My Name Is Not Alexa Pearce

by Kerri McLoone

  Cali writes all of this down on the EXTENSIOS sheet and then lays it on top of the other two. Then she returns back to the black marker and picks up the blank pad. She puts in her lap.

  Uncapping the licorice-scented marker she asks, “And how do I do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Telekinesis.”

  I think of the instructions my grandfather gave me when he whisked me away from Darius’s first attacked five years ago.

  “You clear your mind, and all you think about is the thing you want your power to do. So, like, if you wanted to deflect something, you’d hold your hand up and think of whatever’s coming at you going in the opposite direction.”

  “What would I be deflecting?”

  Balls of fire, or just things that could generally kill you. But we can save that for tomorrow.

  “Umm, you know, just things,” I look around for something that to use as an example. “Oh! Or say, you wanted Milo’s leash from the hook, right? Then all you would think about would be Milo’s leash coming over to you.”

  “Do I say anything? Like ‘Milo’s leash, I command you!’ Like that?” I stare at Cali like she’s got three heads. “Okay, that’s a no.”

  “Your power is controlled through your hands, so you don’t have to say anything. You think and point.”

  “Think and point.” Cali squints intensely at Milo’s leash, points at it, then flings her arm across her body.

  Nothing happens.

  “Oh man, how cool would that have been if it had actually moved?”

  ● 50 ●

  Darius

  After his three day absence, he’s perched in his usual place at the back corner of the bar. He’s still not feeling fully like himself, but what Darius does feel is triumphant. He knows he’s close to finding the girl, he feels as if he’s inches away. And soon he will be.

  Darius lets his eyes slowly navigate the entirety of the bar and its patrons. The room is only about half full, it is pretty late on a Sunday night in the south after all. He can’t hide the sneer on his face as he thinks about seeing his demonic clan soon.

  “These little rodents have no idea what’s coming,” he chuckles quietly into his tumbler of whiskey.

  “You say something, boss?” Julius asks wiping off the beer foam on his lip with his sleeve.

  Darius makes a face of disgust at Julius’s characteristically human lack of refinement. “No,” he says not wanting to repeat himself to the messy, overweight man.

  He shifts his gaze to his newest Victus. Now that the demon has regained enough of his strength to be a physical presence, the former footballer isn’t as reckless as he was the past few days. He’s shown nothing short of model behavior since Darius less than gently put him in his place a short time ago.

  He watches Damon’s eye dart to the door every time it opens. What he’s looking for, Darius doesn’t know. The demon is curious, so he asks.

  “What are you watching for, little one?”

  Damon ignores him, still sour over being thrown around like a rag doll earlier. He also makes a point of not answering to the ridiculous nickname the demon has given him. He lifts his beer to take a long, surly, swallow when Julius smacks him on the back of the head hard enough that the glass bangs against his front teeth, catching his lip in between.

  “When he asks you a question, you answer.”

  The bald man puts his glass down and checks his mouth for blood. When his hand comes away red, he spins on his stool and wipes it across Julius’s fat, wide face. The heavyset Victus bristles, ready to take a swing at the larger man.

  Damon taps his own cheek and says, “Make it count, sweetheart. ‘Cause I’m only letting you get in one.”

  “Now, now, children. That’s enough,” Darius cuts in. When the two don’t back up from their face-off, Darius yells, “I said, enough!

  In his normal voice, he continues, “We’re flying under the radar tonight. And me yelling at you two fucking idiots to knock it off is the opposite of that. So no fights, no games, no bets. No attention. Just drink your drinks until it’s time for our flight. Understand?”

  Damon swings his stool back and stares at himself in the mirror behind the bar. Julius just glares at the newest addition. Darius slams his whiskey onto the bar shattering the glass tumbler.

  “Understand?!”

  “Yes, boss,” Julius mumbles.

  Damon grits his teeth making his jaw muscles flare. “Yes,” he grumbles.

  “Yes, what?” Darius prods.

  “Yes, boss,” the youngest begrudgingly says.

  “That’s right, little one,” Darius points a finger at himself. “Boss.”

  Darius turns to signal to the bartender for a replacement, but there’s already a freshly filled glass in front of him. The pieces of his previous drink have already been swept away. He raises his glass to the man who’s looking older and older each time he serves the demon.

  Darius is in the midst of tipping his glass to drain it when Viribus enters the bar. Julius springs off his stool to intercept the biggest Victus.

  “Finally. What the fuck took you so long?”

  “The goddamn computer froze so I had to make the flight reservation over the phone,” the giant answers in his deep voice. “Then I had to wait for the email confirmation to print.”

  He hands the sheet of paper concealed in his baseball mitt-sized hands to the demon in front of him.

  “Unfortunately the next flight out is a red-eye that leaves Atlanta at 11:30 Monday night. I asked if there was anything earlier, but all direct flights before that are booked across the board. I asked about one- and two-stop flights, but they all end up arriving at SEATAC at the same time. So, I figured you’d rather take a direct flight, boss, and I booked the next available.”

  “Good job, Viribus,” Darius praises. “Julius, go upstairs and check the potions. Barkeep! How about a beer for my friend here?”

  In a rare moment of what passes for kindness by a demon but is closer to thinly veiled contempt in human terms, Darius has been favoring Viribus all day knowing the behemoth is irked at the fact he will be left behind. Viribus sits in Julius’s vacated seat and gets a big clap on the back from the demon.

  The short Victus returns to the trio at the bar reporting the potions are now dark gray. That means only a few more hours until they’re ready. Darius looks at his watch before indicating to the bartender to serve another round.

  “A toast gentlemen,” the demon announces holding up his whiskey neat. “After waiting over a thousand years and millions of hours, we’re just over a day from finally ending this. We are moments away from making this decrepit, nothing world finally mirror the fiery depths of home. To home!”

  “To home!” Julius and Viribus chorus each taking a swig of their drinks. Damon just raises his glass silently.

  “And to the girl,” Darius adds wickedly. “May she lose well, and may she die a slow and incredibly painful death.”

  ● 51 ●

  Cali

  After putting away the large pad and the markers, Cali is anxiously awaiting her girlfriend’s return. “Lex” had folded the torn-off sheets and put them in her room with the notebook and box. When she comes back and sits down on the couch, Cali reaches for her hand and squeezes it.

  They hold hands comfortably until they hear Mickey’s keys jingle in the lock. Alexa squeezes Cali’s hand again and says quietly, “You don’t have to do this. I know what I’m asking of you, and you can still say no.”

  Cali feels her nose tingle as tears threaten to form, but she swallows hard and just as Mickey comes into the apartment whispers back, “No. I’ve made up my mind.”

  “Hey guys,” Mickey says dropping her bags to pet Milo who is sitting there waiting for her. Her long hair is back in a low messy bun and she’s wearing a puffy blue jacket zipped all the way, jogging shorts over compression shorts, and gray sneakers with neon green accents.

  “Whew! What a day! It was so busy at the stud
io today that I had to create a waiting list for some of the classes. And every class was completely full.”

  Mickey takes off her jacket and hangs it up. She comes over to the couch and leans over to kiss her girlfriend hello. Cali grabs the back of her head before the brunette can pull away, holding her tightly in place and deepening the kiss.

  “What was that for?” Mickey asks breathlessly.

  “Nothing. I’m just happy you’re home. What’s all this?” Cali asks pointing to the apartment door that is still ajar, blocked by a bunch of reusable grocery bags.

  “Oh,” Mickey says hanging up her coat. “I stopped at the little corner store and got some things. I had this hankering for sesame chicken all day. So I looked up some recipes on my way home and found one I want to try.”

  “That sounds delicious, but you can count me out,” Alexa chimes in. “I’m going to take Milo for a nice walk and then go get in a workout myself.”

  Cali watches her roommate go to the door and pick up Milo’s leash. Like Cali, the dog has followed Mickey into the kitchen to watch her unload the bags of food. Lex snaps her fingers and points to her foot and Milo obeys immediately.

  “Good boy. Alright, I’ll see you guys in a little.”

  As soon as the door closes, Cali has Mickey pinned to the fridge and is attacking her neck. She finds the spot that makes her girlfriend’s knees weak and positions her thigh in between Mickey’s legs just before sucking on it. When the brunette’s legs give a little, she lands on Cali’s thigh which provides the slightest bit of pressure to her core. Just enough to get her girlfriend’s heart going.

  Cali’s hands waste no time in grabbing her girlfriend’s ass and pushing down to increase the pleasant pressure. She physically moves Mickey’s hips back and forth to get her going even more.

  The shorter woman’s mouth moves across Mickey’s neck, under her jaw, and up to her earlobe. Cali sticks the tip of her tongue just for a second into the trainer’s ear, causing the brunette to gasp and grind herself down on Cali’s thigh.

  When Cali moves her mouth again, this time capturing Mickey’s mouth in a feverish kiss, the taller woman puts her hands on Cali’s shoulders and lightly pushes her away. They are both gasping for air; their eyes dark, pupils blown wide with want. The brunette drops her head panting into Cali’s shoulder.

  “Damn, you really are happy I’m home,” Mickey says placing a small kiss on her girlfriend’s collar bone. “But I spent the entire day in these clothes at the studio. I need to take a shower.”

  Cali presses her thigh up into Mickey before slowly dragging it free. “Okay,” she says with a wolfish grin. “Let’s go shower.”

  They close the bathroom door and turn on the tap. Mickey sticks her hand in to check the temperature. When she turns around to undress, Cali is already naked. She takes Mickey’s hands and gently raises them into the air. She pushes up the tank top Mickey is wearing and pulls it over her head.

  Cali runs her hands down the woman’s sides to her waistband. She pulls everything, including Mickey’s underwear, down kissing one thigh as she bends and the other as she stands. She pulls off the tight sports bra and captures one breast in her mouth before the bra even hits the floor.

  The room has filled with steam, both of their naked bodies are glistening from the humidity. Cali pulls away from Mickey’s chest, takes her hand, and steps backward into the shower.

  As soon as Mickey is under the stream of water, Cali grabs the bar of soap and begins lathering it up. She washes her girlfriend, kissing every inch of skin before covering it with soap suds. Before Mickey can do the same to Cali, the auburn-haired woman is on her knees.

  She kisses the apex of Mickey’s hipbone then drags her tongue along the vee of the muscles downward. She kisses and sucks across the clean-shaven mound and drags her tongue up to the other hip.

  Mickey runs her hands through Cali’s hair. She puts her fingers under Cali’s chin and tilts the younger woman’s head back. She gently pulls up making Cali stand. Mickey kisses her softly, tenderly.

  “You don’t have to do that, baby,” Mickey says. “I don’t want you to think you have to do anything. I know that it’s only been a few days and you’re still processing what happened on Wednesday and—”

  “Shhh,” Cali cuts her off. “I’m okay, baby. I want you so much right now that it hurts. There are so many things I want to do to you. Just touching you already has me right at the edge.”

  She starts punctuating her sentence by kissing Mickey’s plump, red lips. “I love you so much, and I want to show how much over and over until you can’t take it anymore.”

  As the last word comes out of her mouth, Cali enters her girlfriend with two fingers. She curls them and drags them out making sure to rub the soft, sensitive bundle of nerves inside. Mickey moans loudly. Cali captures it with a hard kiss and forces Mickey’s mouth open with her tongue. She takes control of the kiss, her hand never stopping its movements. When she moves her thumb to Mickey’s clit and grabs her breast, the brunette’s head snaps back in pleasure.

  With her eyes shut tight, she doesn’t see Cali moving down. The contact from her thumb stops only to be replaced in seconds by her tongue. Mickey cries out even louder at Cali’s dexterous mouth. She loves the brunette’s taste and can’t help but moan too.

  It doesn’t take long for Mickey to come with a shout but Cali doesn’t stop. She doubles her efforts and brings Mickey to a second, stronger climax then slowly brings Mickey down from her orgasm. It’s only when Mickey whimpers and gently swats Cali’s face away, that the shorter woman completely stops her ministrations.

  Cali kisses her way back up to Mickey’s lips and the two share a languid kiss. Mickey’s eyes are hooded with satisfaction. The two finish their shower and go to Cali’s room to get dressed.

  The moment Mickey drapes her damp towel over a chair to put on clothes, Cali is on top of her again. Cali’s momentum makes them fall onto the bed. They land with Cali on top. Mickey has recovered enough from her strong double orgasm to take the upper hand this time. She bucks her hips up and rolls to pin the younger woman beneath her.

  Cali’s eyes widen in pleasant surprise at the show of strength. But the only thing she wants tonight is to make sure Mickey knows how much she loves her and wants to be with her forever. So she smirks and maneuvers them back to how they landed. She puts her thigh in between Mickey’s legs and presses up as she bites down on her girlfriend’s bottom lip. Mickey hisses at the sting of the bite before devouring Cali’s mouth with her own.

  Cali reaches over to her nightstand and opens the drawer. The color of what she pulls out tells Mickey that Cali is taking charge tonight.

  They forget all about the groceries and the sesame chicken. They don’t hear Alexa come back from Milo’s walk, then leave to go to the gym and come back again.

  Cali doesn’t know when she’ll be able to be with Mickey again. She wants to make sure there is no doubt in the brunette’s mind how desperately in love with her Cali is.

  The only thing in the world right now is the two of them. Their hearts pounding in sync, their breath heaving and ragged, their bodies wrapped together pulsing with desire for each other.

  The couple spends the rest of the night making love to each other. Sometimes gently, sometimes rushed and hard, but always listening to and giving each other what they need.

  **********

  In the morning, the bedroom is softly lit with the gray light of a rainy day. Cali watches Mickey sleep. They are both laying on their sides facing one another. Cali hears the multiple plinks of heavy raindrops hitting the window. The older woman’s face is peaceful, framed by her dark hair. Her olive skin flawless. Her lips plump from the previous night’s activities.

  Cali lightly runs her finger along the chiseled jawline causing Mickey to stir. Her eyes slowly flutter open. The blue irises sparkle, even in the dim light from the half-open blinds. Cali leans in and places a soft kiss on Mickey’s lips.

  “You�
�re beautiful,” she says propping herself up on an elbow to look Mickey over again. “I could look at you forever and still be amazed at how perfect you are.”

  Mickey blushes and ducks her face into the pillow slightly. She looks back at Cali with one eye, smiling. Cali moves over to position herself right next to Mickey, their bodies flush. She looks over her face one more time, runs her fingertip along her jaw again, trying to memorize every single detail. When she kisses her this time, all she wants is to let Mickey know once more how much she loves her.

  In case the kiss doesn’t say everything for her, Cali adds, “I love you so much. I care for you more than I’ve ever cared for someone. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  “I feel exactly the same way, baby. You’re everything to me, Cali.”