SOLIDAGO–HotMeals–ebook - Cissy Solidago

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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. The reuploading and distribution of this ebook without permission is theft of the author's intellectual property. For bulk pricing, publishing rights, and film/TV rights please email [email protected] 4 The Hot Meals series is dedicated to Mary Roach. Without Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex I wouldn't know any of the science that makes Hot Meals so juicy… 5 Prologue: Paige “It’s true! It happened to Annie!” “Shut up, Paige. A vampire sucked your sister’s pussy instead of her blood?” “Her plasma,” I correct Kelsey. We’re splayed across my bed in a nest of homework and dollar store candy. Her lips are stained with strawberry Gushers and that’s what reminded me. “Hand me your textbook, listen – it’s the clear stuff that the blood cells float in –" Kelsey giggles and pretend-bites my neck. “Kels, I’m serious!" “Seriously distracted! We’re supposed to be studying.” “We are!” I insist. “Biology, anatomy, mythology…” I fix her with the same look I gave her when I first confessed my feelings, a look that says: This is serious but I’ve never said it out loud before so I’m nervous. Just listen... "When a woman's aroused the capillaries inside her vaginal walls become so full of blood that some of the plasma seeps out into the vagina," I read aloud. "That's why girls get wet. And Annie says that's what vampires eat. They'll drink blood from your neck if they really have to but it's the plasma they want – and the quickest 6 way to get it is to go down on a girl! That’s why they hunt at nightclubs!” Just like the first time I told her I liked her, she can’t contain her smile – but this time it’s coupled with a disbelieving eye roll and a smirk: “You’re telling me she met a vampire at a club? “Shut up!” she says again. “You know how I know this can’t be true? Human boys would have killed them off by now – they’d hate having that kind of competition! I mean... boys want an ‘all natural girl’ who’s got lip fillers, eyelash extensions, and foundation on 24/7. They want us to ‘get our bodies back’ after having babies! But in a world with vampires we could just roll our eyes and say, ‘Yeah? You wish we were perfect and airbrushed? Well, I wish you were dead!’” She cuddles closer against me and I can smell the candy on her breath. “We don’t need boys anyway, alive or undead,” I remind her, running my hands up the inside of her thigh. “I bet it was a lesbian vampire who discovered it…” “You are not going to convince me vampires are real, Paige!” “Are you sure?” I tease my fingers across her, “What if I’m one?” Before she can roll her eyes again, I bury my head under the blankets, open her legs, and pretend like I’m feeding… 7 Chapter 1: Annie One of us is tall and curvy, olive-skinned, and one is blonde with cheeks pinker than the plastic flamingos that dot the lawns all across our town – but we're both filled with blood, and that's the part that matters. "Is there anyone you like?" Nadia shouts over the music, bringing the straw of her fruity pink drink to her lips. Her cheeks are flushed from dancing, even brighter pink than normal. I roll my eyes. I knew I shouldn't have told her I wanted to bring someone home tonight. Now it's all she's talked about since the second we stepped through the doors of SACRIFICE – a seedy, black-walled bar with a weird vampire theme that would look out of place anywhere, but especially here in the Florida Everglades. "Nadia, I want to bring someone home after I'm finished dancing. We aren't on a mission, we're just having fun!" I try to take her drink and lead her back onto the dance floor but she bats me away. "Annie, I just want you to be happy! Like me and – Winn!" 8 The world's most perfect boyfriend strides over to meet us, fresh drinks in hand. Of course she's happy – her boyfriend's parents literally named him Winner. Somehow they knew he was going to grow up to be a quintuple threat: tall, dark, handsome, smart and funny. He hands Nadia a drink and snakes one arm around her waist. Oh, now she wants to dance, grinding against him. I sip my drink and think, I wouldn't mind someone like Winn. Loving and gentle but with a bit of a dark side – or at least, a healthy dose of curiosity about the dark side. Winn was so obsessed with Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes growing up that he thought he wanted to be an author – until he realized real life in Florida is stranger than fiction, so he became a cop. I moved here six months ago for work, right across the street from Nadia and Winn, and they quickly took me under their wing. "How's the hunt?" Winn asks me, smiling. "Not hunting yet! Just dancing! Come find me out there–" I shoot Nadia a wink and disappear into the crowd, letting the smells and smoke overtake me, losing myself in the music. There's something strange about SACRIFICE. The second you step through the doors under that blindingly bright, neon white sign, it's like you're in another reality. There's something a little dangerous in the air and every single person who works here is weirdly beautiful. It's the only place in town you don't see plastic noses or bottle-bronzed skin; no matter how frenzied the dancing, 9 you never see tracks in anyone's hair or falsies flying loose off their faces. It's like they require the staff to be effortlessly perfect – way more stunning than any normal human should be. Because of the eerily beautiful people and the weird vampire vibe, SACRIFICE is always packed – even though it’s in the middle of nowhere – way out in the swamp. Nadia, Winn, and I live just around the corner, on the edge of town a few miles up the heavily forested road that twists past SACRIFICE’s big front doors. We could walk, if we wanted, except we’re all too scared of these woods at night. Strange things happen in the Everglades: bodies get dumped, people go missing, and Nadia and I get to hear about it all, thanks to Winn’s love for bringing his work home with him. But I feel safe with them here, tonight. I’m not sure I’d be as eager to bring someone home if I was all alone. The last time I had sex was weeks and weeks ago, now – with a woman who told me she was a vampire. That’s the kind of crazy you run into in these woods. She was tiny and sweet-looking, and I thought I could overpower her if I needed to, but tonight, I think I’m looking for a man. I’m glad I brought Nadia and Winn as backup, just in case I find one who thinks he’s a skinwalker or a wolf. I scan the crowd of beautiful faces, swaying with my drink in hand. I love dancing. I want to dance with someone, tonight. The women I like are usually delicate and gorgeous and remind me of 10 my high school girlfriend: soft and sweet. But tonight I want to wrestle, I want someone big and tall and long; with firm hands and a hard jawline. Nothing soft and tender at all. Across the smoke and strobe lights, I spot a familiar face: pale blonde and angelic. Oh my god, I have to tell Nadia. I double back through the crowd and find her still entangled with Winn. I push through the throng of beautiful dancing people while memories of the angelic girl push themselves to the front of my mind: legs and laughter; the smell of honeysuckle tinged with blood. "Winn, Nadia, she’s here again." "Huh–?" They're being disgustingly cute, lost in each other's eyes. Nadia can barely pull herself away. "That girl I went home with, the one who told me she was a vampire. She's here!" "WHAT?" That gets her attention and her eyes snap back to me. I've got Winn's focus, too. "Wait, what?" He says, "She told you she was a vampire?" I'm a little surprised he doesn’t know, I just assumed Nadia tells him everything. For a moment I’m touched – I guess it's a testament to our friendship that she'll keep secrets for me, even from Winn. 11 Not that this girl’s a secret – as unconventional as her pickup line was, I really did enjoy it. ("Excuse me, I'm hungry and you look delicious.") I got a job offer during my Junior year of college and dropped out of school to take it. I don't have many crazy hookup stories, so this is the one I trot out at drunken wine nights with Nadia or whenever I need to feel better about my own flirting skills. "It's amazing," Nadia says to Winn. "She told her she feeds on wetness. Honestly, at least she didn't say moistness. Is it official now, is ‘moist’ the worst word in the English language? We all hate it! It was a super risky pickup line. If she wasn't so hot it wouldn't have worked. Now point her out, Annie, I need to see exactly how much of a babe you've got to be to pull off a line that cheesy!" "You didn't even tell him the best part," I chastise her, as I lead them through the crowd. I see a flash of white-gold hair again and follow it to the tables above the dance floor. Farther from the music, when I don't have to shout anymore, I say, "The line might have been weird but her acting was phenomenal. She went into this, like, zombie-mode, all glazed over behind the eyes, totally focused on me. I don't think she even remembered I was there, it was like she really was just... feeding." "So hot," Nadia says, her own eyes a little cloudy. "You can get but feel like you're giving? What a smart proposition from her – get it, Fangs!" 12 "Shhhhh-it!" As I turn to go up the stairs to the seating area, I walk right into her. Her name hits me as hard as her honeysuckle perfume. It's Lily, I remember suddenly. I can't tell if she recognizes me. She smiles and hesitates for a moment but then brushes past us. "Wait, I love her," says Nadia, watching her long pale hair disappear into the crowd. "A vampire that looks like an angel? Let's sit up here and just watch, maybe we'll see her find tonight's prey." We hurry to an open table and cram ourselves in – Winn and I on the edges of the booth and Nadia in the middle. He puts an arm around her shoulder but it's so long it kind of snakes around us both. "Can you cuddle, like, twenty percent less?" I ask. I love them but I have to admit it's making me jealous. ("We're only dangerous when we're horngry," Lily had said that night. Hungry-horny.) That's how I feel now, seeing her again. I want another night like that. It doesn't have to be vampire sex, it doesn't even have to be with her. I just want something new and exciting. I curl my toes in my black leather shoes, trying to stave off the empty feeling between my legs. Nadia doesn't know how good she's got it, being able to go home to Winn every night. Dating's hard – especially when you're new in town and everyone's a stranger. Somehow, "Hey, I'm a vampire," is the least scary pickup 13 line I've heard recently. Regular humans can seem much more dangerous, with their blurry ideas of consent and their firm-held belief that "No" means "Chase me harder." People suck, too. At least vampires are upfront about it. Ha. I look over, wanting to say the joke aloud to Nadia and Winn but their faces are hovering just centimeters away from each other and I know any second now they're gonna start making out. I want that, tonight. I've been so into work lately I haven't made time to see anyone but Nadia. Tonight I want to see someone naked. Someone like… "Him! That's our target, look at him!" Nadia says, pulling her face away from Winn's so abruptly I think she might have whiplash. He follows her gaze and agrees immediately, "Annie, yes! I know you don't have a type but when I picture myself at your wedding, you're standing next to that guy." Oh my god. Maybe I am. A strobe flashes behind him, illuminating his wavy black hair like he's got a halo. Lily isn't the angel – he is. Chin, nose, and cheekbones like he was carved from marble… eyes the same color as his skin… slightly sharp teeth when he smiles… "Guaranteed he's from Miami. An internationally famous underwear model – only in town for tonight – but that’s Mr. Annie Pennetti!!" Winn points, and to my horror, the guy sees. 14 "Winn, stop!" I push his hand down and smile apologetically in the direction of the impossibly handsome man. "Lower your voices, please!" Nadia and Winn can't stop talking about him, arguing if he's a model or a brain surgeon or the world's sexiest librarian. Wondering how anyone can get that lucky. As Nadia says next, he's “an indisputable super-babe." Then: "He's coming over, he's coming – oh!" Nadia looks as if she's just been personally rejected when he breaks for another table across the room. "Go follow him," Winn nudges me. "Pretend like you're looking for the bathroom and just – whoops! Sit down at his table, have a shotgun wedding and start having his babies. I'll officiate and name the kids. Go!" I roll my eyes in protest but Nadia and Winn both shimmy to take up more room in their seats, forcing me out of the booth. "Seriously?" I stand and hurry to smooth my dress, but it's not fast enough for Nadia who kicks me under the table. I fall sideways, colliding with someone carrying a tray. "Easy, Bambi!" says a familiar voice. Lily manages not to spill anything, but it’s a close call. We regain our balance and I'm about to apologize when she says, "Hey! I remember you." Nadia and Winn are giggling behind us. I don't want to look at them so I turn my face the other way, right towards that incredibly 15 handsome guy – and I’m horrified to discover he's looking at me, too. His eyes hit me like a bolt of lightning, and somehow, Lily sees it. Before I can divert my attention to my feet she's putting her hand on my elbow and steering me towards his table. "Let me introduce you." The smell of honeysuckle follows us. I wonder if she remembers my perfume, too. Why else would she recognize me? Her pick up line was memorable for me but it was only one night to her. And if she works here, she's got her pick of the Everglades Most Eligible every single weekend. "Guy," she says when we've reached his table. "This is Bambi." He smiles up at us and his eyelashes are even longer than mine. "Annie," I correct her, reaching to shake his hand. It's cold and mine's sweaty. "But I bumped into her back there, so..." "Bambi," she says firmly, like that’s the name on my birth certificate. "All our friends get nicknames." Am I one of her friends? She pulls out my chair and I sit. In high school a boy who had a crush on me called me LOL, which stood for "large and long." He was trying to be cute, saying I had large eyes, hips, and lips; long hair and legs. But I never liked how it sounded. Bambi's much better. 16 "Thanks, Lily," I say boldly, wanting her to know I remember her, too. I wonder if she remembers she told me she was a vampire but maybe that was just her story of the day and she never used it again. Maybe tonight she'll tell her hookup she's a witch, or a mermaid and her legs are going to turn back into fins at midnight so they better get off quickly. I'm a little surprised when she sits with us but also glad for the distraction. I'm usually not a nervous person but there's something about Guy that makes my brain go fuzzy. He stirs his drink and looks at me and I'm glad to be sitting down because my knees go weak when he smiles. "Is Guy a nickname, too?" I ask, hesitant to meet his eyes. He laughs and it's so perfect, it twists my guts with desire. "No, it's my birth name," he says. “Guy Gomez.” "Didn't I tell you about the names?" Lily asks, "I can't remember." "I'm not sure,” I laugh. “You did tell me you were...a..." I feel stupid for even thinking it but the word's already on my tongue, "...a vampire." I force myself to meet Guy's eyes and smile, so he knows I'm just playing along and that I never really believed in Lily's pickup line, even though it worked. "Right," she says matter-of-factly, tossing back her long hair. "We all are, and I'm sort of the den mom so I give everyone 17 death-names. After you're a vampire, you know? You need a new look, a new identity. Guy kept his birth name but sometimes people assume I gave it to him because he's 'the perfect Guy’ or whatever. Now I'd have gone even more literal – called him Adam or Adonis or Angel. I love biblical symbolism and mythology – I love when things are right on the nose. You know it's Lilith, not Lily, right? Lily's just a nickname for my death-name..." This whole rant really sets my head spinning. I think it's all I've had to drink combined with her heavy perfume and the way Guy's sort of glowing, backlit by strobe lights and too gorgeous to look at directly. I steal a quick glance at him, hoping he'll find Lily's antics hilarious and I'll get to hear his laugh again but he just looks uncomfortable. I take one of the glasses off Lily's tray. After a big sip I say, "Yeah my friends and I were just talking about what a great line that is, telling people you're a vampire who has to feed on girls...you know. One of the few times a risky pickup line has ever worked." Guy glares at Lily and the intensity of his brown eyes startles us both, "What are you doing?" He asks sternly. "What didn't you tell her?" "What?" I’m dumbfounded. Is he mad? Why would he be mad at a cheesy pickup line like that? I look between them. Lily's swirling a drink, ignoring Guy's narrowed gaze. 18 "Oh come on, they don't care! Well, the boyfriends might, so don't be anyone's third; I wouldn’t try to take home a married woman if I was you. But if you've got a single girl, why not? It doesn't scare them in the slightest, and honestly, if they really believed us they'd want it even more!" He breathes air out his nose, sharply, and stands suddenly but Lily catches his arm. "You aren't in any danger, Guy. You think little Bambi could hurt you? Sit, you're just hungry. I'll get her some food." Lily stands, leaving the drink tray between us. She keeps her eyes on Guy until she's halfway across the room, then turns and heads for the stairs, leaving us all alone. He puts his face in his hand and sighs. "I'm sorry, she's a lot. You know." "Oh, not really. We met once." I shrug but he looks up, worry marring his beautiful face. "And you're ok?" His concern startles me. Why wouldn't I be? Though I am starting to piece it together: maybe Lily really believes what she's saying and she's hurt people by getting too into the role play before. Maybe she bites people? Or cuts them? I guess I'm lucky I survived the night without a scratch. "I'm fine, it's a great story to tell my friends. They all went crazy for it – a world where vampires eat-out girls to survive? Sounds like heaven!" 19 He still looks wary, but he smiles again and I love it. I want more. "Hey, what would your vampire superpower be?" I ask, and that gets a laugh. "Superpower?" "You know. Mind reader or super-speed. Something you have in life that gets amplified in death." "Amplified? I guess it would have to be super-hunger." "Super horny, you mean." I feel my face flush but this time I hold his gaze. I don't want to do the boring small talk. I don't want to know where he's from or if he has siblings or whether or not he really is an underwear model from Miami. I came here to find someone to feed my inner horngry and he's the most appetizing guy I've ever seen. Plus, Lily knows him, and even though I've only met her once she didn't try to hurt me – I feel like that's a good indicator he's safe, too. Anyway, I can take him back to my place, right across the street from Nadia and Winn, with Winn's police cruiser parked in the driveway… Lily reappears and sets a plate of wings in front of me. Just me. "Oh, I'm not –" I push the plate toward Guy but he shakes his head. "Well someone's gotta eat,” Lily huffs, “I can't spend all night playing matchmaker or I'll miss my own chance.” So she's sticking with the vampire line, tonight? 20 "You eat more than anyone I know," Guy says with a playful eye-roll. "Hey! Never comment on a girl's food choices, asshole." Lily pretends to be offended, but I can tell they’re friends. "Come on, I want to dance." She grabs us both and leads the way, weaving between the tables. We pass Nadia and Winn who stop making out to gawk at me, shoulder to shoulder with Dream Guy. I see them lean over the railing as Lily leads us down the stairs, and their eyes follow us into the crowd. I wave at them, and it's the last thing I remember before I'm in Guy's arms. The second we step foot on the dance floor everyone else disappears. The whole world's a blur. I can feel us moving but I can't see anything, being this close to him makes me too dizzy for my eyes to focus. The first time his hand wraps around my waist, so effortlessly, I feel like we've done it a million times before. When his hips brush against mine, I feel like we're already having sex. Staring into his eyes, feeling his hands crawl over my body so gently, even though the music's fast and loud, I really feel like I'm fucking him already. It’s easy to imagine how good it’ll be if dancing's this seamless. We're perfectly in sync, my body's moving on autopilot like it's touched him and swayed with him a million times before. We're swirling and spinning, his hands are on my waist then my neck then my thigh. 21 Then I'm kissing him and I feel a fire ignite between my legs. His tongue's cold and the kiss is electric, it sends shivers down my spine. It's like he's sucking the breath out of me – it hurts like there's a stitch in my side but it feels so good, too. My body melts against him as I wrap my arms around his neck. This is even more intimate than sex, I think, holding him like this. We’re in front of everyone – but it feels like we're the only two people in the room. I've never had a kiss like this before – it's still going, pulling me deeper under his spell. His tongue rolls across mine and I'm imagining, instantly, what it'll be like for him to go down on me. I know it's going to happen, I know I'm taking him home. You don't kiss like this and then go your separate ways. We're making love. We've already started, right here on the dance floor. ◆◆◆ The next thing I know we're stumbling out the front doors, into warm end-of-summer rain, and sliding into the back of a ride share. My heels slip on the slick pavement as I try to fold my legs into the car without flashing our driver, and my knees knock hard against Guy's. "Easy, Bambi," he says, grinning, and I can't tell if the sound that fills my ears is thunder or my own pulse hammering against the inside of my skull. 22 I'm glad I live so close to the club, and I think the driver is, too. If he'd had to drive just a mile further I don't think Guy and I could have waited. We thank him and rush inside, so quickly the rain barely has a chance to get us wet. But I’m dripping. My bedroom's just up the stairs, and as I take the first step he puts out a hand to stop me. "I can't wait." He drops to his knees below me and rubs his face against my thighs. Instantly, my legs wobble. I won't be able to support my weight with his tongue this close, my body’s like putty in his strong hands. He laughs with his lips pressed against my hip, picks me up, and carries me to the couch. Through the window, I see Nadia's car pull into their driveway across the street. I have barely enough time to register that it's raining harder, and then I'm the wettest thing in the world. I hear it immediately as Guy's tongue slides under my thong. He pushes it aside and hikes my dress up over my hips, wrapping both arms around my waist for balance as he moans into me. It's like he's been in a desert and I'm the only water around for miles. He's desperate for me, my hips buck against him and he holds me down. "Oh!" We make eye contact and his gaze sends another shock wave of pleasure down my spine. He's as intense as Lily, just as hungry, but unlike her glazed-over stare, he's all there. He slides 23 one hand down my side and it joins his tongue inside me and his eyes roam my body like he's memorizing me – like he never wants to forget this moment where his tongue is kissing my clit like it's my mouth and we're desperately in love. I guess he's not a vampire, then, I think. And it's the last thing I remember before he sends me on a wave of orgasms so full-bodied that when I wake up the next morning I'm sore. 24 Chapter 2: Nadia My boyfriend’s name is Winner, but he goes by Winn. It makes me wonder if his parents were psychic. How else would they have known that he was going to have such big hands, a big brain – the biggest heart – a tall, gorgeous body, massive brown eyes, and a huge… Ok, I don’t want to imagine his parents knowing he has a big dick. But it’s all true – Winn’s perfect. He has everything. And whenever I like to tease him about it, he says the one thing in his life he’s luckiest to have, is me. Winn and I moved in together our Senior year of college. We'd already been dating for six years; everyone knew we were going to get married, anyway, so why wait? Still, I was nervous to tell my parents. I thought they'd say I was living in sin, sharing my bed with a boy before marriage (even if that boy was as much of a parent-pleaser as Winn). But sin doesn’t look like this: a little pink house with a big flowering tree in the yard; violets planted along the path and in the window boxes on the second floor; a monogrammed door knocker 25 (An “M” for Merin, my future last name when Winn and I finally make it official). I smile at him in the moonlight as we pull into our driveway, windshield wipers struggling against the pouring rain. I took off my heels the second we got in the car and now I’ve got my bare feet up on the dashboard. A crackle of lightning illuminates the sky, reflecting off the glitter nail polish on my toes. As Winn puts the car in park, I fumble beneath my seat for my shoes. ”Wait here a second,” he says, before darting up onto our porch and grabbing the pair of rubber-soled slippers I keep there for taking out the trash. He runs them back to me and opens my door, slipping the shoes on my feet. One hand lingers on my calf. "Thanks, baby," I say, wiggling from my seat and making sure to press my body hard against his as I stand. "But let's take our clothes off.” I leave my heels in the car. We barely make it inside the door before his hands are all over me. I kick off my wet slippers by the door and we stumble upstairs into bed. I love this house, I love our room, I love Winn. "Naughty," he moans. "Naughty, Nadia." He leans over me while I sit on the edge of the bed. I’m kissing his ears as I rush to unbuckle his pants. His neck's still sweaty from dancing at SACRIFICE and I lick the salt from my lips. 26 My mind goes back to the club, to Annie's story about the vampires and how they feed on humans. I want to feed on Winn, now. I'm so hungry for his cock that the back of my throat aches for it. I suck his earlobe into my mouth and roll it around my tongue. He moans and the muscles in my pussy clench. I want him inside and in my mouth; I want to ride him and I want him to hold me down, all at once. His pants come off and he reaches under my dress. "Naughty..." I've soaked through my underwear and I'm dripping down my thigh. His fingers find a little droplet of wetness and he drags it back up my leg, pushing his fingers under the cotton fabric of my thong. He pulls his knuckles along the sides of my lips, kneading my clit from the outside. I'm so wet he can barely keep his grip. He flattens his hand against my pussy and I can hear every movement. Then he's kissing me and I grind myself against his hand. He slips his middle finger inside me. It's calloused and rough and thick but I open easily for it, and then another. He fucks me slowly, two fingers in and then all the way out. "No." I moan, pawing at his swollen dick. "I'm too hungry." He laughs in my ear. One hand stays inside me while the other goes to my throat. He drags his fingernails lightly across the skin above my jugular vein. The blood pounds in my neck, my ears, my swollen clit. 27 "Hungry? You've never said it like that before..." He pulls his fingers from my wetness and steps closer. "You wanna play vampires?" His wet hand snakes around my back, his dick presses against my panties, and I squirm. I love feeling how juicy I am – he's smearing my wetness across my back and it's pressing against the head of his dick, soaking through my underwear. "I want to feed on you," I say. He lays next to me on the bed, one hand propped behind his head and I get on my hands and knees above him. His dick's heavy, it lays across his stomach, next to his belly button, glistening with my wetness – or his precum – I can't tell... I lean forward and drag my cheek across it, feeling the heat radiating off his stomach. I moan, grasping his dick in one hand and bringing it to my mouth. "I'm so hungry." I can barely get the words out. The second I open my mouth, my hand is stuffing his dick inside. It's instinctual. Primal. If my mouth is open and Winn's dick is near, I can't keep my tongue off it. "Mmmm," I roll him around, tasting the salt on my tongue. So there was precum. My free hand wanders between my legs and I peel aside my underwear, pushing Winn to the back of my throat so he can feel the vibrations of my next moan: "Mmmm..." His hands snake their way into my hair and he massages the base of my skull. "Thank you, baby, that feels so good," he says. 28 Reluctantly, I ease him out of my throat but I never let him out of my mouth completely. With his dick balanced against my bottom lip, I say, "Baby this is for me. Thank you. I have to feed." I swirl the spit onto my tongue and push it onto the head of his cock, kissing it like it's his mouth, like we're wrestling tongue to tongue – deep, wet kisses interspersed with moans. My hips are moving now. I've got my stomach pressed flat against his thighs and my whole body's gyrating. My pussy is in the air and I can feel it pouting, begging for something to fill it. "I'm hungry, baby, I'm the kind of vampire than drinks come and I'm dying for it." He can see that I am, wriggling desperately on top of him. I moan and it's needy, involuntary, from the back of my throat – the depths of my soul. "Fuck,” he says, his hands drop from my hair. He squeezes his balls like he's trying to stop them from coming. "Nadia, fuck." "Hungry, baby... thirsty..." "Oh fuck!" His hands jerk up against my shoulders and he presses me back. My mouth pops off his dick and he pulls me toward him, I've barely caught my balance and readjusted my knees on either side of his hips when he thrusts inside of me. "Ahhh fuck," it feels too good to be disappointed that I didn't get his come. His urgent thrusts make my legs shake, he grabs my waist to help steady me and thrusts harder. I feel my wetness 29 dampening his pubic hair; I put a hand on his chest and he's slick with sweat. Outside – thunder – and the rain starts pouring harder. There's sweat beading on my forehead and dripping into my eyes. "It's like your pussy's raining on me," he grunts. "It's the warmest... wettest..." I explode, collapsing on his chest, my sweaty hair stuck to my face. He laughs and rocks me as he continues thrusting into me. He wipes my hair off my face and says in my ear, "I love that you come when you're being complimented." I bury my face in his chest, grinning, still trying to catch my breath, and Winn slaps my ass. He slows his thrusts, rocking me on his dick. I peel my cheek off his sweaty chest and kiss him. "Don't lose energy on me now, little vampire," he says, reaching for a hair tie on my bedside table and pulling my hair into a high bun. "Let's feed you so you're ready for round two. Switch." He slides me off his dick and turns me around, pulling my hips back so my pussy rests comfortably on his face. I pull him back into my mouth, too; this time I've got my hands on his balls, massaging them in rhythm with the movements of my tongue. He adds two fingers to my pussy, fucking me just the way I like it with his tongue circling my clit. I feel myself squirt and imagine the wetness leaking down his chin, he grips my waist and I know he knows I'm close again. I feel, more than I hear, him mouth 30 the words “come on me," and the big vein on the underside of his dick twitches. "God, I love your cock in my throat," I say and he nuzzles my clit with his tongue, his dick twitching harder in my hand. I swallow him whole and he moans into my pussy. I love how you come for compliments, I think as his hot salt hits the back of my tongue. His legs shake and his cock twitches twice. I hold it in my mouth, swallowing again and again to massage his head with the motions of my tongue. Then he pulls his face out of my pussy, gasping, and I let him drop out of my mouth. I cuddle up next to him, giggling while he catches his breath. "How should I finish you?" "Hands please." He pulls me close and hoists his body over mine, one hand draped over my waist, the other back to dragging its knuckles over my lips. I reach my hand to mingle with his, feeling my wetness mixing with his come – it's like velvet. He flattens his hand and drags it across my lips, up and down the inside of both legs. Winn has thick, calloused fingers. I read my porn, where everyone talks about how good it feels to be fingered by pianists or painters – guys with long, smooth hands –but there's something that drives me crazy about Winn's callouses: they're rough, even when he's gentle. I have the best of everything with him – soft kisses and rough sex; he’s practical and has his head on straight, but he’ll role 31 play Sexy Vampires with me, too; he’s always asking me what I want, but when it comes down to it, he just knows instinctively what I need. He knows my body so well I don’t even have to tell him what I want, now. He matches his movements with my breathing, and his pace with the flush on my cheeks: building and building speed until I’m sweating and panting – half my blood’s in my pussy and the other half’s in my bright red face. “I’ve got you,” he says, as his fingers make me come, and I don’t know if he means that he made me finish or if he’s reminding me, again, that of all the things in life he’s “won,” I’m his favorite. "Come on," he says, dragging me to my feet. He knows my legs barely work after sex. I giggle, catching my reflection in the mirror across from our bed: my blonde hair’s wild, all my lipstick’s rubbed off. I sway on my feet and he reaches out to steady me. "Where are we going?" "You'll see." He picks me up, honeymoon style, and carries me down the stairs, past our front door. The headlights of a neighbor's car cut through the rain and illuminate our foyer. "Winn, we're naked!" I say, trying to hide my face in his neck but he just laughs, shoving his big feet into my little slippers as we pass them, and carries me to our back door. He sets me down and kicks the slippers to me. 32 "Come on, let's clean up," he says, holding open the door. The rain's coming at an angle now, but it's humid and warm. A drum of thunder hits in the distance. I shove my feet in the shoes and rush past him into the rain, and Winn follows, barefoot. We take a lap around the trees and the lawn chairs, careful not to laugh too loudly or else the neighbors might look out their windows and see. 33 Chapter 3: Annie When I wake up, I'm alone. I have a vague memory of Guy leaving in the middle of the night, thanking me for the meal, but I don't remember ordering any food… Everything's hazy and wonderful. I remember his hands in my hair, his intoxicating laugh. After working his tongue over me, I couldn't make it back up the stairs. He tried to pick me up to carry me to bed but every time he'd wrap his arms around me I'd start giggling and collapse back on the couch again. That must have been why I remember being so cold – sleeping on the couch all night, listening to the rain pounding on my windows. But didn't he also say…? He apologized for the cold at one point, he seemed to think it was his fault. And I remember him asking if I was alright when we were done. If he ever "checked out." He said he tried not to, but if he got caught up in the moment... Had he used the word vampire? 34 He’d used his tongue, and used it so well I swear I can't remember much else. As I get dressed for work I try and remember more, but every time I imagine his face or his hands I start to feel light-headed all over again as all the blood in my body rushes between my legs. I have to focus. I've got work. I have to be normal until next weekend, and then maybe I'll venture back to SACRIFICE and try to find him again. If I have just spent the night with a vampire, no one in my life will be surprised, I think, smiling at our front desk girl as I pass her on the way to my desk. Because of my job, everyone just assumes I'm an adrenaline-junkie – that I do dangerous things on a daily basis. (“You must have a death-wish!” My mom said, when I first gave her a tour of my office.) But most days I'm just in a cubicle, where I map out routes for autonomous cars to drive. It’s no more dangerous or exciting than selling jeans or making coffees – except every couple of days I have to sit passenger-side while a car drives itself and hope the map I made doesn’t get me killed. It’s not nearly as scary as it sounds, and after the first handful of rides, you get totally used to it. I’m much more terrified of human drivers than I am of driverless cars. Huh. As I settle into my desk I think, the list of things I’m scared of has gotten so much smaller these past six months. 35 Autonomous cars? Not thrilling at all. Sex with a maybe-vampire? A normal Sunday night. “You won’t fucking believe my weekend.” My coworker, Chase, drops a coffee and his saddle bag onto the desk next to mine and collapses into his chair with a sigh. “I went to SACRIFICE…” My heart jumps to my throat. Did he see me dancing with Guy? "...and then I hit a deer on the way home." Phew. Not for the deer, I mean. For me and Guy. I wouldn’t want my hormone-crazed dance moves to be office water cooler talk, today. "That's terrible!" I say. "Yeah, I feel so guilty, I couldn't sleep. I can't wait until our cars are on the road, I wasn't even drunk or anything, just stupid. I didn't see it... there wasn't time..." He clasps his hands in his lap and I can see he's still shaken, he looks half-crazy with big, baggy under eyes and unbrushed hair. “You know what the worst part is? I drove away after I hit the thing. I just panicked. I’m not a bad person but when I hit it, I just… I left. I got about a mile down the road and then I started to feel bad for it, so I went back, to make sure it was really dead but someone else was already dragging it off the road. It scared the shit out of me! I didn’t see the headlights of his car – they must have been off – all of a sudden I just see this guy dragging the body through the 36 trees. He said he was a hunter, so he could take care of it for me, since he had permits and stuff…” His hands are really shaking now, and I feel bad for him. "There wasn't anything you could have done," I say soothingly. "But maybe ease up on the coffee until you feel a bit better?" He nods at me, still jittering as he brushes it into the trash can under his desk. "What about you? Hope you had a better night than I did. Do anything fun?" I shake my head but I can't totally conceal the flush that's creeping over my cheeks. "It’s hot in here, huh?" I say, trying to play it off like the office is just stuffy. ◆◆◆ That night I pull into my driveway at the same time as a pizza delivery van. "Are you Bambi?" The driver asks, looking me up and down skeptically like he's expecting to deliver this pizza to a baby deer. "Yeah?" I didn't order anything, but he pushes the pizza into my hands. It's already paid for. The comment on the receipt says, "Thought I owed you a meal – Guy" and then it gives me his number. 37 I carry the box inside and stand at my kitchen island, ready to devour it, when I notice one of the sauces has garlic in it. Huh, but I thought... I laugh at myself for being so hung up on this vampire thing. He wasn't like Lily, he didn't glaze over and go dead behind the eyes. He was right with me, and inside me, the whole time... And besides, I remind myself, Lily was just hamming it up – she isn't really undead, either. But fuck, that is such a good line! Telling a girl you’re a vampire who needs to feed by going down on her? So memorable, and such a good fantasy! And if they buy you pizza after that just makes it all the more perfect… I know I said last night that I didn’t care about knowing Guy, I just wanted someone – anyone – to bring home but now… It’s hard not to crush on someone who gives you oral sex and pizza. Now I am wondering where he grew up and what his family was like, what year it was when he turned into a vampire. Maybe I'll call him up in character, get him to come back over and role play it with me again? He seemed perfectly willing to play along with Lily's crazy, so why shouldn't he indulge mine? Just to be safe, I don't eat the garlic, but I munch on a breadstick while the phone rings. He picks up almost immediately. "Hello?" "Hey, it's... Bambi." I feel my cheeks flush. "Annie, I mean." "Baby." 38 Well, that does it. I have to lean back on the counter to stop my knees from going weak. Baby. Baby after a first date. Coming from any other guy I’d think he was cheesier than this pizza, but for some reason, every word out of Guy’s mouth makes my breath catch in my throat. "Hi, I got your pizza. That was really nice, thank you." Really nice? Thank you? That was really nice of you to go down on me last night, thanks for the pizza! I feel stupid for saying it, but then again… hadn't he thanked me, too? Another hazy memory comes back – Guy resting his head on my thigh, thanking me for… He laughs on the other end of the line and I can feel him smiling. "Best night I've had in a while." Is he serious? Looking like that? Surely last night was a routine event for him... I mean, it’s not like I did anything crazy or memorable to him. I could, and I will, if he wants to see me again. My mind wanders as I think of all the ways I want to impress him. Next time, I’ll go down on him. I’ll make dinner and I’ll make his head spin. I want to invite him to come back, now, but I also want him to think I'm cool. He’s so crazy beautiful he must have girls calling him all day long. I don’t want him to think I’m clingy after just one night, but I have to see him again. "Do you want to come over on Friday?" I ask, and immediately I regret it. My heart wishes I’d said tonight, or 39 tomorrow, but my brain wishes I’d picked a date next week – played it even cooler. How soon is too soon? I don't want to scare him away. Ha, me, scare a vampire away. He's not, I remind myself. He's not a vampire. But I want to play again, I want to pretend he is and he's so hungry he needs me. "Friday," he growls into the phone, and I think for a moment I can hear the hunger in his voice. "I'd love to." I think that'll be the end of it and in my head, I'm preparing to hang up, but then he asks me if I had a good day at work. Two hours and three pieces of pizza later, we're still talking. I find out he lives above SACRIFICE. Apparently, there are two floors of apartments in the converted warehouse space up there. He's part owner of the bar, which is weird because I don't think I've ever seen him there before. But then he says he's new in town, too, and from the way he talks about the Everglades, it sounds like he showed up the same weekend I slept with Lily. For a moment I think, what if I'd found him that weekend instead? Then we'd be weeks into hanging out already, not having our first phone call... but I feel immediately crazy for thinking it. "Hang on, someone's here," he says next, muffling the receiver with his hand. "Yeah, I can set it up, just a second," he says to someone on the other end of the line. 40