“He gave you keys already?” Taylor asked at the door.
“I may have found a spare key and had a copy made while he was at school last week,” Lorelei shrugged. “You should be warned that I am a demon prone to all sorts of mischief.”
“You’re not using some sort of sexy mind control on me right now, are you?” Taylor asked. She didn’t sound like she’d be all that mad about it.
Lorelei drew her inside to close the door behind her. “I confess that I calmed you so that you might hear me out a couple of times,” she said. Lorelei moved close, putting one arm around her while the other hand trailed up Taylor’s leg. “But I’m not exactly capable of mind control. I’ve used little upon you that could be called magic.”
Taylor gasped, melting in her arms. “You don’t call this magic?”
“Not at all,” Lorelei whispered into Taylor’s ear. She unfastened Taylor’s pants and slipped her hand inside. “But I have tasted your desires. I know you want to have other men.”
“Oh.”
“Is this what you would like my help with?”
“Ye-yes,” Taylor managed. Her breath was hot against Lorelei’s neck. “Alex said you could…help me…keep things, um…consequence-free?”
“I could,” Lorelei smiled. “Of all my love’s friends, you are easily my favorite.”
“God, I’m getting so dirty.”
“Ssshhh. Think nothing of it. Just between us girls.” Lorelei’s touch continued to roam. “I can help you find and properly prepare a couple of attractive young men deserving of a night or two as your devoted toys. We can ensure they’ll later go their separate ways with smiles on their faces and no strings attached.”
“You could be there with me?”
“Yes, though I will not betray Alex’s wishes. I can be there for you, but you’ll have to remember that the rest of the entertainment is there only for you, too.”
“Seems kind of…unfair…oh wow…”
“Alex is young yet. I am his first real love. In ten or twenty years, he may slacken my leash a little more with regards to other-Ooohhh!” Lorelei tensed, suddenly pressing in bodily on Taylor. The younger woman blinked, providing some measure of support for the trembling succubus. “Alex,” Lorelei whispered hoarsely against Taylor’s shoulder. “Oh, my love.”
Taylor helped her take a seat on the stairs. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
“No,” Lorelei breathed, her gaze seeming far away. “Something wonderful.”
“Huh. He really is a slut. Is it always this good for you?” Taylor giggled.
“Not always,” Lorelei gasped. Not ever, she thought, but there was no reason to be tactless. She felt even better about drawing Taylor inside, knowing how best to ride out something like this. She drew Taylor in close and asked, “Weren’t we moving upstairs?”
* * *
“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked. She sat across from Alex at a small table in the campus lounge. She had a milkshake. He had a hamburger and fries, which he ate quickly. After spending most of his break in a pile of leaves, His next class wouldn’t be long in coming.
“You’re making me a little self-conscious.”
“I am?” She leaned forward on the table, with both hands on her milkshake.
“You’re watching me eat while you’ve got nothing. It’s kind of awkward.”
Her eyes never left his, but she pointedly put the straw of her milkshake in her mouth. Alex just laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. It’s like…” he shook his head, chowing down on another fry. “I don’t want to sound like a jerk. Obviously I’m happy you’re here, but…I guess angels don’t exactly date, do they?”
Rachel opened her mouth as if to respond, then closed it. She put her hands over her face. “Yes and no,” she sighed. “Wow. Yes, Alex, I understand dating. I’ve seen it. I’m sorry. I’m being a fucking spazz.”
“It’s fine,” Alex said. “I’m fine. I just felt weird that you were staring is all. I’m good.”
“It’s not that. Ugh. This sucks ass.” She peered out at him from between her fingers. Then her hands fell away. “There’s something I haven’t told you. And I didn’t want to tell you because you’re not supposed to talk about your ex during a first date, right? If that’s what this is? Are we dating?”
Alex blinked. “I don’t know, are we?”
“If you want to be. I’m a little past the dating stage with you, I think. If it’s what you need…it’ll drive me batshit insane, but I can deal.”
“Um.” He hesitated, unsure of which way to take this. “What stage are you at?”
“Alex, you’ve hardly spent any time with me at all while I’ve been all over you like the fucking KGB for days. I know shit about you that you aren’t capable of knowing yourself. I can’t answer that and not sound psycho.”
“So sound psycho.” Alex suggested.
Rachel inhaled nervously. “I’m at the ‘run away with him and never look back’ stage.” She pursed her lips a bit, watching as if she expected him to bolt. “We can take Lorelei, though. I’m totally okay with that. I can share you as long as I can have you all to myself, too.”
Alex laughed. She laughed, too, mostly at herself. “You’re right,” he said, “that sounds kind of psycho.”
“Then why are you laughing?”
“Because you make me feel good?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just…do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Funny you should ask that. No. Not for about five hundred years.”
“Neither do I. But every time you’re around I feel great and I want more.”
Her face brightened. “That’s so sweet.”
“I don’t know how else to say it. You’re just so alive. You feel good to be with. You’re witty, you’re smart. Funny. You’ve just got this energy, and I know it’s totally strange, but I feel like we just…click.”
Rachel nodded. “We do.”
“I almost feel bad about saying that.”
“Why? Because of Lorelei? Don’t. I know you love her. I think that’s fucking awesome. I’d never let anything come between you two. Why would that make any difference?”
“Because it’s like I’m comparing her to you. As amazing as you both are, that’s bound to leave one of you feeling short-changed somehow.”
The angel shrugged. “Every relationship is different. Whatever feelings you have for me don’t necessarily reflect on your feelings for her or vice versa, or for anyone else. Tell me how you feel about her. Gush about her. Get mushy. Honestly, I’ll be happy to hear it. Neither one of us is going to get jealous of the other, Alex. There’s bound to be some friction between us, but I think the worst of that has already passed.”
“You don’t believe in one woman, one man, then?”
“Heaven isn’t against gay marriage, no,” Rachel deadpanned. She waited for him to laugh, which after a moment he did. “Monogamous love is beautiful. Polyamory is beautiful, too. Love is beautiful, period. Like I said, jealousy isn’t something I have to deal with. I’m not exactly a normal girl, Alex. Neither is Lorelei. I want to be with you. The rest is just details.”
Alex heard the catch in her voice. Something more waited to be said, but he doubted the lounge right before his next class was the time and place for it. He decided to change the subject. “You were going to tell me something about your ex. If you want me to talk about Lorelei, I guess that’s fair.”
Rachel’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah,” she sighed. “Guess I better just get this out of the way…I used to be involved with someone. Another angel.”
“Okay.”
“I used to think he was all that and a bag of chips, but in 1517 I realized he’s more like a great big bag of rotting cocks.”
Alex nearly choked. He put the rest of his burger down. Clearly he was done eating here.
“It gets into all that stuff I can’t tell mortals. But his name is Vincent, and he’s…I used to follow him around like a puppy thinking everything he did was cool. Thinking he was heroic. Then we actually became involved. We were in love for centuries. Or at least I was. Eventually I realized that Vincent is only in love with Vincent. I started to realize that he’s just a big show. He doesn’t really do anything meaningful. Doesn’t change anything. He’ll never admit it, but he knows it.”