A Haboob And Some Lube
Note to self: Wherever she leads, I’ll follow.
Readily. Gladly. Blindly.
I t was dusk when we left the theater, a monsoon rolling in as we strolled along the scenic route in the parking lot. Humidity swelled and a hazy film of dust swirled around us. Even though it was still early, it was fairly dark out from the storm and the heat was somehow still in the nineties, despite being a few weeks away from Halloween. Pierce’s hand was warm in mine, swinging gently between us as we walked to my car.
As we passed a particular store, a lightbulb blinked on in my head.
I tugged Pierce’s arm, practically dragging him behind me as we entered a shop with no windows, its neon sign boasting Lilith’s Pleasure . I snuck a glance back to Pierce whose eyes were alight with lust, skipping over the various aisles as he checked out our newest location.
“See anything you like?” I winked and tossed a gentle elbow into his side.
Pierce rolled his neck to look at me and the corner of his mouth quirked. “Always,” he stage-whispered, before ducking down an aisle with . . . unique toys and apparatuses.
I followed a few steps behind, and we mostly laughed at the incredibly large and colorful silicone lengths that would rip me in two if we ever tried to use them.
“How do you think that even fits?” he asked, eyes wide with something like fear as he held a comically large dildo shaped like an octopus tentacle, fit with suction cups and everything.
“A lot of practice,” I answered. “And a shit ton of lube.”
Pierce’s eyes went wide and he gulped, gently placing the toy back on the shelf and backing away slowly as if it would try to find a hole the moment he let go of it.
Moving further into the store, Pierce took his time as I explained—for some, not all—what each toy was supposed to do. His eyes snapped to mine with intense curiosity when I showed him the vibrating cock rings.
Towards the back of the store, Pierce was drawn to a particularly realistic dildo.
He picked up the box, twisting it this way and that as he inspected the toy. By all accounts, it was a solid pick. Thick and long with a realistic vein along the ridge of the shaft. My heart sped as he brought the box close to his face, his teeth gently biting his lower lip as his eyelids drooped.
“I think we may have found a winner.” My voice was breathy, the air in the room thickening the longer we browsed in the sex shop.
“All I can picture,” he slowly said, gaze meeting mine after glancing around to make sure we were alone, “is sliding this into your ass while I’m slamming into your cunt.” Pierce licked his bottom lip, the movement drawing my sight to his wicked mouth. His Adam’s apple jumped when he swallowed, and I reached up to gently brush a finger over his heated skin.
My eyes drooped, the promise of his touch already driving me insane. “Is that a threat, or a promise?”
Pierce stepped closer to me, the toes of his shoes lightly tapping the tips of my sandals. His chocolate eyes were practically molten. “It’s a guarantee.”
Twin sultry smiles met each other, and I nodded towards the register. “Let’s go, then.”
The cashier chuckled to herself as she rang us up. I snuck in a few extra goodies that I was sure Pierce would appreciate later, but his attention was effectively on me right now. His hands trailed over my waist, playing with the hem of my baby tee shirt and exposed midriff. Goosebumps followed wherever he touched. The clerk could’ve charged me triple for all I knew, because as soon as the card reader accepted my payment, we were out of the store.
The chime of the door was muffled by our laughter as Pierce took the bag from me.
“Such a gentleman.” I winked at him, pausing to stand by my car.
“Isn’t that what we’re trying to make of me?” Sparkles danced in his brown eyes, the humor lighting his face even in the dark of night.
I stepped closer, trailing my fingers up his chest in a teasing brush.
“I thi—”
“Got room for one more?” a drunk voice slurred, stepping out of the shadows.
I froze, eyes catching Pierce’s. But Pierce only looked at me for a moment, turning his attention to the drunk man almost immediately.
“No thanks, man.”
“Pff,” the drunk sputtered. “I wasn’t”—he hiccuped—“talking to you.”
I backed up slowly, tucking myself into Pierce. He may not understand the nuance of our situation, but he was still a man. And that would hopefully stop this situation from escalating.
“Why, y’ur even prettier from tha front.” Glazed eyes dragged my body and I suppressed a gag. “What’cha got in that there bag?” His hand held a crinkled brown paper bag, raised as he pointed at the bag Pierce was now holding.
“All right, man,” Pierce said, voice firm and with no room for misunderstanding. “We’re leaving.” Pierce moved to step around the stranger to the driver side door, his arm still shielding me.
Whatever remaining light shuttered in the drunk’s face. His jaw flexed and his brows furrowed, and I knew that our night had taken a turn.
“You didn’t ev’n show me tha bag.”
A surprisingly quick arm tried to snatch our purchases from the store, but Pierce whipped his hand behind his back, stepping backwards into me as we put distance between us and the stranger.
And my car.
My hands grew clammy as the mug of the monsoon seeped into my skin. We were in a fairly popular area of Scottsdale, but it was still almost dark, and we were the only ones on the street.
My phone was deep in my purse so I reached the opening of my bag. The drunk snapped his attention over to me and I stilled.
Fuck.
A disturbingly wet chuckle rattled out from the drunk man as liquid sloshed out from the can turned sideways in his hand, wetting the paper bag it was disguised in and the concrete below. He took two menacing steps towards us.
“Show me . . .” A sickening grin revealed dirty teeth and a wicked gleam. “Tha’ bag.”
It was as if lightning cracked.
“ Step the fuck back,” Pierce snarled, tossing our bag to the ground and sidling up to the the man, easily towering over him.
Wide eyes looked up to his stature, and the man audibly gulped.
“I will shove that can so far down your throat you’ll be shitting aluminum for the rest of your pathetic existence.”
Pierce’s chest huffed with each labored breath, his shoulders rising and falling equally as fast.
I took one singular step towards the men on some sort of instinct, but a tense hand thrust from Pierce rooted me to my spot.
“Hey, man,” the drunk sputtered, “I don’t wan’ any trouble.” Some semblance of sanity cleared a part of the glaze from his bloodshot eyes, but it was obvious he was still fighting for any coherent thought.
“I think you came looking for trouble,” Pierce growled, his voice low and menacing. “And you found me , instead.” His smile was threatening, almost as crazed as the promise that lingered behind his brown eyes.
Pierce wrapped a hand around the drunk man’s throat and squeezed. The stranger dropped his can and both hands flew to where Pierce held him .
“P-please . . .” Sweat dripped from the drunk’s brow, his face turning ruddy as Pierce held him.
I finally unfroze, terrified that Pierce might seriously hurt this man. I rushed up to his side, gently placing my hand over Pierce’s.
“Let him go,” I whispered. “Let’s not turn this into something we can’t come back from.”
The pinch in Pierce’s brow smoothed after a moment, and his eyes cleared. Releasing each finger as if it were a chore, the drunk man collapsed onto the ground before falling over himself as he scrambled away.
Pierce stood there with his arm still raised, just staring at his hands. At what they were apparently capable of.
“It’s okay, you were protecting us.”
His fingers curled, dropping to his side as he looked at me.
“I’ve never felt like that before . . .” He trailed off, gaze falling to his feet as he seemed to process what just happened.
“Angry? Out of control?”
My hands rested on his shoulders, gently grounding him as he worked through his thoughts. The silence stretched between us, filled only by the sounds of crickets chirping and the brewing storm whistling through the trees.
“I suppose,” he finally said, meeting my gaze.
“It’s perfectly normal. Human, even.”
“Does that mean . . . I’m human?” My stomach dropped. The hope shining on his face hurt to look at, because I didn’t know the answer.
My question from earlier returned to the surface: Did he even have a future he’d need me for?
“I think . . .” I chose my words carefully. “Being human is to experience life and all its complexities. Being human is to try and to fail, to love and to grieve, to form connections . . . and to say goodbye. Being human is to know your existence is short, and even though no one will remember your name in a few generations, to live your life to the fullest anyway. To know there is an inevitable end, but to live all of the days leading up to it as if there wasn’t.”
Pierce’s gaze never left mine as I spoke. His breath washed over me, and his heart thumped under his shirt. His skin was warm where I held his hand, and his thoughts raced behind his eyes.
He may have started out as a princess phone, but in such a short time here as a man, he’d already experienced desire, confusion, jealousy, fear, surprise, protectiveness, and now unfiltered rage. And that was all in the last two days.
For all intents and purposes, he was human.
My smile was genuine when I looked up at him, a sense of peace washing over me. I think Pierce was here to stay. And if he wasn’t, why would I let the fear of his eventual departure tarnish the moments I had with him?
“Yes, Pierce,” I whispered, raising myself onto the balls of my feet to kiss him. “I think you’re human.”
Pierce stood there, probably in shock, as I kissed him. For a brief moment, it was just my lips against his, the heat of the October evening wrapping around us, the adrenaline of our encounter with the drunk still coursing through my veins. But then he was present again, and he kissed me back with a force that could rival his earlier anger.
Arms banded around my waist, pulling me closer as our kiss turned frantic. I moaned quietly into his mouth as one hand slipped down to cup my butt over my skirt.
All I could feel was his body pressed against mine, his lips capturing mine, his heart beckoning mine.
“Hey, uh, guys?”
I jumped from Pierce’s embrace, wiping an arm across my mouth to clear any evidence of what we’d just been caught doing. As if it were illegal for two fully grown adults to just be making out on the sidewalk. I shook off the embarrassment, sure that the clerk from the sex shop wasn’t scandalized by our display.
“Yeah?” I panted, out of breath as my heart fought to return to normal speed.
“People usually wait ’til they get home before they start testing out their purchases.” The clerk’s eyebrows raised, looking pointedly at the bag still on the ground, before returning inside.
“Of course,” I rushed out, bending to collect our items, some of which had rolled around on the sidewalk from Pierce’s hurried toss.
Pierce grabbed an errant bottle of lube that had made it several feet away, returning with the cutest blush on the ridge of his nose.
“Want to go find out what ‘for his and her pleasure’ means?” I winked dramatically.
Pierce raced me back to the car.