by Casey Morgan
Even with the rest of my home still being in upheaval, I always make time for my craft. Not only because I have a small business online where I sell my handmade gowns and costumes, but because it brings me closer to my grandmother. I lived with her from the time I was a baby until just recently, and on days like today, I miss being close to her. We used to sew together all the time. She is the one who taught me.
I grab a piece of a beautiful princess-type corset I’m working on (Renaissance, not fashionable Hollywood wedding), and begin to sew on it. Something about stitching fabric and gems together, that’s always brought me peace of mind. It’s a meditative state that I get into, really. Between the swirl of the thread, the movements of my beads or gemstones — whatever it is I’m sewing into my fabric — all that just brings everything into focus. Sewing sets free all of my anxieties and brings me into a space where I’m just focused on the vision in my head or the beauty of the gown or the majesty of the suit I’m creating. Whatever it might be.
When I’m working like this, I easily lose track of time. Minutes melt away into hours, and before I know it, I’ve drained away my entire day off. But I don’t mind. I wouldn’t trade any of those minutes for anything else.
Usually.
At some point during my meditative sewing, however, I’ve interrupted by the buzz and song of my smart phone. It’s chirping at me from somewhere in my clothes. I carefully set aside the corset I’m working on and answer it.
“Hello?”
“Krystal!” Though she sounds a lot bubblier, a lot happier than she used to, I know immediately who it is.
“Hey, Olivia,” I say, happy to hear from her. “What’s up, girlfriend? I thought that I wouldn’t hear from you ever again after you got married.”
“Oh, you,” she says, “that’s nonsense. Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to meet me and Tina for lunch? I know it’s short notice, and I know how you like to spend your days off usually, but I thought it would be good to see you, catch up and all that!”
I stand up from the chair and table where I’ve been working on my sewing, immediately going to grab my purse and my keys.
“I’d love to join you both for lunch!”
She lets out a round of happy squealing. “Excellent! Meet you at the Herb Garden? Or the Stockpot?”
“Stockpot,” I answer. I like the chilies and soups they have there. I’m not much for salads.
“Sounds good, girly,” says Olivia. “See you there and about 15 to 10 minutes. You’ll probably get there before me.”
“That’s okay. I’ll reserve us a spot for the three of us,” I say, and hang up.
I am the first one to arrive at our lunch location, but it’s no big deal. I’m able to get a seat, get menus, put in an order for a couple of appetizers I’m sure we’ll all like, just as I see Tina and Olivia walk in. Tina has her boy Nicky with her. He’s bigger and more talkative since the last time I saw him. He’s actually using words like “mama” now. Olivia has a fairly big belly for only being a few months pregnant.
I wave them down, glad I got the big booth with the big table. “Over here!”
Tina is the first one to arrive at the table. She’s grabbed a booster seat on the way, and starts putting Nicky in it next to her. “How are you, Krystal?” After getting Nicky situated, she actually goes out of her way to pull out a chair for Olivia.
“I’m okay,” I tell her, but I’m afraid my body and strained expression are giving more away than I want. With friends like Olivia and Tina, there isn’t much hope of me hiding what a rough week I’ve had.
“Just okay?” Tina asks, immediately zeroing in on my voice and my not so chipper tone.
“Yeah,” I say, immediately wanting to change directions in the conversation. I push the tray of mozzarella sticks, mini pretzels, and chicken wings toward my girlfriends. “But that doesn’t matter.” I lock eyes with Olivia. “I’m more interested in hearing how things are going with you. How your book and everything is coming, since it’s super cool that you got a book deal.” My eyes find her pregnant belly pushed up to the table. “Also, how all of that is going?” I chuckle, blushing at the dream of me being pregnant. Briefly, I get a flash of one or both of those handsome blonds being responsible.
“Everything is going so well,” says Olivia, chowing down on the pretzels. “I’m on my second book now, actually. I was able to finish the first one and get it accepted by my publisher. It’s going to be released soon, so I’m working on the second one as fast as I can.” She takes some of the mozzarella sticks, patting her belly. “As for this, that’s going well too. The twins are already super well-behaved babies. Haven’t been kicking or moving around too much, and my symptoms are manageable. Which is great, since that means I have more time to write.”
“I still think the fact that you’re having twins is super awesome,” I say, looking at Nicky. I smile and wave at him, since he’s made eye contact with me. His amber eyes are so big in his little face.
“And I still think you have more going on that you’re not letting on,” says Tina, raising her eyebrows at me. “I want to know what’s going on with you.”
I dodge the stuff about the car accident I was in, how rough it’s been this week, and say what I’ve actually been thinking. “I’d really like to be able to make my clothing business a real thing. A real moneymaker, but I don’t know how to get there from where I am. I want to experience the same thing that Olivia has, but it’s not the same thing for me, you know?”
Tina nods, and I know she knows. As a witch, she’s been working diligently at her own fortune-telling business. I also know she’s about to offer me a reading of my own.
So, I head her off. “I’d like some guidance, so you know, if you want to work your magic, I’d be open to it.” I blush, not sure how she feels about doing this kind of work out in public, but I soon realize there’s no need to worry. Olivia’s eyes light up.
“I’d love to,” she says. “But after we’ve placed our orders for lunch.”
In the blink of an eye, all of the appetizers have been scarfed up. Somehow or another, they’ve been scarfed down before I even got a nibble of any of them.
“Sure,” I say, and flag down the guy in charge of our table.
****
We finish eating our meals of choice. For me it was fancy mac & cheese; for Olivia, it was the same, but with a couple of burger patties on top. For Tina and Nicky, it was a hot dog and fries, since he likes to nibble at things, but isn’t quite sure about what he likes or not.
It’s as all of our plates are getting taken away, that Tina takes my hands, and starts her magic. She closes her eyes, takes a breath, and I immediately feel warmth and electricity in my fingers. It goes up my arms.
“I see you in a car accident,” she murmurs, as Olivia quietly pays for all of us.
I shiver. “That already happened,” I murmur, feeling freaked out. “Just a few days ago.”
“Then your future is already in motion,” she says quietly, as if she’s drinking in a dream. “I don’t see you starting your business fully until you’re at a costume ball.” She pauses, is silent for a long moment. Then, her eyes slowly blink open. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t get any more than that. I tried to see what else I could find out for you, but that was it.”
“That’s okay,” I say, still feeling shivers going up and down my spine. I’ve got goosebumps to prove it. “I just wish I knew more about what that meant.” As far as I know, I’m not planning to go to any costume balls. Halloween is a few months away.
Olivia and Tina muse about it as well, as we get up from the table, and we all start to head our separate ways.
“See you guys a little later,” I say, heading back in the direction of my apartment. “Thank you for meeting me for lunch, and for the impromptu reading.”
“No trouble at all,” says Tina. “If you need more guidance, feel free to come by my shop. I’ll be there all afternoon and evening.”
“I wi
ll,” I say, but as I turn away from her and head back home, I already have a wild and crazy idea. I fish out the card Jayden gave me, feeling a buzz of warmth from it. This party they are throwing is not a costume ball exactly, but I’ve got an idea. Something he might really like, that might really liven up that event, whatever it is. I dig out my phone and dial the numbers, feeling so nervous and excited, I might die. I don’t know why I’m feeling guided to do this, but it just feels… Right.
Chapter Three
Jayden
Mmmm. I like this new bottle of wine. This new combination. This could go very well with our tasting event coming up. With its fruity, sweeter flavors, this could really be a hit with those more finicky types. I lift the glass away from my lips, allowing my sensitive nose a sniff again. Yes, the notes are just as multidimensional as I tasted.
Lucas, my older brother who actually makes the wine, comes up with how the wine is going to be aged and what it’s going to be infused with, he is standing nearby as always, waiting for my feedback. While he’s very proud of his creations, he trusts my palate and my guidance, since I’m the one who works the market and sell what he produces.
“So? What do you make of it?”
“A hands down winner,” I say happily. I finish off my little taste, rolling it around in my tongue. “Yep. It’s a good one. I don’t know what kind of magic is going on in those grapes, how you were able to infuse the notes of almond and orange blossom in all of this, but it’s fantastic. I think this will definitely go over well at our tasting event, and with other potential customers.”
Lucas looks as proud as I would expect him to. “Well, you don’t get this good at making wine with just fucking around, brother,” he says. “I’ve been throwing flavors together since we were children. You know how much time I spent with Mom and Dad, Dad especially, learning all of this, just so I could break all of the rules.”
I laugh, knowing how true that is. Even when we were kids, when I was busy talking about how mom and dad needed to give me a higher allowance. He was always there making the wine, right alongside dad. “True enough, Lucas,” I say, “but still. You have every reason to be proud of this. It’s going to make us a lot of good money, which we will need to repair that truck.”
Right as I finish saying that, and Lucas begins to murmur about that girl working for the Diamond Club, those vampires, my phone explodes in noise and movement. A call’s coming in, one I quickly pick up. I don’t recognize the number, but I don’t care. New numbers mean new customers, and that’s what I’m after more than anything right now. “Jayden,” I say.
There is a pause for a moment, then the sound of nervous breathing. “Mr. Redfang,” the voice on the other end says, “it’s Krystal Jenkins, from the Diamond Club.”
“I know.” I cover the phone with my hand momentarily. “The girl who ran into our truck the other day,” I tell my brother, who’s looking curious about the caller.
“I bet that human girl is calling to try to weasel her way out of working for us,” he says quietly. He’s got a devilish smile on his lips.
I put the phone on speaker, not missing a beat. “Good to hear from you, Miss Jenkins,” I say. “You wouldn’t be calling about trying to get out of working for us at our tasting event or not being able to make the orientation on Friday, would you?”
“Oh, no! No, not at all! I’m calling because I have an idea, and I was wanting to know if you would be interested in hearing me out on it?”
“An idea?” I’m not usually one to be intrigued, and neither is Lucas, but she has me at this suggestion.
“Yeah, for the event you have coming up soon,” she says. “It’s my day off today, so I was thinking about things, and I came up with something I think you might be interested in.” Right when I feel she’s about to go into details, I stop her.
“If you’d like to pitch this idea of yours, I want you in front of me. I want you at our winery with a full presentation in hand, Miss Jenkins. You have an hour. Think you can do that?”
Silence. My brother and I share a devious smile. But then we get something we are both not expecting.
“An hour? Sure, I can do that. I can make something happen,” she says. She’s trying to come across as competent, but I can definitely tell I’ve challenged her. I’ve made her anxious.
“I expect it to be a flawless presentation, mind you. No half-baked ideas. No conjecture. I want everything thought out, everything drawn up exactly the way you expect it to go down.” I pause, smiling. “Think you can do that for me, Krystal?”
“Yes, I can… An hour… I can do that,” she says, her voice cutely hitching. I don’t even need to be in front of her to see the cute color she must have in her cheeks or the firm, stressed lines she must have around her mouth.
“I look forward to seeing what you have, Miss Jenkins,” I say, and hang up. Directly after, my brother and I bust up laughing. “This is going to be great. I can’t wait to see what that little human comes up with.”
“Me neither,” says Lucas, wiping his eyes. “This is going to be better than show and tell in kindergarten!” He pauses for comedic/dramatic effect. “Or worse!” He howls with laughter after this, saying he is going to round up the rest of our brothers for the show coming to our winery in an hour.
I let my laughter die down after that, actually curious about what Krystal has to share with us. I’m not holding out for anything perfect, anything near what I asked for, but I’m curious all the same.
From the tasting room, I leave the business side of our building, climb the stairs that lead to our loft — the whole house above our winery and the sprawling Vineyards beyond. I decide I’m going to use the hour left to me to get clean. I need to get prepped and ready for this presentation, whatever it may be.
In the shower attached to my personal bedroom, I quickly find my mind turning to the young human girl, Krystal. I still remember the look of fear and embarrassment on her face when she rear-ended us. I remember the flushed color of her cheeks and the tense pull on her lips. I also remember the shine and panic in her eyes, as well as the willingness — the fluttering, gripping eagerness of her breath that she displayed when I told her how she had to make it up to me.
Those lips, those violet eyes of hers — magnetic. Though I didn’t get a good look at the rest of her body from inside the car, my mind is suddenly obsessed with it. I imagine what curves she might be hiding.
If I had known she was going to be so eager to come help out at the tasting party, I might have asked her to do more than waitress. In my head, I’ve already painted a vision of her blushing, shy face and her demure, willing body. I’ve already imagined asking her to undress for me.
No, ordering it.
I imagine she resists my order. I imagine that she hesitates at the plunging neckline of her dark, slinky dress. Over this fantasy, I grip my hard cock in my fingers and start stroking.
“I may have invited you to help waitress for me, Krystal, but that was no invitation. That was an order. You will do what I say. If you don’t, I will consider your debt for the damages unpaid. I will consider them delinquent in all meanings of that term.” I imagine that I pause, that I watch her fidget and fiddle with her gown. Her self. Her surroundings.
I’m stroking myself faster now. I’m gripping harder, focusing on the way my fingers and the texture of my skin, feels against my bulging, hard cock.
“Undress. Show yourself to me,” I imagine saying to her. “Now.”
I imagine the delicate look on her face — the first blush on her cheeks, the small opening in her lips. In my mind I can hear the sound of her breath as it anxiously swirls in the air. She undresses before me finally, going slowly. Methodically. Obediently, her fingers tracing every bit of pale, flawless skin.
I hear myself panting as my fantasy continues and deepens. My hand grips and jerks on my cock head and my shaft with growing speed and hunger.
In my fantasy, Krystal’s naked in front of me. Perky full breasts c
all at me from across the small space between us. Already hard, her nipples stand at attention in the open air. The pink, hard quality of them begs me to come in for a taste — a bite. Which I do, imagining that I run my hands down her hourglass curves, before coming back up and running my fingers through her hair.
I take her with my mouth next, laying her out with kisses to her neck, shoulders and breasts. I thrust myself against her, feeling the sticky wetness I leave there. I rub a trail of musk and desire gliding up her leg. More kisses flood my mouth and end up on her body, before I flip her over and bring her up to kneeling.
“Give me your virginity,” I pant at her, “give me this, and I will consider all debts forgiven.”
I imagine she moans, shivering as I pull open her pink pussy. I imagine her folds clinging to me as I test them with a finger or two, before plunging my cock inside. She gasps in surprise and joy as I do, saying, “I will gladly give you my virginity, even without my damages. Take it from me, please!” I imagine I’m thrusting inside of her. I feel the grip of her pussy. The soft, wet walls feel perfect, made just for me. Her pussy is made just for rubbing and squeezing on me, like she is now.
I growl out that I will gladly take her, inside and out of my fantasy. I stroke myself fast and hard, in time to with my imagined thrusts into Krystal’s tight, virgin pussy. I feel the velvet of it against me, the silky warmth of it. I plow her for all she’s worth. I fuck her like the animal I am, enjoying a small bite on her shoulder. The way she growls back at me is perfect, pushing herself on me.
And that, right as she slams herself down on me, is when I come hard and breathlessly. Cum spills forward, splashing on the bottom of the shower. “Fuck,” I breathe, watching drops of cum dribble out of me and down the drain, “I really can’t wait to see what she has in store for me and to have her within grabbing distance.” The upcoming presentation is going to be the highlight of my day.
Chapter Four