He hadn’t seen her in over a year. She went to the University of Washington. He went to community college. Proximity hardly mattered. They didn’t turn up at the same parties. There was nothing but brief, infrequent communication online.
Now here she was in snug black slacks, a similarly snug black tee, a headset over her tied-back brown hair and a nametag that read, “Taylor.”
This was now definitely something to die over. Right here, right now. Heart attack. Stroke. Brain aneurysm. Aaaany second now.
“You two know each other?” Audrey said, needing only a second to recover.
“We went to high school together,” Taylor said warily.
“Um. Hi, Taylor,” Alex managed. “How are you?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Alex is shopping for his girlfriend,” Audrey smiled. “I thought I’d help him out.”
Taylor’s brow knit with disbelief. “You’re buying your girlfriend lingerie?”
“W-well, we hadn’t gotten to talking about the relationship labels yet, y’know?” Alex offered awkwardly. It was honest enough. “I mean, we just met recently. Um. How are you doing? Did I ask that already?”
“You did,” she said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. She couldn’t help but notice that Audrey was holding Alex’s hand.
“Taylor, I’m going to take my dinner break now,” Audrey broke in. “While I’m gone, could you count down the registers? We’ve done a lot of cash today.”
“Sure,” Taylor nodded slowly. She moved off without breaking her gaze right away.
* * *
Lorelei strode along the walkway that wrapped around the five-story open atrium of the mall, opening her senses to pin down her quarry’s location. It took longer than it should have. She found her senses as dulled as the rest of her abilities. Given that deficiency, she didn’t trust in her ability to conceal herself, either. Not yet.
She couldn’t guess how long it would take before she fully recovered. That was entirely up to Alex and his ability to overcome his inhibitions. He was finally on his way, and she felt better already, but there was a long way to-
Desire. The sensation took her by surprise. It felt sharper and more intense than the mere lust-on-sight that she’d left him with. This was deep, serious longing, and so very delicious. Aged, at least relative to his short span of sexual maturity. Knowing his desires as she did, Lorelei had a deep suspicion of whom he’d encountered. That was intriguing. The feeling was soon muted but not erased. Longing like that, born at such an early age, would never entirely fade. For now, though, he was distracted by that earlier, newer desire for Audrey, who was mutually interested.
Eventually, as Lorelei continued her search, that desire built in anticipation. Every moment of it left her feeling that much stronger. Alex wasn’t running away from it at all. She felt him embrace this current lust.
Then she located the source of the smell. He was upstairs, in one of the restaurants. Lorelei got onto the escalators, ascending to the top of the mall.
It was the Asian seafood buffet. That made sense. He had even established invisible wards around the place. A week ago, she could have crushed such defenses with ease, but now it would take effort. Once inside, she would be under constant assault on levels no mortal would sense.
She gave better than even odds that he’d sensed her presence, but she waited outside anyway. Perhaps he’d come out. The delay benefited her regardless. Timing often made all the difference in the world. It wouldn’t show to observers, but this confrontation would likely be very draining.
A small shiver ran through her. The many passersby looking her up and down didn’t notice, but she welcomed every sensation. This was only the beginning. Satisfaction would eventually follow, as would nourishment.
There. Right there. Oh, so good. Good boy. Very good boy.
Feeling better prepared, the succubus walked into the restaurant.
* * *
“It’s all a matter of how things come off,” Audrey explained softly to the guest seated on the cushioned chair in front of her. She swayed and touched him freely, shielded from scrutiny by the tall dressing room door and the Kylie Minogue music piped through the store PA system. “Anticipation makes it better.”
The store manager turned her back to him, gyrating subtly. She took Alex’s hand in hers and guided it to the zipper on her skirt.
He no longer looked like a deer in her headlights. Part of him remained very conscious that Taylor was out there somewhere, but he had put the worst of those feelings behind him a while ago. That just wasn’t going to happen. Taylor never thought of him as more than a friend. She had gone to UW with her basketball star boyfriend. He went to community college. He had certainly moved on in the last couple of nights.
Life wasn’t about finding true love with your unrequited crush from high school. That fairy tale sold movie tickets, but it wasn’t real. Reality involved getting burned a few times as you grew up. Taylor had taught him that much, at least, and he didn’t owe her anything. He didn’t owe anyone loyalty or monogamy until there was mutual agreement, and until then, there were other fish in the sea.
Some fish wore skirts that slid from their hips to reveal lacy black boy shorts and thigh-high stockings that all together highlighted a nice ass.
“Like how that comes off?” she grinned over her shoulder.
“I do,” Alex nodded. He was cooler about this now. In the moment. Audrey had never burned him and wasn’t expecting anything but some fun. Maybe she’d always fantasized about taking a guy into the dressing room. Maybe she’d done it before.
“Don’t be shy,” she said, shifting her stance this way and that to give him a good look. “Visuals are important, but this is also a full-contact sport.”
Alex smirked at her sex ed act. His hands brushed up stocking-clad legs, over her hips, along the small of her back. She sighed in appreciation. “I should see how these come off,” he suggested.
“You really should,” Audrey breathed.
His fingers hooked under the lace, slowly lowering them as she bent and twisted to accommodate the removal. “Wow,” Alex smiled softly. “I like these. They enhance the big reveal…but most of that comes down to who’s wearing them.”
“It does,” Audrey said, turning and lowering herself to him. She took up his collar and pulled him into a passionate, hungry kiss. He drew her in close.
She broke off, needing to come up for air. Audrey inhaled heavily, eyes wide as she looked at her playmate with an excited grin. She sat in his lap, almost grinding her body against his, but then thought better of it. She pulled her weight off of him. “See what I mean about anticipation?”
“I think so,” Alex nodded. He had nothing on his mind other than showing her some real appreciation. Even the worry about someone busting the two of them in this dressing room faded. Admittedly, there was somewhat less blood in his brain than usual. It had flooded to a more immediately useful organ.
Audrey could see that much in Alex’s eyes. Saw it, reveled in it. She grabbed at his belt buckle, jerking it loose and away. “I think you still deserve a full demonstration of the payoff for dressing effectively,” she grinned. His hands stayed on her hips, right where she wanted them, and as soon as she tugged his pants down, those hands pulled her very close.
They didn’t need to fumble much. Both of them were quite ready, having indulged in an alternative sort of foreplay for the last ten minutes. Alex was inexperienced with lingerie, but by now he understood anatomy just fine.
Audrey expected he would be well-endowed, but she naturally figured that there might have been a bit of a bend to him, maybe a little give to his flesh. Audrey found nothing of the sort. She didn’t expect the solid, large, unyielding stiffness that gloriously penetrated her as he pulled her hips up onto his.