Soulswap

by Arizona Tape

  “Sapphire blue like my couch?”

  “Yes, but prettier.”

  “Oi, my couch is pretty.”

  “Yes, yes, the beast is pretty.”

  “But I’m sure she’ll love the gesture. Oh, she has a gift for you as well. But I’m not sure where she left it. She said you’d find it.”

  I tilted my head, wondering what that meant. “Huh?”

  Sian shrugged. “She said you’d get it, so I’m assuming it’s an inside joke?”

  “Huh... I wonder. I don’t think we have inside jokes?”

  “Okay then?”

  “I’ll figure it out. Come back here,” I whispered from underneath my eyelashes, my breath catching in my throat. Sian blushed as she stepped back to me. I snuck my arms around her waist and trailed my fingers along her spine. She relaxed in my embrace and pressed herself into me.

  “Aren’t you sweet,” she cooed, softly kissing my cheek and nipping at my neck.

  “Only for you,” I joked, even though nothing about it was funny. Or a joke. I really was only this way with her.

  “Excited for your birthday?”

  “Yes, a little. Although it’s weird that I won’t be celebrating it in my own body? Although...”

  She placed a soft kiss on my skin and I chuckled, losing my train of thought.

  “Although?” she asked, pushing the hem of my shirt up so she could run her fingers over my bare skin.

  “Although...” What was I talking about again? “Oh, yes. Although this body is starting to feel like my own more and more with every swap.”

  “I like that.”

  “Me too,” I agreed, pushing Sian’s chin up so I could kiss her lips again. She tasted of honey and the sweet tang of blood. She fed earlier. Hmmm... That was just how I liked it.

  “Oh, I have a question.”

  “Yes?”

  “Can we go out for drinks later tonight? I think I’d like to celebrate by having cocktails with you again,” I suggested, glancing at her, hoping she’d agree.

  “You’re the birthday girl, anything you want, Tate.”

  “Anything?” I asked coyly, biting my lip. I had some fun things in my head, things I never used to think with Devon. But being around Sian just got my juices flowing. Almost literally. Although, that could’ve just been Ayra’s body that was more sensitive?

  No, I doubted it. From what I heard, Devon and Ayra were having their very own healthy sex life. And even if they hadn’t, with the mating dance tonight, sex was pretty much mandatory. Although I couldn’t imagine either Devon or Ayra resisting. They had the same appetite. For cake and something else.

  “I’ve got something nice planned for us tomorrow as well, is that alright?” Sian asked, her voice raising slightly. As if she was worried I wouldn’t want to. Crazy.

  “I’m looking forward to it, Sian,” I smiled, breathing in the coral scent that always seemed to surround her.

  “Good, I hope you’ll like it.”

  “I’m sure I will. Drinks?”

  Sian pulled me from the barstool and pushed me towards our bedroom. “Yes, go change.”

  “Change? What’s wrong with—” I looked down to check what Ayra had put on. “Yikes. That is a very pink dress. Yes, I will change, thank you.”

  Blondie’s eyes sparkled in amusement. “I figured you wouldn’t want to get caught dead in that.”

  “You figured right.”

  I skipped through the living room and happily rummaged through Ayra’s closet. Ever since we started swapping regularly, she cleared a shelf for me and all my regular t-shirts. It was very considerate of her, but I also assumed that her fancy dresses and strappy sandals would probably faint if they touched a plain black shirt. Oh well.

  Something crunched as I pulled a shirt from the pile and I dug under them. A neatly wrapped box appeared from the stack with a little card on it.

  For Tate. Happy birthday! (P.S. You can open it now)

  I grinned. Ayra was right, there was no way I couldn’t have found this. Not with her dressing me in this pink monstrosity. And from all the stories Devon and Sian were telling her, she must’ve been getting a pretty good image of me. At least, she seemed to have figured out how impatient I was.

  Greedily, I ripped the paper away from the box and gasped.

  The most beautiful, silver watch appeared from under the wrapping paper and happily, I slapped it on my wrist.

  So Ayra did get the hint. Not that it was hard to miss, since I’d been drawing fake watches on our wrist. Not having the time with me annoyed me immensely, but even with us swapping as much as we did, I didn’t feel alright pushing something on Ayra. That being said, apparently drawing on our wrist was fine.

  Ehhh... My head was weird. But this was clear.

  I tilted my arm and glanced at the watch. It was very similar to the one I had and I was sure that was intentional. Yes, with this watch, it felt like my body. I pushed my hair up in a tail and shot a brief glance in the mirror. Even with the fangs and the green eyes, I associated this face with me. In fact, the image of myself in my head had grown fangs. But I hadn’t managed to swap out Ayra’s green eyes for my blue ones. They stayed, but that made sense. Even before the swaps, it were always the blue in my irises that grounded me.

  But still. I looked like me, I felt like me. I was me.

  “Tate?” Sian entered the bedroom and wrapped herself around me. “What are you doing?”

  “Just looking at myself,” I smiled, loving how Sian’s reflection added to mine.

  She grinned against my skin as she kissed me. “Can’t blame you, I also like looking at you,” she mused.

  “We look good together.”

  She nodded, her blonde hair falling over my shoulder. “We do, don’t we?”

  “Very much so.”

  “If you want to go out for drinks, we should leave now. Otherwise, I don’t think we’ll be leaving this bedroom anytime soon,” she grinned suggestively, gently blowing on my neck. I bit my lip as I recalled the latest thing she tried out with me last night and tried to hide the blush on my cheek.

  “We can save that for much later.”

  “Yes, so let’s go.”

  “Yes, teacher,” I teased, making her eyes sparkle.

  “Don’t start, Tate.”

  “I wouldn’t dare,” I laughed, reluctantly pulling out of her embrace and dancing out of our bedroom. Yes, we definitely needed to leave now before I had my wicked vampire way with her.

  Chapter 21

  “Morning.”

  I snuggled into the warm body hugging me from behind. “Morning, Blondie,” I murmured back, relaxing into her embrace. She was always so nice and soft. I could only vaguely recall how Devon used to feel, but I knew it was nothing like this. Never like this.

  “Happy birthday, party animal,” she snickered, kissing my neck. She really liked my neck. That vampire. But I couldn’t complain, I had a string of soft spots on my collarbone, neck, and shoulder blade that Sian seemed to naturally find. I wasn’t sure if they were there from Ayra or if it was just me reacting to them. And I didn’t care. I liked it and Blondie clearly liked it.

  “Happy birthday to you,” I sleepily replied, turning around so I could face her.

  She laughed and flicked my nose. “It’s not my birthday, silly.”

  “It’s not?”

  “No, it’s just you.”

  I yawned as I curled into her. “Mmmmkay.”

  “Still tired?”

  “Very,” I mumbled, wrapping my arms around her waist. I definitely, definitely loved how she felt against me. I could stay with her in bed all day. Maybe I should. Or not, she did mention she had something planned out for us, right?

  I peeled open one eye and admired the sight in front of me. With the sheets wrapped tightly around her and the lines of her pillow embedded in her cheek, she was poetry in motion. The smoothness of her skin, the dark universe in her eyes, and the flickering of her fangs. She was utterly beautiful, a
nd I couldn’t believe this woman was mine. Because she was mine. Right?

  “What’s troubling you, Tate?”

  I frowned. Was she a mind reader? “How did you—”

  “You always scrunch your nose when you’re thinking too hard.”

  “I do?”

  She softly chuckled, pressing her pink lips on mine. “Yes. Want to share?”

  “It’s silly.”

  “I’m sure it’s not. Tell me?”

  I breathed in her coral scent and relaxed in her arms. “Just wondering... We’re something, right?”

  Sian pushed herself up, her eyes sparkling as a laugh played around her lips. “Yes, we’re definitely something. Why? You’re not doubting that, are you?”

  “No, no, I’m not...”

  “Then what’s this about?” she whispered, stroking the side of my face tenderly.

  “I...” I bit my lip, the words hitching in my throat. I wanted to tell her, but wasn’t it too soon? I’d only known her for a couple of weeks, and yet, it felt like I’d been with her my whole life.

  “I love you too,” Sian smiled back, making me blush red. She definitely was some sort of mindreader. Or a Tate reader. She seemed to read me like an open book and I couldn’t decide whether I loved it or found it frustrating.

  My blonde softly nibbled on my bottom lip and bumped her tongue against mine. Definitely loved it. She tangled her hands in my hair and thoroughly kissed me with her whole body. Damn, there was one thing Sian excelled in and that was kissing. She was great at everything else, but her kisses were just so, so, so...

  Breathlessly, I paused and pulled slightly back. “If you’re going to kiss me like that, we’re not getting out of bed anytime soon,” I warned her a little breathlessly.

  “I only made plans for the afternoon,” she smirked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

  “You did?”

  “Yes, I figured you wouldn’t like getting up too early.”

  I bit my lip. Damn, she was so perfect. “So we have time?”

  Her breath tickled my lips. “Seas of time.”

  “The only seas I like,” I laughed, pulling my vampire into me. There was no way I was going back to sleep now. No, regardless of how much I loved sleeping, being with Sian trumped that. Easily.

  “Where are we going?” I whined impatiently, glaring at the back of the blonde’s skull. Man, she was beautiful and perfect, but surprises were mean. Surprises meant you had to wait until you knew what happened. And I didn’t like waiting.

  “Just a moment,” Sian replied, like she had done five or six times already.

  “Siaannnnn,” I pouted, tugging on her arm so she’d look at me. Maybe if I gave her my puppy face, she’d cave and tell me what we were doing in this meadow.

  “We’re really here, it’s just over the next hill.”

  “You promise?”

  She flicked my nose and intertwined our fingers. “I promise.”

  “Fine, but only cause it’s you.”

  “I can live with that,” she smiled, tugging me along. The gentle warmth of the sun danced on my skin and turned my blonde’s hair to gold. She was radiantly stunning.

  “We’re here.”

  I grinned as a familiar scene unfolded in front of my eyes. A red and white checkered blanket, a woven basket, and a bunch of pillows.

  “Awww, you made us a picnic?”

  Sian nodded, trying to hide the blush on her cheek. “Yes, I thought it would be nice... Since it’s technically the first thing we did together.”

  The memory of my first swap ran through my head and I recalled how confused I’d been to wake up in the blonde’s arms. It seemed so long ago, but it couldn’t have been more than two months back? Maybe even less.

  “You like it?” she hesitantly asked, mistaking my silence for disapproval.

  I pecked her on the lips and tugged her towards the blanket. It looked so inviting, so picture perfect, and I could only imagine how much time she spend on setting it up.

  “I love it,” I breathed, falling down on top of one of the fluffy pillows.

  “Yes?”

  I tugged Sian down next to me. “Yes,” I affirmed, locking eyes with her so she could see just how much I loved it.

  A sigh of relief escaped from her chest. “Oh, I’m glad.”

  “It’s perfect. I love picnics.”

  “Because it means you don’t have to cook?”

  I gave her a lopsided grin. “Partially.”

  She hid the smirk on her face and pulled a bottle of champagne from the cooler. The drink sparkled as it hit the flutes and I happily toasted my birthday.

  “To a lot more years together, right?” I smiled hopefully, glancing at Sian.

  “To all our years together,” she confirmed, slightly twisting the words to a different meaning.

  “What are you saying? You’re not proposing to me, are you?” I joked, a slight panic bubbling up in my gut. Yes, I loved Sian, yes, I wanted to be with her, but another marriage proposal? That would be a little bit too fast after my other one fell apart.

  “No, this is not a proposal. Just a promise. Or a wish, if you will,” she explained, waving away my worries. She nipped from her glass and smiled from behind the rim. “When I propose to you, you’ll know.”

  I swallowed a gulp. “When?” Not if?

  “Strawberries?” Sian asked, holding out a little box with the red fruit. She winked as she deliberately avoided my question and I decided to let it slide. There was no reason to dive into something that could potentially open a can of worms. We really weren’t ready for marriage yet and we didn’t need to rush. We had our whole lives ahead of us. And unlike dragons, I didn’t need an elaborate mating ceremony that bound me to my partner.

  “Oh shit.”

  “What’s wrong? Did I freak you out?”

  I quickly shook my head, feeling awful for just blurting stuff out. “No, not you. Just thinking about the dragon ceremony on the other side.”

  “What about it?” she asked, biting in the strawberry. A trickle of the juice ran down her chin and the image of blood flashed through my mind. How appetizing. Maybe I should lick it from her skin, and then lick something else.

  “Earth to Tate? What about the ceremony?” Sian snapped her fingers, bringing me out of the daydream.

  “Right. So yeah, it’s basically a marriage ceremony.”

  Sian choked on her sip of champagne. “What?”

  “Yeah, oops. It’s so self-evident in our community, I forgot about it. Devon might as well,” I pondered, wondering how surprised Ayra would be when they started the chanting.

  “So... Ayra and Devon are getting married?”

  “Dragon married,” I nodded, peeking into the basket. What other kind of goodies was Sian hiding in there?

  “Oh wow. That’s... Fast.”

  Oooh, there were chocolate chip cookies in there. My favourite. And sausage sandwiches. Even better!

  “Yes, but there’s really no way around it. Female dragons always mate and marry when they turn twenty-five,” I explained, with a mouth full of egg and sausage.

  “That’s... Interesting.”

  “Yes, I hope Devon told Ayra before the ceremony is over.”

  Sian scratched her head. “In any case, I’m sure Ayra is fine with it. She’s head over heels with Devon.”

  “Like you are with me?”

  Her eyes twinkled. “Exactly like I am with you.”

  I couldn’t hide the smile breaking through on my face. “This is turning out to be the best birthday ever.”

  “Really? But so far we’ve only rolled around in bed and now we’re at a picnic.”

  “Yes, but you’re here. That all I really need for this to be the best birthday.”

  She hid behind one of the checkered pillows. “Stop it.”

  “I’m serious, Sian. Before you, before all of this... I was a shell of myself. I existed. But I didn’t really do much, or wanted anything. But now that I’m wit
h you, it’s like a whole world has opened.”

  “It has?”

  “Yes, and there’s no place I rather be, no one I rather be with,” I admitted, rummaging through the contents of the picnic basket. Oh, she even brought grilled pieces of squid. I loved squid. I figured it was probably one of the things left over from my dragon existence, but I didn’t mind. If that was all the side-effects I had from swapping bodies with another person, I’d gladly take that.

  I threw the tentacle in my mouth and chomped away. “This is the best surprise I’ve ever had.”

  Sian’s eyes lit up. “I’ve got another surprise for you.”

  “You do?” I tilted my head, hoping it was cute. Maybe if I nibbled on her neck, she’d tell me what else she had planned.

  “Yes, but it’s for when we’re back home.”

  Home... Her little flat definitely felt more like home than my place with Devon ever did. But maybe that just had to do with the scent of coral that seemed inherent to the place. It reminded me of Sian and well, Sian was home.

  “What’s the surprise?” I tried, fluttering my eyelashes at her. If there was one thing that usually worked, it was that.

  She flicked my nose and threw another strawberry in her mouth. “I’m not telling you.”

  “Oh, please?”

  “Whilst I love the begging, it’s not going to work. Just enjoy the moment.”

  Only slightly disgruntled, I took another bite from the squid and decided to let it go. If there was one person worth waiting for, it was my blonde vampire.

  It was only back home, I discovered just how much it was worth waiting for.

  “Wow...” I muttered, my mouth falling open as Sian appeared from the bedroom. The black lace clung to her every curve and I both cursed and loved it. It barely, barely covered her up, but it sure hid the best things from my eyes.

  “Fuck.”

  “You like it?” she teased, twirling around so she could show me everything. She pushed the glasses further back up her nose and flashed me her sternest look.

  With a dry mouth, I admired the blonde in front of me. Who would’ve thought. She was always so sweet and gentle, and suddenly, here she was, fulfilling all my teacher fantasies. Probably fulfilling almost everyone’s fantasy, but wow. That was just... Wow.