Cherry Pie

by Sotia Lazu

  My body fought to contain the men stretching and filling me. I thrashed between them, while they found their rhythm, seeking their pleasure in my body. Their cocks rubbed against each other through the thin barrier of my flesh. The sensation hurtled me toward new heights of desire. I wanted them to fuck me raw. To rip me apart and put me back together.

  One pushed forward while the other withdrew, never leaving me empty. They moved and positioned me, to better accommodate them. They pinched and caressed every inch of skin they could reach. Fingers dug in my hips. Spread my pussy. Scratched my thighs. Alex lifted my leg, so he could go deeper. Constantine knotted his fist in my hair and pulled to the side, exposing my neck. Mouths closed over my flesh—one nibbling, one piercing. I was a piece of clay, there for them to shape at will. And I loved it.

  The stinging in the crook of my neck, where Constantine was feeding on me, pulsed in time to the tugging in my womb. My fangs itched. I locked my gaze with Alex’s, and he knew what I wanted.

  He leaned down and threw back his head, and I sliced into his shoulder, careful to stay away from major blood vessels. His blood filled my mouth, but I let it dribble down my chin, instead of swallowing. I needed to die on Constantine’s lips, shuddering in pleasure around him, before Alex’s blood brought me back.

  But I wanted to feel this connection to Alex now.

  I was seconds from coming again, and could tell neither of the men was far behind. Their thrusts turned shorter. Jerkier. No longer timed to flow together. They pounded me into each other, chasing their completion, and I was in heaven in our jumble of need.

  Panic threatened to overtake me when I realized I was no longer moving, just lay there, impaled between the men I loved, as they gave me pleasure and took away my life.

  I swallowed down the fear and trusted them to bring me back from this. I wanted to tell Alex it was okay. That we’d make it. My fangs retracted, but my lips were too numb to form words.

  Blood loss, pleasure, and Alex’s weight on me made my body heavy and my head light. My mind spun, as Constantine—or maybe Alex—found my clit and rubbed.

  “I love you,” Constantine said in my head. And then, “Now, Alex.”

  The last things I felt as I shattered in a million pieces were cool cum spilling inside me and a coppery taste on my lips.

  Then I fell... fell... fell... into darkness.

  Chapter Ten

  WHO THE FUCK WAS HAMMERING?

  No. Not hammering.

  Blunter. Softer.

  A thudding. What was it?

  I opened heavy eyelids, to look around. The sound came from close by.

  Me.

  My heart.

  My heart was beating.

  I heaved in a breath and felt my lungs expand. I’d forgotten the need to do this. I held my breath for as long as I could, but my lungs constricted, sending the air whooshing out my nose. My human lungs. My human nose.

  I was fucking human again.

  And I was back in my jeans and top. My feet were tangled in satin sheets. I was still in Constantine’s bed. I stretched, my soles gliding against the smoothness, and bumped my ass against something that yielded. Someone.

  “I think she’s awake.”

  I rolled around and saw Alex sitting on the bed next to me, fully dressed. If it weren’t for the throbbing in my pussy, I might worry the naughty fun-times he and I shared with Constantine—that Constantine and I shared with Alex—were a dream.

  “Hey,” I whispered. My throat was raw. I touched my neck gingerly. Ouch. There was no stickiness or gaping wounds where Constantine bit me, but the muscle beneath the skin felt battered.

  “Hey.” Alex smiled and brought my hand to his lips, to lay a gentle kiss on my knuckles. “How are you feeling?”

  “Alive.” I returned the smile and sat up. Ouch. My ass was sore too. Still, I loved the reminders of last night. Having Alex and Constantine inside me at the same time was incredible.

  More—it worked.

  And how did I feel about that?

  Alex was as excited as a puppy in a ball pit. “We’re human again, Cherry. Or do I call you Gerri now on? I can get used to Gertrude, if I have to, but I prefer Gerri. It’s more you.” He pulled me in his arms. “We can have a life together. I know we talked about it, but it’s really real. I can hear your heart beat. You’re warm, baby.”

  “I know.” I hugged him more tightly but let my smile slip. My chest felt hollow. Empty. Which was weird, since I felt my heart batting against my ribs.

  Constantine sat in the armchair, staring at me as if searching for something. It might be the same thing I was missing.

  “Can you still hear me?” I asked in my head.

  The void inside widened at his silence.

  “Constantine?”

  Nothing.

  “When do you want to move?” Alex whispered in my ear.

  Constantine’s eyes burned holes in my soul, the sadness in them near-palpable.

  “Today,” I whispered back.

  Constantine gave a tiny nod, and I returned it. I would respect his wishes.

  He stood and mouthed goodbye. My stomach churned. I didn’t miss this from my human days. I hid my face in Alex’s neck and squeezed my eyes shut. My connection to Constantine was severed.

  I heard the door of his room open and close. He couldn’t hear me, but I sent, “I’m sorry.”

  PACKING TO LEAVE CONSTANTINE’S mansion was hard. Knowing I could never return had me close to tears the entire time Alex and I folded clothes and shoved them in our bags. Last time I left Constantine, things were different. He’d betrayed me. This was the other way around, and I didn’t feel empowered or validated for breaking his heart like he broke mine.

  As if the emotional turmoil wasn’t enough, I was friggin’ tired by the time we were ready to go. My arms ached, and my back was stiff. Perks of being a mortal. I couldn’t begrudge Constantine for not offering to help, and I wouldn’t ask Wesley to do manual labor, but I wished we had some supernatural assistance. I should have called the vampettes.

  I helped Alex shoulder a third duffle bag, and my stomach made a loud gurgling sound. I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I think I’m hungry.”

  Alex snorted. “That thing sounds dangerous.”

  His snort turned into a chortle, and then a full-out belly laugh. The sound was smooth and round and filled the room. I started snickering and couldn’t stop. All the pressure and stress and fear and worry bottled up inside found their way out, until tears squeezed out the corners of my eyes and I was short of breath.

  “We need to buy food on the way home,” Alex said when we composed ourselves again. “Anything left in my fridge is months past its expiration date.”

  “I vote we throw away the fridge and get a new one.” The memory of Constantine flinging the table into his fridge re-soured my mood, but I shook it off. “I can afford it, with my monthly council salary.”

  Yeah, baby. I was human and rich.

  Feeling awesome about it would kick in any minute now.

  Alex arched both eyebrows. “You’re gonna keep that?”

  “Why not? As far as they know, I’m still a member. If I stay away from them, I’m good.” I shrugged. Constantine said he’d cover for me, and I trusted him.

  “Cool.” Alex grinned. “Ready?”

  I picked up my suitcase and held out my free hand. He took it with the one not holding a carryon.

  We must have looked funny, burdened down by luggage, but we wanted to make as few trips as possible. Or I did. The sooner I was away from here, the sooner I could start getting over my life as a vampire.

  “We should say goodbye.” Alex tilted his head toward the end of the corridor and Constantine’s room.

  “Should thank him, too.” For putting us up. For helping us turn back to human. For giving me a revelation of a sexual experience.

  I let go of Alex, so he could knock on Constantine’s door. There was no reply. I turned the handle and pushed,
and it slid open, to reveal the empty bed. The armchair and table were gone again.

  “Maybe he’s upstairs.” But I didn’t believe it. He’d let me go.

  Wesley waited for us at the living room, two small envelopes in hand. One had my name scrawled on it, in Constantine’s elegant handwriting, the other Alex’s.

  “Master Constantine asked me to give you these,” the human—hey, that could refer to any of us now; I mean Wesley—said as he handed them to us. “He requested that you not share their contents.”

  Sneaky. I was only back with Alex a few hours, and Constantine was making us keep secrets from each other.

  Thinking of him as sneaky made it easier to act disinterested as I flipped open the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

  Forgive me for not being strong enough to walk you out of my eternity. I love you.

  ~ Constantine

  I sniffed, folded the note again, and slid it back in the envelope. As I pushed it in my back pocket, I caught Wesley’s gaze. His face was pinched, his eyes red. He was an old man when I met him, but now he seemed ancient. Gaunt. Crumbling.

  Without thinking about it, I dropped the suitcase and squeezed him in a tight hug. He felt frail.

  After a heartbeat, he squeezed back. “Don’t let him convince you he’s fine,” he whispered in my ear. “He’s not. He needs you, and soon he’ll need you more.”

  There was nothing to say to that. I blinked tears away and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I’ll miss you.”

  He trained his gaze to the ground. “I’m sorry to see you go, but I wish you both the best.”

  We thanked him, and Alex got the door for me. My first step outside was underwhelming. The sun was warm against my skin, but it’d been that way since shortly after I started taking Ruby’s potion. The colors hadn’t changed either. Good that my first experience with the outside as a human wasn’t at night. I’d miss the colors only vampires saw, even if I told Constantine otherwise.

  I drew a long breath. Now this was different. The air didn’t taste of pollution as much. It felt fresh. Rejuvenating. I slipped my hand into Alex’s.

  He turned a huge grin my way. “Let’s get something to eat, and then make plans.”

  I grinned back. “Sounds good.”

  We got in his Chrysler and buckled our safety belts. How funny would it be if we managed to become mortal again, only to die in a car crash the same day?

  Not funny at all. What’s the matter with you?

  His note from Constantine peeked out of his shirt pocket.

  I pointed at it. “Yours any good?”

  Alex slid me a sideways glance.

  “Okay. No talking about the notes. Whatever.” My stomach made another of those freaky sounds, and my mouth felt full of cotton. “Huh. I’m thirsty too.” Human thirst was different to bloodlust. It wasn’t all consuming. Just a nagging reminder that I had to have some liquid. I ran the tip of my tongue over my canines. If I were still a vampire, these would be way longer by now—I was hungry, thirsty, and in close proximity to a hot human male.

  I wasn’t a vampire any more, and I should stop comparing my old reality to this one.

  “Burger and a milkshake?” Alex asked as he passed the open gates.

  I tried hard not to look behind. “I don’t feel like it. How about pizza?” I doubted I’d ever want a burger again. I’d forever associate them with Constantine.

  “Sounds good.”

  And then we’d talk plans. I hoped he wouldn’t mention getting engaged again for a very long time. I loved him, but we weren’t there yet.

  I flipped down the sun visor and slid aside the cover of the mirror, to keep myself busy.

  And then I shrieked.

  Alex hit the brakes. “What? What?”

  Honking filled the air, and I said, “Don’t stop. It’s just—” The woman looking at me from the mirror had thin lines around her eyes and several inches of graying blonde roots. Which made no sense, because my hair wasn’t any longer than it had been since Willoughby turned me.

  And yay to that, by the way. If my hair showed six years’ worth of growth, so would my nails, and there’d be a lot of waxing in my immediate future. Ew, ouch, and eek at the same time.

  He glanced at me as the car started moving again. “You’re beautiful.”

  “I’m thirty.”

  He laughed. “There’s worse. And you’re a hot thirty.”

  I examined my reflection. It wasn’t that bad; if it happened gradually, I probably wouldn’t notice. But it was all at once. Should we skip pizza and go to a beauty salon?

  My stomach said no.

  I expected Alex to stop at a chain pizza place, but he pulled over at the first Italian restaurant we came across.

  “Not sure we’ll find milkshakes here,” I murmured, trying to figure out if my hair looked better in a ponytail. Closer study indicated the color was faded, not grown out. And was it me, or was it no longer perfectly straight?

  Alex reached in the map pocket on the driver’s side and pulled out a deep blue jockey hat. He held it out to me. “Now can we eat?”

  “Yup.” I put it on and arranged my bangs under the visor. Not bad, as long as the Italian place wasn’t too classy.

  My mom told me once that ladies weren’t supposed to remove their hats while eating. I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean jockeys and was talking about the distant past, but it’d do.

  The restaurant was small and cozy, and nobody looked at us twice, even when we ordered two family pizzas. I devoured the first slice before I paid attention to the taste. When I did, I was bummed out. I always loved pepper and added extra to most dishes, but this wasn’t a case of the pizza needing a boost of spice. It was loaded with peperoni and sprinkled with jalapenos, and yet it lacked oomph.

  “Is something wrong?” Alex asked.

  “The flavors are understated. Blunter than I’m used to.”

  He gobbled down a huge bite. “Tastes fine to me.”

  Because he’d only been a vampire a short while. Not long enough for his flavor buds to adjust permanently. I could pretend it was my pizza’s fault and other things would taste normal, but I knew better.

  Still—human, back with a guy I loved, and about to splurge on myself and on renovating his apartment for us. It was all good.

  “Let’s go shopping,” I said, feigning enthusiasm for my food.

  “For...?”

  “Everything. Clothes, shoes, furniture... But first I have to fix this mess.” I indicated my head with a twirl of my finger.

  “Your face?”

  I glared, before I saw the glint in his eyes. “My hair,” I said pointedly, but couldn’t keep the corners of my lips from tugging up.

  Alex reached across the table and took my hand in both of his. “Are you okay with this?”

  “With the pizza, or with you implying I need plastic surgery?” By the way, I could finally get some work done. Hello lipo and new boobs.

  “You know what I mean.” When he was in detective mode, there was no changing the subject.

  I shrugged and guzzled my soda. “It’ll take some getting used to, but I’m more than okay.” Except there was a pressure low on my belly I hadn’t felt in a while. I jumped up, jostling the table. “Be right back,” I said, and ran to the ladies’ room.

  Running full speed was weird too, like I waded through Jell-O. But the weirdest thing ever was peeing for the first time in half a dozen years. I thought it’d never end. And I’ll spare you the horror that’s the Ladies’ Room Experie—

  No, wait. I won’t. It’s horrible. You can’t touch anything. Can’t sit down. If you’re an idiot like me and keep your cell phone in your back pocket, you have to tuck it under your chin and pray it stays put. While you’re hovering over the toilet with your knees half bent. Killer exercise for the thighs and glutes.

  At least the place seemed clean, smelled fresh, and had toilet paper.

  I washed my hands and returned to the table.
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  Alex managed three quarters of a pizza, but I stopped halfway through the third slice.

  He sat back and rubbed his stomach. “I’d missed feeling full after a shitload of carbs,” he said.

  “I know, right?” I popped the button on my jeans. That was something I could do without. I’d have to start watching my diet. My only consolation was that it’d be easier with food tasting like cardboard.

  “So what’ll you do with your hair?”

  Alex’s question threw me. “Retouch the red? Maybe grow out the bangs.”

  “Why don’t you go blonde again? It suited you.” He’d seen an old picture in my missing person’s file shortly after we met.

  “It washed me out,” I said.

  “It’ll be different. A fresh start.”

  A human start. A worrisome thought dawned on me. “Are you trying to erase the woman who... who was in that room, with you and Constantine?”

  “No.” He answered immediately, but it was the shock in his eyes that convinced me he was being honest. “God, no. If it weren’t for that woman, I wouldn’t have this woman with me.”

  “You know it’s the same woman, right? I’m me?”

  “I know. And every moment of your life has shaped you. That includes last night, which was mind blowing.”

  “So it didn’t bother you to watch me with Constantine?” I whispered.

  He grimaced. “It wasn’t my favorite thing ever, but it was necessary.”

  Time for brutal honesty. “It wasn’t necessary for me to be so into it.”

  He squeezed my leg under the table. “You never denied having feelings for Constantine, and the man makes me bi-curious. Plus, I’d be an ass if I wanted you to have sex you didn’t like. What matters is that you’re here now. You chose to be with me.”

  About that... “I decided to go through with the change before you and I said we’d get back together.”

  “Same result.” He leaned closer and brushed his thumb over my cheekbone.

  This Alex 2.0 was a curious beast, but I liked how he made me feel about myself and our relationship.

  “I’ll go blonde,” I said.