviously wanted to rant about this. “I know right? What the hell has gotten into his head? He's completely gone crazy. He's officially mental. I swear, he's crazier than you, and that's saying something.”

  “Offended,” I stated, but way past the point of caring.

  “And then,” she continued, “he goes and makes the plot even more twisted by taking the one girl he could never understand on a trip to one of the best vacation places on this Earth. I'm telling you, something is going on—” her voice cut off. I thought it was the end, but then her eyes bugged out and she stayed that way for a few seconds, until I got impatient.

  “Melinda?” I snapped my fingers in front of her and she shook out of her trance.

  “Maya, you don't think...”

  What is she talking about? “What?”

  “You don't think that... Tori knows, do you?”

  She was really not getting to the point of this. “Know about what?”

  “About you and Tristan.”

  Oh. Oh! Shit. “But—”

  “It would explain a lot of things, Maya,” she interrupted, “it would explain why he was distant, why he was mad, and why he called it off. I think he finally told Tori, and this is his way of trying to get back on her good side. Taking her to Hawaii—it would make her forget about everything. If he added in nail and hair trips, it would be like you never existed to her.”

  “That's a harsh way to put it.”

  “It's the truth.”

  Unfortunately, it was. Nails and hair would distract Tori from starving children in Africa. It was why I hated the bitch. My stomach churned in annoyance with the sunken feeling of realization I just went into. My demon, she hated Tori, she despised her at first sight. My demon and I, we were meant to be.

  But I was distracting myself from the subject at hand. There was something more important going on right now. “My appetite has just disappeared, and that annoys me because I was so hungry before.”

  Eleven – A Lion Stalks Its Prey

  Jamie was fast asleep in her room which was a big relief. She would just sleep through what was happening two rooms away from her. Yeah, she was on the other side of the dorm, but you just never knew what could and couldn't be heard.

  The sounds of Tristan’s music played softly from my stereo. I wasn’t sure what song was playing, but judging by the slow strum of a guitar, soft sensual lyrics and the way Tristan kept pressing his lips on my skin, I didn’t care as long as he didn’t stop. Then again, if it put Tristan in this kind of mood, it would be nice to know what the song was… for you know, future references.

  “Do you know how much I love when you wear this bra?” Tristan smirked from under the covers. His chin rested just below my breasts, his blue eyes darkening to an almost deep color when I looked into them.

  “Why do you think I wear it when you're around?” I replied smugly. I knew how much he liked it. Actually, I wore it tonight for his twenty-first birthday, not knowing I was going to end up in bed with him. Thank fucking God Tori left. I was about to give her boyfriend a better present than she could give her hair.

  Tristan's hands slid over my hips and he fingered the fabric of the matching panties between his fingers. “These too?” His fingers were soft as they brushed along my skin. I wasn’t a huge fan of soft and gentle, but the way he gripped my hips always managed to balance it out.

  I had to admit, alcohol was a part of why we ended up here, but we weren't that drunk. I don't even need to get the demon out to tempt him, he does it all on his own. My demon circled around my stomach, causing flutters within me. She always got excited when Tristan was around. When he touches me… well that was a different story. She goes absolutely crazy. Like right now, I was refraining from turning this whole thing around and having my way with him.

  “Well I'm not going to go out with non-matching lingerie now, am I? I was hoping to get laid or something and I wanted them to get a good view.” I lifted my shoulders in a meaningless shrug.

  “It definitely worked.” He kept his eyes connected with mine as his lips pressed softly against the skin of my abdomen. “It worked very well.”

  The heat within me started to grow, and as much as I loved his lips on me, I wanted his lips to make their way right up to mine.

  “Tristan,” I murmured, shifting my body slightly under his weight. “You've been here for five minutes now, and not once has your lips kissed mine. Please, do hurry up. I'm going to get restless.”

  He chuckled softly against my flesh, his hands moving up from my hips to caress the skin over my ribcage. His lips finally came up and hovered over my own. “So dramatic and impatient.”

  My arms were moved above my head and his fingers threaded through mine. He was in a teasing mood tonight, which was what I loved about him. He gave me a taste of my own medicine, and it always sent a surge of want in me.

  My lips parted as he lowered his head, breathing the softest kiss along them. He was so close to me, and I attempted to close the distance fully. The slightest touch of his lips against mine caused me to inch forward, but he moved away.

  “Tristan,” I groaned, letting my head fall back on the pillows.

  “Maya,”
he whispered in the same tone. His lips pressed against my cheek and then trailed down my jaw. “Maya, Maya, Maya.” My back arched as he sucked on my neck lightly and I hated the fact that he had my hands on lock-down.

  Not that I’m complaining or anything.

  I maneuvered my legs out from under his and wrapped them over his thighs. That way, he had me on lock-down, and now, I had him.

  Tristan's tongue flicked out and he trailed it down my neck to my collarbone. He knew the right places to kiss on me. Well... all the spots I would let him kiss. If he went below the breasts, then he was out of bounds.

  Tonight though, it was no holds barred.

  I pushed myself up against him, feeling for a reaction. What I got was more satisfying. “Someone's happy to be here.” I smirked.

  I felt him smile against my skin and he moved his kisses back up until he was a mere inch from me. “I'm always happy to see you.”

  The entire wait, all the teasing, it was worth it.

  He took my upper lip between his and pressed hard. I didn't waste any time to flick my tongue out and run it along the softness of his bottom lip. There was a small groan that came from his chest and he opened up, flicking his tongue against mine and starting the fight for dominance.

  He tasted sweet, but alcohol was noticeable. His lips—like his skin—were soft and addicting. Overall, he smelt intoxicating tonight. It wasn't a strong scent, but it was enough to push me to the state of restlessness.

  His hips ground into mine, causing me to suck in a quick breath. Why did he have to leave his jeans on?

  Actually, why hadn't I removed them yet?

  He pressed hard against me, and my kisses became desperate at the feel of his bulge pressing against my thighs. Neither one of us wanted to take a break and catch a breath. We didn't care. Our fingers finally disconnected and we were quick to touch each other. My fingers ran through his hair while his made their way to the back of my neck to press me closer to him.

  My fingers tugged the strands of his soft hair, wanting more, needing something to rid of the heat that was flowing through me.

  I don't know if Tristan knew what I was thinking, but his lips reluctantly left mine and I finally had the chance to take a decent breath. He didn't return to my mouth though, which was annoying. But he soon made me forget about that.

  “I know it's my birthday, but I’d rather do things to you instead.” He laid kisses along my neck again, then over my breasts. I didn’t understand his words at first, but when his kisses started to slow down along my abdomen, I kind of got an idea on what he was thinking.

  His fingers played with the fabric of my panties again, and usually this would be where I pulled the plug, but today I had no motive on stopping him. Like I said before, there's no holds barred. And I was way too horny to even try to stop him.

  He kissed just above my belly button and his arms came under my thighs, lifting them until they rested on his broad shoulders. Our eyes connected and I'm sure my own darkened at the sight.

  “You're so intoxicating, Maya,” he whispered before placing another kiss just above my panty line, “so fucking intoxicating.”

  It was a memory that I'd never forget. It was also a secret I would never tell anyone. I told Melinda and Jamie the sugar coated version. Yeah, we just kissed, but he kissed much more than my mouth. I was glad for that memory because it was something I could imagine when I found my subjects to be distasteful.

  I was greeted by my lovely clock when I finally opened my eyes. 4:35AM. Irritated and annoyed, I knew there was a reason I woke up. It had been at least an hour since I met him, and now his ass needed to go.

  I rolled over and pushed against the soft back. The last time I did this, the back was toned, broad and soft... not soft and completely unattractive.

  “Hey!” I pushed again. “Wake up.”

  The guy stirred a bit but didn't make any motion to tell me he was awake, so I tried again. “Dude, seriously. I told you, my parents are coming over at 5 and my dad has a firearms license, so unless you want to get shot—”

  The bed jolted as he jumped off the bed, gathering his clothes in one sweep.

  “Oh yeah, you're awake now.”

  I didn't know his name, I never knew their names. I don't even remember how he got in my bed to be honest. He was on the skinny side but not lean and cut like I liked them. Faded jeans hung low on his hips, a ripped shirt showing off how non-muscular this guy actually was. Seriously, he must’ve had something I wanted or I completely dropped my standards in 24 hours.

  My eyes moved away him and they found a bag of weed on the ground—oh, now I remember why he was here. Melinda and I got bored and went on search for marijuana. This was our payment. And even though they think that we fell for their scam, they actually fell for ours. Our demons were hungry, and we wanted weed.

  We killed two birds with one stone.

  He was taking his time finding his phone on the ground, and I knew it was just a ploy to see if I'll let him stay for another 10 minutes. They always did this.

  “I wonder what kind of shotgun my dad got this time...” I murmured, picking at my non-polished nails.

  I saw him stiffen in my peripheral vision and—surprise, surprise—found his phone in 0.1 seconds. The family thing always worked, even though them coming would never happen.

  He quickly picked the phone up, and didn’t look my way when he exited the room.

  “Take your friend too!” I called after him, wrinkling my nose at the fact he didn’t shut my door. I heard the front door open and close in record time and Melinda walked in.

  “Ugh, it's about time he left, seriously, he was so annoying.” She slumped down next to me. She had the decency to put an over-sized shirt over her naked self, but me however—the only thing missing was my jeans.

  “Your guy was annoying? Mine obviously doesn't know what boobs are since he went nowhere near them.”

  “Nah.” She waved her hand in the air. “You should be glad about that. I was literally getting annoyed when all he would do was look at my breasts. Seriously, I almost slapped him if this bitch wasn’t hungry.”

  “Well if you think about it, Mel. Your boobs are like perfect.” And that they were. “If I was a lesbian, I’d so use you for your boobs.” They were like the perfect size and everything. Not huge, not small, but perfect.

  She rolled her eyes and yawned, patting her stomach. “I should be satisfied for at least a week. He wasn’t that fun. Did you use the parent excuse?”

  “Yeah, it always works.”

  “When does it not?” She yawned again, this time more dramatic. “I wish I could go to sleep. Seriously, but I never can after sex, you know? It's such a downer.”

  “Actually, no, I don't know, I always pass out. But,” I reached over and retrieved the rolled joint from the dresser. The guy wanted to smoke it before we did it, as he would say, but I knew what drugs did and I wasn't up for staying awake the whole night. “I have a remedy for that.”

  Her eyes glinted down at the joint, a smirk pulling up on her lips. “You always know what to say and do, Maya.”

  ****

  “Wow, so Tori and Tristan are in Hawaii?” Jamie asked through the phone.

  “Mhm,” was my only reply. They had been gone for two days now and in that time I'd slowly gotten over trying to avoid Tristan as a subject. Now, I just went with it.

  “That's some crazy shit. How are you feeling?”

  I walked into Starbucks and greeted the scent of coffee with happiness. Melinda was still asleep at the dorm and I thought I would be a good friend and bring iced coffees. It was yet another hot day, which always meant a lot of people.

  “Tell me about it. I'm good. Nothing I can do about it. He doesn't want to see me again.” I walked up to the counter and ordered the usual before sitting at a nearby seat to wait.

  “Yeah, that's rude. So you think Tori found out, huh? That would explain it and, I told you so.”

  “Yeah yeah yeah.”
I was over the subject quick. “Anyway, how's the Caribbean? I hope you're drinking a lot for me and partying with all the hot guys on the ship. Please, give me some sort of juicy story.”

  If you had asked me a few weeks ago if I wanted to hear about Jamie's trip, I'd probably say no but I'd go through it because that's what friends are for. Now, I would take Jamie's trip and love to hear her stories because they would distract me from the drama that has become my life.

  “Oh my God, Maya, there is this really nice guy on the cruise ship. He's here with his family too. He's from L.A. but he doesn't go to college. He works but I haven't found that information out yet. He is so cute. We're going out to the restaurant for dinner tonight.” She gushed about the trip and I was actually glad she was having fun. And hey, she found a guy.

  “Aw, my baby is growing up. Next thing you know, you'll be off getting married and buying your first house with the guy.” While I live a sad and lonely life. Nice to know I have a sense of humor.

  “Please, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. How’s San Fran anyway?”

  “What?” I arched a brow. What was she talking about?

  “You were going to San Fran for the summer...”

  Oh! “Oh... yeah. It’s great... totally fun.”

  “You’re not in San Fran are you?” her voice was blank and I knew I couldn’t lie.

  “Not technically, but if I drove 6 hours I would be.”

  “Maya,” I looked up to see one of the workers placing my drinks on the counter, “and Ethan.” She placed a coffee beside them.

  “Oh, got to go, Jamie. I'll give you a call another time. Have fun tonight. Send me more pictures. Love you.”

  I hung up before she gave me a lecture on why I shouldn’t lie to her about some things. I had to wait behind a guy—who I was guessing was Ethan—to get my drinks. In that one second, I had taken him all in. He kind of reminded me of Tristan from the back, but he was a bit taller and more built. Not a lot, just a bit. He wore dark jeans and a fitted black shirt that showed off his tanned muscles. Melinda would love this guy. I checked his finger when he reached for his cup and I spotted no ring. Bonus.