CHAPTER 1 #2
“We prescribe a period of time every time we separate, but we don’t always stick to it.
Loving each other for all eternity isn’t what they make it out to be in the classics, is it?
” Cassia moaned then and closed her eyes.
“We have lived together far longer than any of these humans you choose to associate with. I enjoy our breaks, my love, but it’s time to end this one and focus again on us.
” She tapped her unfinished cigarette into an ashtray and spread her lower lips with her now-free hand, giving Iro a better view, which she took in.
“Your tongue knows just the spot, baby. Please come back and lick it for me.”
Iro squinted and said, “You seemed to be doing fine on your own there.”
She crossed her legs and clenched her thighs.
“You’re not wearing any pants yet, Iro,” Cassia noted.
Iro looked down and realized that she had, indeed, not put her black slacks back on.
“Spread your legs. Show me how wet you are,” Cassia ordered.
Iro obeyed, revealing herself to the woman she continued to stare at.
“I can smell you from here, baby. You want this,” Cassia added.
Iro slid her hand inside her underwear and watched as Cassia’s fangs emerged.
“You want this,” she argued and pulled her hand out to show Cassia her wet fingers. “You wish you could taste this right now.”
“Yes, I do. And I will,” Cassia replied, beckoning her over. “Now, Iro.”
Iro shook her head and slipped her hand back inside.
“No,” she stated. “This.” She stroked herself. “This is what we’ll do. Then, I’ll go.”
“Fuck,” Cassia let out, rubbing her clit harder. “I love it when you play hard to get.”
Iro watched Cassia arch her back with her eyes closed, open her mouth wide, revealing her fangs, and come at her own touch. Then, Iro removed her hand, stood, and walked over to Cassia, who opened her eyes and stared up at her. Iro held out her fingers, and Cassia sucked them into her mouth.
“Mm… The taste of you,” Cassia said before she licked at Iro’s fingers. “Let me finish you off, my love.”
Iro wanted to resist, knowing that giving Cassia what she wanted usually ended with Iro making concessions, but it had been too long since she had been touched, and Cassia was offering. Iro didn’t remove any of her clothing, but she took Cassia’s hand and slipped it into her underwear.
“Go inside and fuck me,” she commanded. “Then, I’m gone.”
Standing at the side of the bed now, probably looking ridiculous, she spread her legs and moaned when Cassia entered her.
“Oh, so warm and ready for me,” Cassia said and leaned forward to lift Iro’s shirt and jacket. “You missed this.”
She bit down into Iro’s flesh at her bony hip, knowing that would hurt, and sucked what came through Iro’s skin.
“Fuck, Cassia,” she said and held Cassia to her. “Finish me. Now!”
Cassia stood, thrust inside her, and pressed her bloody lips to Iro’s, kissing her deeply. Iro came when Cassia bit her lower lip, drawing blood and licking it up.
“I told you I would have you how I wanted,” Cassia said when she pulled out. “Now, if you must go, go. But I’ll see you soon, Iro.”
“Years, Cassia. We have years.”
“We don’t have to keep our original agreement.” Cassia sat down on the bed and ran her finger over the healing flesh of Iro’s hip. “We can meet in America, if you want. I’ll get a place for us there. We don’t have a house in DC. Want one?”
“No,” she said and backed up to find her pants, which were still on the floor. “I don’t want one because I have one.”
“You bought a house without me?”
“Yes, I did. Months ago,” Iro told her and slid into her pants, unworried about the blood on the waistband of the underwear she’d have to throw out now. “Wipe your mouth.”
Cassia laughed her deep laugh and asked, “Why?” She licked at the blood she found on her lip. “You taste too good to wipe away, my love.”
“I’ll call you when the time is up,” Iro said and grabbed her bag off the floor.
“You’ll call sooner than that,” Cassia replied.
“No, I won’t. And don’t call me again until it’s time,” Iro told her. “Goodbye, Cassia.”
“Good night, Iro. I love you.”
Iro didn’t say it back. She hadn’t in years.
And as much as Cassia seemed to love saying it to her, Iro hadn’t ever felt the same urge to tell her immortal lover that she loved her.
After decades had turned into centuries, there was no longer the same rush when they were together.
She supposed that was normal, even though being a vampire with another vampire wasn’t exactly normal at all.
Being with someone for hundreds of years wasn’t possible for humans, and sometimes, Iro wished she could go back to the simpler times when she was just a woman, in love with another woman she could never have, before Cassia had come along and changed everything.
She thought back to her life in London, prior to being turned, and to the woman who had captured her heart but had been forced to marry another.
She thought back to the day she’d found out that she’d been gone and the time when Iro had met a mysterious woman in a pub, who had offered her solace from the horrible and unending pain.
When she exited the villa and found her driver smoking, standing off to the side of the car, she nodded to him, and he dropped the cigarette and got back to the car.
“Iro!”
Iro looked up at the balcony over the driveway and saw Cassia standing there, still naked and uncaring if anyone saw her, which was Cassia in a nutshell – uncaring of any consequences.
“I’ll see you soon, my love.”
Iro didn’t say anything. She got into the back seat of the car and slammed the door behind her, angry with herself for giving in yet again.