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Chapter 5:

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That night, she shooed me off more weak and hungry than I had ever been—well, since our last date, at least. Alice walked me to her door to let me out, her lips all smudged and swollen, her eyes all sleepy and smiley. We had been making out for at least four hours and it was very late. She would only get a few hours sleep before work but she said it was totally worth it. I was extremely reluctant to leave her and I lingered in her doorway for a while, playfully begging for her to let me back in. But she only giggled and told me to be patient, enjoying her new power over me. It wasn't often I found myself at a disadvantage with a girl but then again it wasn't often a girl drove me quite so crazy. Finally she let out a cute little yawn and I realized I had kept her up long enough. I gave her one last kiss and then turned and continued down the corridor. She watched me from her doorway with a sleepy smile until I was in the elevator and we managed to blow each other a kiss before the doors slid shut.

But I didn't go home. Instead I went into the alleyway beside her apartment building and scaled the brickwall to her bedroom window. I had no interest in sleep or getting up early in the morning. No interest in anything but her. By the time I got to her window she was taking off her clothes, which was a nice surprise. Pulling off her blouse and her bra, her nipples underneath still pink and swollen from the attentions of my mouth. I smiled and watched as she threw on a tanktop and some pants. She was smiling as well and my heart fluttered as she did a little pirouette before slipping into bed. I suppose I had made a favourable impression on her. You almost had to admire her restraint, refusing to go all the way until she was sure the relationship was for real. Such a quaint little girl. It's a shame I could never give her what she wanted but if I was careful I'm sure I could give her a taste of it. Her bedside lamp was on and she leaned out of the bed to turn it off. The room was snatched away in darkness and I allowed myself to relax a little in the corner of my window.

I stayed until the sun came up and watched as she rose to turn off the alarm on her phone. I smiled at her mussed hair, her sleepy eyes. Longing tugged at my heart as I wished I could've been there beside her as she woke up, my arms around her sleep-warm body, ready to greet her with a kiss. She peered at her phone for a minute or two and smiled when she saw the text I had sent her during the night. She made a quick reply, sitting there on the edge of the bed, and I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my jeans. I didn't check, I just continued to watch her as she rose and did a few stretches in the sunlight through the window. I had never seen her in the mornings before and I was quite delighted to find her morning routine included some yoga and light aerobics. I watched her hold her elbows and twist to each side, I watched her bend and touch her toes in her sweatpants. She did some sit ups and jumping jacks. Finally she shook herself off and ventured into the bathroom. I heaved a sigh from outside the window. As much as I would've loved to watch her shower as well, I couldn't see through walls and I suppose it was time to go home.

It was still fairly early by the time I got back to my apartment. I was still smiling from the sweet memories of last night but the smile turned quizzical when I saw some woman knocking on my apartment door. I approached her across the balcony and said:

"Hello? Do I know you?"

She turned to me and realized the apartment was mine. "My name is Esme Clearwater, I live downstairs," she said. "With my daughter Leah."

Crap. And the day had started off so well, too.

I looked again at this woman on my doorstep. Come to think of it, I did recall seeing her around. A slightly older woman, late thirties, caramel colored hair, kind of MILF-ish. Nice child bearing hips, big heavy boobs under a taupe-colored sweater. Her skin was much lighter than her daughter's, so you wouldn't assume they were related. She was frowning and waiting for a reply of some kind. I smiled as if this was a charming coincidence.

"Ah, yes, I think I met her the other day," I said. "Nice girl."

She didn't seem to agree about the nice girl part. Her frown went deeper and she adjusted her handbag nervously. "Yes, she mentioned you met. Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

I thought as much. Well, I suppose I only had myself to blame. Still, teen ass was always worth a risk and perhaps I could bluff my way out of any wrong doing.

"Oh," I said. "I see. Would you like to come in, or…?"

I gestured at my apartment door but she shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't think that will be necessary." I nodded and waited for her to continue. She seemed very uncomfortable. In fact, those were her next words. "This may be uncomfortable," she said, "but I have to know the truth. And I'm certainly not going to get it from my own daughter, so here I am."

"Truth about what?"

She blushed and frowned even more. "Leah said that…that you invited her into your apartment that night, and…that the two of you…had sex. Is that true?"

I also offered her alcohol and shared a joint with her but admitting that wouldn't exactly help my case. Instead I acted as if these claims were a preposterous and slightly amusing surprise. "Um, no," I said in a chuckle. "It's not. I, uh…"

I trailed off, as if I was lost by the sheer absurdness of all this. Luckily she seemed eager to believe me, as if the real reason she had come here was to simply confirm her daughter's lie. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know this must be very uncomfortable, but you can understand why I need to know the truth."

"Of course," I said, "and I'm happy to assure you that absolutely nothing…like that happened. If I had to guess, I'd say your daughter has greatly exaggerated the facts of the incident."

She nodded, allowing herself to be a little relieved. "I thought she might've. Could you tell me what really happened that night?"

"Well, I found her out here on the balcony and I noticed that she was…"

"That she was what?"

"Well, I hate to tattle on her, but she was smoking. Marijuana."

Her face darkened and she adjusted her handbag with a certain savageness. I suppose I could've omitted that part but asserting my own integrity was my primary concern.

"I see," she said. "She didn't mention that part."

I made a show of being hesitant and went on. "After that, well, I noticed the pride bracelet she was wearing and I had often heard loud arguments from her apartment downstairs. She seemed troubled, so I decided to talk to her. Being a lesbian myself, I felt sorry for her."

She nodded tersely. "Did she come into your apartment?"

"No, no, no, that would've been highly inappropriate. All I did was talk to her here on the balcony, same as I'm talking to you."

She sighed and shook her head. "Then I still have no idea where she was that night."

I watched her with interest. She actually seemed like a decent enough woman, not at all the monster her daughter led me to believe. Her eyes had drifted off to the pool that lay sparkling in the morning sunlight in the courtyard below and you could see quite clearly how much she worried about her daughter. I felt a tad sorry for her. I knew first hand just how poor her daughter's judgement could be, so I felt I should try and reassure her—and deflect any remaining suspicion away from me, of course.

"Well, perhaps she stayed with a friend?" I suggested. "I'm really not sure, all I know is that the last time I saw her, she was right here."

She snapped out of her anxiousness and flashed me a harried smile to apologize for disturbing me. "Well, I'm sorry to bother you. I just can't understand why she would lie to me about something like this."

"Maybe she doesn't understand how serious these kinds of accusations can be."

"She ought to, she's almost eighteen. Either way, I'm really sorry about this. I'll make sure Leah doesn't bother you again."

I nodded, although I doubted it. The woman gave me another smile and continued past me toward the stairs at the end of the balcony. She was wearing plain housejeans and I cocked my head to check out her ass. Not bad.

That day I had the follow up photo shoot with Rosalie. I suppose it was something to look forward to. After last night's frustrations with Alice perhaps a day with Rosalie—and hopefully the night as well—was exactly the thing I needed. Based on our first meeting, I was fairly confident she was interested in me. Despite being straight and engaged, she had clearly been excited by my not-so-subtle advances. She was right when she said we had great chemistry. Not only was she my equal in body measurements but she also had an air of confidence that rivalled my own. I admired that. She was clearly the kind of woman who made her own decisions and who's to say she won't make those decisions with me? In bed.

The shoot was scheduled outdoors at a health club uptown. James was delighted to see me, of course, and if I wasn't mistaken Rosalie was as well, eyeing me discreetly with a smile in the corner of her perfect mouth. The entire pool area had been reserved and soon Rosalie and I were clad in bikinis and posing about the poolside, me in black, her in white, each of us in a skimpy two piece that featured thong bottoms. James photographed us reclining on sunchairs or applying lotion to each other's back and shoulders in a sensuous massage. Finally we both jumped into the pool and got out again and posed for pictures with wet hair and wet bodies, relocating to the spa and wrapping our arms around each other's middles as the water flowed and churned around our bare legs in a whirlpool of a million small bubblekisses. The shoot was becoming quite intimate and while we were in the hot tub James called out from behind his camera for us to make out. We both knew the photos would be far to risqué to be used in the magazine but we did it anyway, moving our lips together and mashing them into a slow and sexy kiss. I was glad I hadn't bought Alice along this time. She might not've approved of this part.

The kiss had loosened her up somewhat and after the shoot was over we stood about the poolside in our bikinis with towels around our shoulders and chatted and flirted and flattered each other's bodies. A slight anxiousness was stealing over me. Soon the shoot would be over and I would have no other opportunities to seduce her. Somehow or other I had to secure another meeting, preferably naked at my apartment. The way things were going, however, it seemed like I might have to simply ask for her number, and I wasn't quite sure of my chances with that tactic. Whatever attraction she felt for me was skittish and easily frightened. I could've used a little luck, to be honest. James was talking to some of the crew and wrapping up the shoot as we spoke. Rosalie glanced in his direction and turned back to me.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," she said. "It was nice working with you. Maybe someday we can do it again."

I felt a spark. It sounded like an offer. She had the towel wrapped around her neck and her blonde hair was dark with water and her expression was one of studied boldness. I smiled and decided now was my chance.

"I'd like that," I said. "In fact, I happen to be an amateur photographer myself."

"Is that right?"

"Mmhm. Maybe we could arrange a private shoot at my apartment. Just the two of us. We could…explore our chemistry a little deeper. What do you think?"

I touched her arm suggestively, a light brush of my knuckles. She smiled at the touch and looked at me. Thinking. I wasn't sure if she was going to accept, but either way, the suspense was spoiled by the arrival of James.

"Ladies, ladies," he said, "such a pleasure to work with you. A tremendous shoot, as always. To celebrate, why don't I take you both out for drinks tonight?"

Rosalie backed away from me slightly, visibly cooling off. I exhaled through my nose and looked at this interruption who stood before us in his sleazy black suit. "You never give up, do you James?"

"On a woman like you? Never." He turned to Rosalie. "Ms Hale, help me out here. You're not as adverse to a good time as Bella is, are you? You could even bring that handsome fiancé of yours."

Rosalie had taken the towel from around her neck and she was dabbing at the ends of her hair. She looked at me, she looked at James. "He's busy tonight," she said.

James was pleased about that. I was pleased too.

"All the better," he said. "Tonight, then. At the Bayside Club. Ask for me at the door, they'll let you in."

He then gave us each a sleazy wink, turned, and went back to Victoria.

I sighed and turned to Rosalie. She had the towel in her hands and her breasts were bundled in the wet white cloth of her bikini. The air had cooled the water and you could see the faint shape of her hardened nipples. I took my own towel from around my shoulders and began patting down my chest.

"You gonna be there?" I asked.

She nodded casually. "Maybe," she said. "You?"

I gave her a slow and steady smirk.

"I just might," I said.

Funny how things work out. As much as I hated dear old James, I might owe the cretin a thank you card before the night was over.

It was late afternoon by the time I got back to my apartment. Alice and I had struck up a texting conversation during her lunch break that continued even as it got dark outside and I was getting ready for a date tonight with another woman. I would've been prepared to blow off my plans if she wanted to get together—Alice was certainly my priority—but it turned out she was busy that night. Apparently she had a family member with a birthday party where she was expected to make an appearance. Luckily our relationship wasn't quite advanced enough for me to meet her family yet, leaving me free to cheat on her—hopefully. So I said goodbye, added a bunch of hugs and kisses, and hopped into the shower.

But what to wear? Something sexy enough to entice Rosalie yet not so slutty as to give James and Victoria the wrong idea. I spent at least fifteen minutes flipping through my closet of cocktail dresses and finally I let good sense guide me toward a nice purple number, pale lavender in color and studded across the low neckline with a row of sequins. I admired it on the hanger for a little bit before laying it onto the bed and searching for some panties to match. I fully intended to get lucky tonight and I wanted her to find something special when she reached up my dress. I suspected it was going to be her first time with a girl—her eyes had that spark of new experience whenever I flirted with her—and I wanted to make a good impression on behalf of my orientation.

The dress was short and seemed even shorter once I slipped on my heels. I had already done my makeup and I took some time to examine myself in the mirror, smoothing the fabric against my hips and smiling at the long creamy expanse of my legs. My, my. What a dish. How will she ever resist? I struck a pose or two, tilting my hips provocatively this way and that, and then I grabbed up a purple purse of pebbled leather that I had selected for the evening—I had a whole collection for different occasions—and stuffed in my phone and some cash and a few other things, and finally—

There was a knock on the door.

Alice?

The thought came to me like a flutter in my heart. I couldn't think of anyone else who would be knocking on my door at this time of night. Could it be possible that her plans had changed and she had come to surprise me? For some reason, the thought filled me with joy. I was all dressed up to hunt but I would've gladly forfeited it all for a night with Alice. Especially if she had anything physical in mind. Still, I couldn't let her see me in a cocktail dress after I had told her I was spending the night at home—and it might not even be her—so I called out first.

"Who is it?"

"It's Leah," said a sullen voice.

Shit. First the mother, now the daughter.

I sighed but there was no use procrastinating. I opened the door and I was confronted by an angry-looking teenage girl who already had her mouth open for some pre-prepared fury.

"What the fuck did you…"

But then she saw my dress, my legs, the makeup on my face, and she lost her train of thought for a moment. It took her a few blinks to regain it.

"…did you say to my mom?" she concluded, with much less edge in her voice than when she started.

I stood in the doorway with my hand on the doorknob, regarding her with a cool and collected poise. "I told her the truth," she said. "The truth that me and you had agreed to. That you spent the night with a friend."

"You told her I was smoking."

"Yes, well, by painting you as the delinquent I thought it would make my own case more plausible."

That made her angry again. "You didn't have to tell her that," she said. "I thought you were supposed to be all supportive and understanding? And then you go and rat me out to my mother? How could you? What the fuck is your problem?"

I raised my eyebrows and even smiled slightly. Teenagers have such a wonderful capacity for self-involvement, don't they? I took my hand off the doorknob and held up a finger as if to tick of some points I was about to make. "First of all, your mother showed up at my door. I didn't go looking for her. Second of all, she came here because you told her that you slept with me. Do you even realize the trouble you could've gotten me into?"

Her brows puckered sullenly, as if it wasn't really fair that something might be her own fault. "I didn't mean to tell her," she said, still with an accusatory tone. "She just kept bitching at me and bitching at me about where I was that night and she was threatening to call all my friends."

"It was still an incredibly stupid thing to do."

"Oh, really? What about seducing a minor? How stupid was that?"

"I didn't seduce a minor. I have no idea what you're talking about."

The coolness of how I denied it seem to take most of the wind out of her sails. As if it kind of hurt. She looked down at my bare legs and away again politely. When she looked up, there was the briefest glimmer of vulnerability in her dark and mascaraed eyes.

"I thought you were trying to be nice to me," she said.

"I was," I told her. "It was you who messed up."

She shook her head, presumably at herself. She obviously wasn't the kind of girl who liked to take responsibility for her own decisions but in this case I think she understood. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to."

I sighed and checked the time on my phone. The cab would be here any minute. "Well, it looks like your mother isn't going to make any problems," I said. "So I guess where all good. Either way, you shouldn't be here. What if your mother comes looking for you and sees you talking to me like this?"

She looked back down the balcony as if her mother might appear right now. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to come by and apologize."

I resisted the urge to facepalm. She hadn't come to apologize. She had come to yell and accuse me of things. And, subconsciously, I suspected she also came because she still liked me, couldn't forget me, and seized the first excuse she could to come talk to me. It was sweet, in a way. I would file away this information for later consideration but right now I had a date. I put a hand on her shoulder and bent slightly to give her a warm smile—and a peek at my sequined cleavage.

"Listen," I said. "Go home, okay? Your mother seems like a nice enough chick. I'm sure you two will work it out. Don't make her worry about you any more than she already is, alright?"

She nodded. I stepped out of the apartment and closed the door, locking it with my key. She took another look at my dress, lingering there on the balcony.

"So where you going?" she asked.

"I have a date."

"Is she hot?"

She asked with a little smirk. I tossed my hair arrogantly.

"Extremely," I said. "Go home, okay?"

She nodded, blushing slightly, and I turned and continued down the balcony. When I reached the stairs, she was still standing there.

It was a fairly short cab ride to the renown Bayside Club, the kind of nightclub frequented by high class party animals and minor celebrities. The bouncer had a clipboard and found my name under the Mather's party quickly enough, allowing me to bypass the line of trendy young people in clubwear that reached to the sidewalk. The interior was pulsing with red laserlights and a hypnotic dancetrack to which the dancefloor heaved with women in brightly colored cocktail dresses and high heels, dancing in pairs or small groups or with boyfriends. Perhaps it was my old age but I'd never quite been able to enjoy places like these. It was just so…noisy. It was enough to make you nostalgic for ballrooms and orchestras and gossip about the other guests. Or perhaps a quiet evening at home with a of bottle wine and a special someone—like Alice.

I smiled to myself and continued around the dancefloor. Alice had been on my mind so much lately.

James and company were in a private alcove that overlooked the dancefloor complete with couches and coffeetables and a private bar. He greeted me boisterously, as if I'd come just to see him. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn at the shoot. Meanwhile every woman in the room had no doubt spent hours getting ready. Men's fashion made me sick with how practical it was. Lucky bastards. He had thrown his arm around my shoulders and forced a glass of champagne on me before sitting me down between him and Victoria. Victoria was wearing a sexy red dress and she was already half-drunk. She threw a bare leg over mine and purred in my ear. James grinned and put a hand on her thigh, enclosing me between them. I began to feel uncomfortable. I mean, really.

I had been looking around for Rosalie and I saw her at the small private bar, poised on a stool and bathed in pink neon. She had noticed me as well and she kept glancing. There were two men hovering about her but she didn't seem to find them all that interesting. She was wearing a slinky white dress with a slit in the side that revealed her crossed legs. She looked like a bride who wanted to go clubbing. Her hair was arranged in a stylish nest of blonde atop her head, leaving her neck bare. The detail of her naked neck caused a throb of hunger in my stomach. And white, the color of purity. Such a perfect arrangement, aside from the fact that she wasn't Alice. By now her two admirers had drifted away and she was all alone. I smiled at James and Victoria and began the process of excusing myself, peeling their body parts away from me and insulting them playfully. Luckily, they didn't miss me for long. As soon as I was gone, Victoria lunged at him in a kiss and James jerked down the neckline of her dress to grab her tit. Such a sophisticated couple.

Rosalie was watching me approach and she turned to greet me, studying my dress with her eyes. I sat beside her and ordered something to drink, champagne like her. The conversation began innocently enough, with some judgmental jabs at James and Victoria along with regrets that we had even came in the first place, thereby establishing that the only reason we came at all was to see each other. Neither said it out loud, of course, but you could see in her eyes and she could see it in mine. She sipped her champagne. I studied her neck, watching her throat swallow. She lowered the glass, the music pounding in our ears. I could tell she had already decided to sleep with me but a girl always likes to be seduced. She had made a remark about the material of my dress and I told her to feel it. She smiled and kneaded a pinch of the fabric between her thumb and forefinger. She was using her left hand and I noticed her engagement ring. Platinum band, nice diamond. I smiled.

"So tell me more about this fiancé of yours," I said, deciding to find out how willing she really was.

She didn't seem ruffled to be reminded that technically she was taken. In fact, she seemed excited. She let go of my dress and glanced at the ring and back at me. "What do you want to know?"

"Is he a jealous man?"

"Do you know many men who aren't?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know many men at all, and the ones I do are certainly no great examples of the species. Like dear James over there."

We glanced over at James. Victoria was nibbling his ear while he made some sexist comment to the waitress and plucked at her skirt. At least Victoria had put her boob back in her dress. I shook my head and turned back to Rosalie. Rosalie smiled and gave a shrug.

"At least he knows how to have a good time," she said.

I smiled and sipped my drink. "So do I," I said. "Does your fiancé?"

"Not lately."

"You mentioned he's very busy."

"He is."

"That must get very lonely for you."

"Sometimes."

I sipped again, smiling at her. She sipped as well, pensive, her mind wandering for a moment.

"It's not that I get lonely," she said. "It's that sometimes I wonder how serious he really is. He keeps telling me how much he loves me, but…"

She trailed off, brushing the subject away with a sweep of her hand across the lap of her dress. For the first time I felt a flicker of something more than hunger. Affection, perhaps.

"May I see the ring?" I asked.

She lifted her hand. I took it by the fingers, as if to seek a better angle. I peered at the ring while she sipped her champagne with her other hand. I smiled.

"It's beautiful," I said. "Almost as beautiful as you."

She stopped sipping. She lowered the glass with a smile. I hadn't let go of her hand and I didn't let go now.

"I'm sorry," I said. "That was very cheesy, wasn't it?"

"A little."

"Would it be even cheesier if I said you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life?"

"That depends. Do you mean it?"

"From the bottom of my heart."

She tried not to smile but she couldn't help it. She was even blushing. "Usually it annoys me when people say things like that. But from someone like you, it feels…really flattering."

I smiled and caressed her fingers, still holding her hand. She glanced at it and her smile tilted into a smirk. She lifted the smirk to me.

"You gonna give me my hand back?" she asked.

"Nope," I said. "Wanna dance?"

She took a moment to think about it, as if to decide if I was allowed to be that assertive, and then she took up her glass, swallowed the remainder, and set the glass back on the bar.

"Okay," she said.

I rose from the stool with her hand still in mine and led her by it out onto the dancefloor underneath the red neon.

—

It was two in the morning by the time we got back to my apartment. Our dresses were crumpled on the bedroom floor along with our shoes and panties and already I had my face buried between her thighs, licking her firmly and fast and making her moan and open her legs wider. But it was far too soon to make her come just yet and soon I relocated my mouth to her own, tonguing her deeply as my hand stroked her side and cupped her breast and slid back down to the area between her legs, rubbing at the entrance of her vagina with my fingers and making her wetter and wetter. Her fingers wove into my hair as I shifted my mouth to her nipples, sucking at one then the other, licking at those stiff little nubs and nipping at them playfully. My hand by now was slathered with her arousal and her moans were becoming very loud. I teased her with a few more kisses, probing at her vagina with my fingers. She was breathing deeply and her entire back arched off the mattress as I slipped two fingers inside her. She groaned, her head tossing, and I quickly dipped my head between her thighs and sucked on her clit till she came.

I smiled at her sweaty form as she collected herself, her glazed eyes fluttering open and a smile moving over her smeared red lips. I stroked the hair away from her damp forehead and kissed her some more, straddling her leg and rubbing my own wet pussy against her kneecap. Her hands were stroking my back for a while and then they cupped my butt and squeezed it. She breathed into my mouth and told me how she couldn't believe she was doing this and how she had never been attracted to another woman so much in her life. I moaned and rubbed my body into hers more aggressively. She moaned as well, squirming as I repositioned myself to dip my nipples into her open mouth, causing her to suck on them eagerly and squeeze them and massage them. Finally she flipped me over onto my back, her mouth still attached to one of my nipples, and sucked on them a little more before dipping her head between my thighs. No hesitation. Her tongue lashed out across the slick wet folds of my vagina and she moaned and mashed her lips and continued to eat me out until I came with a loud cry. She continued to lick at my pussy for a while, apparently quite taken with it, and then she crawled across my body and straddled my face, so horny that she had to come just one more time. I obliged her by hooking my arms around her thighs and lifting my mouth to her pussy, gazing up at her perfect body and watching her perfect breasts heave and sway as she rubbed her hips into my face, until finally she threw back her head and came.

She rode the orgasm until it faded away and then she opened her eyes and looked down at me, panting, ragged, her styled blonde bun in disarray about her head. I smiled up at her from between her knees and placed a kiss onto her sexy wet pussy. She swallowed heavily, her face crinkling as is she suddenly couldn't remember what she was doing here, and dismounted hastily.

Well. Isn't that typical?

I had seen this kind of behaviour before, lots of times. They get lost in the seduction and enthralled in the sex and afterwards they realize that oh my god I just fucked a girl. Although I hadn't been expecting it from a woman like Rosalie. She seemed far too confident and poised to have second thoughts about anything, and yet here she was, leaping off the bed and hurrying back into her panties.

I sighed and propped up on an elbow. What a way to spoil a nice night.

"You're not going to stay?" I asked her.

She didn't look at me, she just shook her head and bent in her panties to fetch up her dress. "I can't."

"Why not? Is your fiancé expecting you?"

I admit, I might've said that a little harshly. She glanced at me, frowning, holding the dress in her hands against her body. She looked confused and angry, as if something had occurred in the bed that she hadn't been expecting. I didn't want her to leave like this so I got out of the bed and took the dress from her gently before she could put it on.

"Wait a second, wait a second," I said. "Do you really have to leave so quickly? Can't we talk for a little bit?"

She covered her breasts with a forearm. "About what?"

About biting her neck, to be quite honest. I couldn't say that, though, and yet the hunger struck me dumb for a minute. I blinked at her. So sexy. So perfect. Um…

Her frown softened but she took her dress back. "Look," she said. "I like you and I had a lot of fun, but…I'm engaged."

"Then why did you even come home with me?"

"You know why."

"Is that the only reason?"

She was putting her dress on and she didn't reply. She zipped it up.

"Come on," I said, one last plea even though I knew it wasn't going to happen. "You could at least sleep here and sneak out in the morning to save me the embarrassment."

She smiled at my half-joke. She might've even been a little flattered that I seemed to want more from her than sex, although she would've been less flattered if she knew it was her blood I wanted as well. She had taken her earrings off and she was tucking them into her purse. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I really have to go. Thanks, though. I really did have a lot of fun."

My heart sank. Why was I having so much trouble with women lately?

I sighed and wrapped a bedsheet around my body and once she was dressed I walked her to the door to let her out. She had called a cab and she had let down her hair and she was carrying her shoes under one arm. We stood on the balcony outside my apartment, me in the doorway. Deep in the nightsky there was a tiny sliver of crescent moon among the stars. My stomach throbbed with hunger sullenly. I sighed and turned back to Rosalie.

"Can I at least kiss you goodnight?" I asked.

She hesitated, a slight blush on her cheeks, and finally rolled her eyes. "If you have to."

I smirked at her nonchalance and decided to give her a kiss she wouldn't forget. I cupped her neck with the one hand that wasn't holding up the sheet and applied my lips to hers, slowly, deliberately, longingly. She stiffened slightly but only slightly. In one hand she had her purse and in the other she had her shoes and there was no way for her to resist. She let her mouth fall open, surrendering for a moment, and I let my tongue inside, caressing her neck and moaning softly at the steady throb of her pulse under my palm. She let me kiss her for at least a full minute, lost in it perhaps, and when I released her it took her a moment for her to open her eyes. I smiled and placed one last peck on her lips.

"If you're ever feeling experimental again," I said. "You know how to get my number."

She nodded, releasing her neck from my hands. She swallowed heavily and smiled almost shyly at the offer. "I'll keep it in mind," she said, and then she turned away and went down the balcony.

I sighed and closed the door.

I was feeling pretty despondent as I trudged back into my bedroom and let the sheet drop. The thought occurred to me to follow her home and break into her apartment while she was sleeping but then I remembered she lived with her fiancé and presumably shared a bed with him. Besides, it wouldn't be the same as having her here, in my own bed, spent and satisfied and squirming softly in her sleep while I fed from her ever so delicately. Oh well. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though. I knew from the beginning it would only be a one night stand, and a same-sex one at that. It's natural she wouldn't want to stay over. The sex was good, at least. Fantastic, really. Even if I didn't get to feed from her, at least she put out. Which is more than I could say for Alice. That saucy little thing.

Oh, Alice. How much longer must I wait? I pouted and noticed my panties and dress laying on the floor. I left the panties there but I scooped up my dress and slipped it on, zipping it up and smoothing it down. I had a sudden urge to see Alice. I could have taken my car but I was in a vampiric mood, and so I opened my bedroom window and climbed out, descending into the dark garden below and leaping the fence, crossing the street in a liquid dash like a cat and coming out of the far alley in a leap that took me to a rooftop where I landed in a crouch in my dress and heels. I breathed in the night air and looked up at the moon. That small slice of white all lonely in the sky. I knew how it felt.

Within minutes I was at her apartment building, scaling the far wall and bounding over the airducts on the roof and down again on the far side. I came to her bedroom window, perched there upside down. I could see her, a dark shape in the bed, and my chest began to throb. Normally I would content myself with the view from out here but this time I lifted my hand and flicked my wrist and unlocked the window through some magic or telekinesis, something innate that just happened. She didn't appear to have heard the click of the latch but I waited a moment and then I lifted the window and crawled in upside down before dropping silently to the carpet like a shadow.

She was facing me in her sleep, laying sideways on the pillow with the covers drawn up under her chin. I knelt there at her bedside and watched her until my eyes got used to the darkness. I could see her face, the shape of her nose, her lips, her cheeks. Her scent was soft in the air and I closed my eyes to inhale it. I opened my eyes again and smiled at how cute she was. I touched her brow with my fingertips, softly, gently. I wondered if she would be creeped out if she knew I was here, or she would understand the pull I felt toward her, the supernatural magnetism of her scent, her body, her pretty face. I brushed a short black lock away from her forehead but quickly withdrew my hand as she stirred with a soft moan. But she didn't wake. Oh, Alice. My stomach was throbbing and I realized it would be so easy to just remove those covers and crawl into the bed and carefully let my fangs into her skin and—

No. No. I could never do that. I had strict rules about these things. Consent was paramount. I could never acquire consent to actually bite a girl's neck, of course, but sex was close enough for my conscience. Until then…I would have to wait. But that was okay. Alice would be worth it. I enjoyed the slow courtship. It took me back to my regency days, when girls were ladies even if something kinkier was lurking just beneath the smiles and batted eyelashes. I smiled in the dark and touched her brow again with the backs of my knuckles, letting the hunger and anticipation build. It was too bad I didn't get to feed from Rosalie tonight but it didn't matter. I didn't need Rosalie or Leah or anyone else. What I really needed was Alice. Sweet, lovely, adorable little Alice. I leaned and stole a single kiss from her lips. She stirred and sighed in her sleep.

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