The young succubus growled when she was slammed into a chair. She watched as the old one paced back and forth. "You are a piece of shit. You really are. That woman loves you, but you keep fucking that up."
"Lauren doesn't love me, she loves stringing me along long enough to think that she does. She dated me way faster than this the first time." Bo spat.
"There are so many gorgeous women that she works around. She could have any of them if she wanted to, but she doesn't. She's stuck on the idea that some day you will grow up and be worthy of her again.
She wanted to call you and tell you that I was still alive. She wouldn't break my confidentiality. That's not something you can hang on her. She was being what she is, a doctor. A doctor that can date anyone and keep their interest. Just like she's keeping yours. Otherwise, you wouldn't be pushing her for something she is not ready for." Aife stopped and faced the woman. Bo looked flustered as she should. "There was a time when it was only the two of us. She held one of our burner phones and I could tell that she was about to call someone. Probably you but she decided against pushing call. That's how close she was to calling you. How close she was to breaking her ethics again."
Bo sighed and took a breath. "If we could get away for a while. Get some time alone. Real time alone, she'd come around. We can't fix this if we have a time restraint." She leaned forward. "My succubus is getting restless. She loves Lauren too. Something I told her just hours ago. It's not about just dating Lauren. It's about loving her and giving her the life she deserves. The life we deserve. I'm not upset that she didn't call me about you. I'm upset that we are wasting time by not being together. I know I can make her happy. We once were and things turned to shit around my Dawning." She stopped, turned her head and blew out a breath. "She's human. There's nothing wrong with that but her life isn't as long as ours. She deserves to be happy. That's all I want for her." She closed her eyes and looked down.
"I won't unclaim her, Isabeau. If that's a problem for you, then you better leave it right here between us. My guards stay by her orders. I don't know how you will get through to her, but here we are. You are welcome to call and see if she answers. I won't tell her what to do. I only do as she asks." Aife took a seat and looked at the woman. There is something so sweet about a succubus being in love. She's never felt it but Bo's aura screams so many emotions that she can't honestly doubt what she's telling her. "Go."
Bo nodded and stood. She breathed once she was outside. That wasn't as long and as brutal as she thought it would be. She doesn't want to call Lauren. She wants…she needs to say these things in person. But she can't push right now. Her succubus is moving around like a violent ocean inside of her. They are both missing the doctor. Longing to touch her. To hold her in bed. Or anywhere at this point. She knows she went about it all wrong but not being with the doctor is wrong.
Word on the street is the succubus is still fucking the wolf or anyone she can get her hands on. That's a lie. Part of her is starting to wonder if that lie has reached the doctor's ears and somehow she believes it. Bo shook her head. She hasn't done enough. She hasn't done one damn thing to prove that she's only in love with Lauren. Sex is different from love in Bo's eyes. It always was from the minute she slept with the woman.
Lauren
The doctor stood up in her bubble bath and wrapped a large towel around her body. She needed that time to soak her body and her brain. She took off after her lunch with Bo and pushed her appointments on the other doctors. Her patients wouldn't be too upset. They are all good doctors.
She stepped out of the tub and pulled her robe on. Pulling her wet hair into a bob, she walked towards the kitchen to make a late dinner. Something simple and comforting. Italian sounds nice.
She sat down an hour later and stared at the plate. She had cooked enough for a small family and wasn't that hungry. She ate her fill and saved the rest.
She retired to her living room and sat on the couch, Leaning back, she closed her eyes.
She was running. Runing for her life and away from the Fae. She had found a small empty cabin. It looked like the perfect place to hide out. It reeked of clean. Clear indication that it was more than likely a vacation home. She had gone for more supplies when she found a brunette sleeping there. Turns out it was the same brunette that she had just had a disastrous lunch with. She had forgotten Bo then, but she remembers her clearly now.
She sighed. This anger just on the surface is not that Bo. She knows it's probably her succubus getting restless but even still, Bo was still in control and could fight off those feelings. Like the doctor fought off the many feelings of calling her to tell her that she was still alive. That her mother was still alive. Even though their relationship felt dead. It still does. She can't trust this Bo. Too many people for a human to compete with.
Although the doctor had never been known or felt the need to concede defeat, she did. When she asked for the break and went to the Dal. She secretly hoped Bo would be there and willing to fight for them. But she wasn't. Only Trick and eventually Dyson were there.
Then Taft happened. And that's where they all are. One man changed the course of everything and nobody saw him coming.
She knows what Bo is expecting. An easy, no problems relationship. Probably because Lauren herself had been too easy. Too easy to help her with her feeds. Too easy to sleep with her on her own, not because of the Ash suggestion. Taft may have been an ass, but he didn't push them to their breaking point. It was already coming. It was coming because Bo prioritized being a PI over their relationship and Dyson played on that.
Lauren wanted to talk. Bo didn't. She scratched her face and stood up. This is getting her nowhere but heading towards another sleepless night. She made a fresh cup of hot tea, drank it and climbed into bed. Closing her eyes, she waited for sleep. Whenever it shows up.
Vex
The Mesmer popped his collar as he strolled into the Dal. Things couldn't be better for him. Aife and Lauren are his girls, the Una Mens are their thralls, and the stooges don't like any of it. He absolutely loves it.
"Still got your knickers in a twist of the succubus puppy?." He smiled as he watched Dyson's hair stand up on the back of his neck. "Go away, Vex."
"Yep still in a twist." Vex smiled and he strolled further across the bar.
"Does he have to be here?." Dyson asked.
'It's a neutral bar, per the owner." Vex spoke over his shoulder.
"He's right, Dyson. Light and Dark come here to drink. The place would be empty otherwise." Trick polished the glass he was holding and set it down for the next.
"You may think that Bo is yours and that's fine but Lauren is ours. She's part of our group. Of our little family, so whatever you two are planning, I wouldn't. We are tired of playing daycare with you wet babies. You had them both at one time and plotted against the weaker one in your eyes. The human. Lauren is almost like a sister to me. I will bust your ass with your own hands if you even think of touching her or doing anything to humiliate her. She saves lives. All that you two save is yourselves." Vex sat quietly but his voice wasn't that loud. It was sharp and strong. "Aife hates you with every breath she takes. As she should." He looked at Trick and watched the man's face nearly turn red at his words.
"Get out." Dyson growled.
"I will because you stink, and I have better things to do." Vex waved his hand and scrunched his nose.
"That was all Aife, Trick. The three of them have some kind of bond that we can't penetrate." Dyson turned back towards the old man after Vex had walked out.
"We can't manipulate it either. Things will calm down when Bo and Lauren calm down. Don't go picking fights that will make my granddaughter have to choose sides. I guarantee, she will only pick the one that benefits Lauren." Trick folded his arms and looked around the bar. Dyson was his only customer besides a couple that had been making out in the same booth for hours. They had fresh drinks, so he couldn't exactly accuse them of loitering.
Bo
The succubus had a rough night and slept during most of it. Which is why she was up, showered and sitting in her car. She thought about her talk with her mother.
She knows that Lauren loves her. For Aife to come out and actually say that word truly shows Lauren's influence on her. Here Bo was thinking Lauren was working under Aife's influence. Her power. Her favors. Everything that most people. Especially the current Fae community would love to have on their side.
"You're not coming, Kenzi." Bo spoke quietly as she felt someone climb into her car.
"Just drop me off at the Dal." Kenzi groaned. She had been hungry for hours. Bo had stopped working so the money wasn't coming in.
"Fine. But when you get there, keep your mouth shut. Stay away from the Una Mens or any fae that we don't know. You're still my claimed human but Aife's return has everyone on edge." Bo started the car and sped there. She needed to hurry up and drop Kenzi off before she started scheming things for them to do. Bo's a grown ass woman but she's also a succubus that needs to be on her best behavior to even try to attempt to get Lauren to talk to her again.
It's embarrassing that it just now dawned on Bo that their best conversations have been sexual in nature. Aife is right. Lauren could have any woman that she wants and the woman that wants the doctor can't judge. She can't even grow big enough stones to be jealous. The succubus can't walk a block without having it offered to her. She had instant chills thinking of how often it is offered to Lauren and how often she kindly turns them down. Not because she's saving herself for Bo but because she's saving her self-respect.
She pulled up, pulled her jacket closer to her body and leaned back. Nothing. Nothing was happening.
"Dr. Lewis, we have this.." The woman started to walk. "No. She will keep coming back." Lauren pushed the guard back to her post. "Bo, what are you doing here?."
"I want to apologize. Really apologize for everything. For asking you to be in a relationship when I wasn't ready. For hurting you with my absence. I know what is expected of me. I am supposed to give Kenzi all the tea. I am supposed to sleep with Dyson whenever he wants it because he's mated to me and I am a succubus. I am supposed to believe everything Trick says. I am supposed to believe they all care about us when their aura has constantly told me otherwise." Bo climbed out of her car and walked around it. When one of the Una Mens started walking over, Lauren put her hand up to stop her. "I am sorry, Lauren. Sorry for pushing you for something that I want and not respecting what you want. You don't want to date, I can accept that. But I would like for us to be friends."
"Bo, thank you. I wasn't expecting any of that, but I am a doctor. I do have to get to work. Thank you for coming in person to tell me that." Lauren spoke as gently as the succubus had. She could tell that Bo was being sincere and she had looked like she had been crying.
"Ok. I will let you get to it. Thank you for listening, even with an audience." Bo pointed around them. "I asked for them." Lauren nodded. "I know. You don't trust me or my friends. If I were in your shoes, I would feel that way too. As I was saying, I will leave you to your work." Bo smiled softly and rounded her car again.
Lauren and the Una Mens watched her go. "She's not going to do anything but stick around for the others." The blonde walked into the building and as soon as she entered her office, she took an immediate seat. She leaned forward and put her hand into her head. She has been in this position many times. With humans. With the Fae.
She kept Nadia a secret to keep her alive. Same as Aife. The fae were after them both. With absolute dumb luck, she's closer to the older succubus than she is with the young one at the moment.
She knows what she did to Bo is the same thing Bo did to her. She didn't come calling. Bo stood in front of her at Taft's and said she knows her. That was a truth they both share. She knows Bo. It's some kind of power high she needs and that leads to some kind of wound which leads back to her resident sex buddy, Dyson. The temperature in the room dropped when she thought of the man. Not because she suspects they were having sex again while Lauren was nursing Aife back to health. It's that she saved his life and he still treats her like shit on his ass. Something he can wipe away and move on. She almost wishes she was the kind of doctor that had done what Taft wanted. She suspects the succubus, and wolf wouldn't have any connection at all if Dyson were a human like her.
To take Bo back in any definition would bring him back into her life too. To throw some kind of case at Bo like throwing a stick for a dog to fetch. Not that Bo's a dog but she would do anything for him. Even put their relationship in her pocket until she sat on it and suddenly remembered they had a relationship.
The clubhouse.
Kenzi's eyes went wide and her ears nearly bled at the sounds coming from their house. "Bo?! What are you doing? Spring cleaning again? It's not exactly spring, yet."
"I'm cleaning out some of the house. The vending machine has expired food. The kitchen counter is where she made her cupcakes. The couch is where we..nevermind. My bed is going, too. Nothing I did anything with Lauren on stays. That leaves your bedroom untouched." Bo wiped her face as she thought about Lauren hearing her with Cayden. She felt horrible about it, but she had been horny with the doctor in the house and Lauren didn't seem to be sexually interested in her even with Bo's clumsy flirting. How had she done it? How had she landed someone as smart as Lauren as a lover? As a friend? That woman could have an entire conversation with herself about science and Bo would understand most of it.
A few hours later.
Dyson turned around and his eyes went wide. "Bo?!."
"Hi, Dyson." Bo spoke hesitantly.
"You look, nice." Dyson's wolf licked his lips for him.
"Thank you and just so we're clear, it's not for you." Bo walked until she found a comfortable seat and table.
Dyson looked her over again. Her hair was fluffier as it hung around her shoulders and down her back. She had never looked more beautiful. "This is ridiculous, Bo. She's not dating you. She's not even here. She could have called. She could have come home." He's mated to this woman and Lauren is getting her attention for doing absolutely nothing.
"Dyson, I may still be a little Fae dumb but you need to find someone to remove your mate with me. I love Lauren. I'm dressed like this in case she shows up. Looking at the clock, it is still early enough for her to want a drink or two." Bo looked at the large clock that Trick had recently installed above the bar.
"How does she still have you, when I don't?." Dyson asked.
"Not that it is any of your business, but I will answer that. Are you sure you're ready to hear it?." Bo smiled at the wolf.
"This is not funny, Bo. Not at all." Dyson stepped forward but kept a healthy distance.
"She's my human, Dyson." Bo dropped her smile and lifted her glass.
"Kenzi is your human." Dyson scoffed.
"She is. But not like Lauren. Here is the answer that you won't like. You want to know? Ok. I fell in love with Lauren when we were at Hecuba prison. The warden zapped Lauren, and she kept fighting. Fighting for the prisoners. Fighting for herself. Fighting for me. When you're love was stolen, you ran. When Lauren's love was taken and was buried, she stayed. She stayed for me. That's when my choice was made. It's not a choice that I am ever going to give up on. I understand why Lauren didn't come home. I hated her being away but I understand she's a doctor above anything else. She cares above anything else. Now, find someone else to cry to. You're bringing down my mood and I want to be ready when she comes here." Bo lifted her drink and drank some as she watched the wolf's horrified face. In that moment, he knew they will never be again. His head snapped to the right when the doors opened, and a smell came in before the patron. Bo was right. Her instant date is here.
TBC.