Trish Heinrich's Blog: That one spicy author

Amateur Night: A Monsters & Artifacts Short Story Chapter One

Drake

“Brunch? What are you some hipster now?”

I chuckled as I drank a nice scotch and read the text Lily had just sent me. She was one of my oldest friends though I hadn’t seen her in over a year. Her job as a consultant took her all over the world and she was rarely in town these days. But on the rare occasions she was, Lily always contacted me. This time was no different, and I was grinning like a fool in anticipation of seeing her.

It had been a relief to get her text, honestly. Last time we’d seen one another, we had a terrible fight, very unusual for us. Or at least it used to be.

Lily didn’t know I was an Ephemeral, or that I was the son of one the head of one the oldest and most revered crime families in America.

To her I was just Drake, a little spoiled and a whole lot rakish. She’d give me shit about how many people I’d slept with while I ribbed her about being prudish. She drank fruity cocktails with outlandish names, while I was ‘boring’ and preferred a nice predictable scotch or dry martini. And always, always we defended one another to the end and were there for every single celebration and heart break.

Well, maybe she wasn’t there for mine because Lily couldn’t really know all of me.

And that had caused more than a little friction as we’d gotten older. The last few times we’d seen each other, the distance had felt acute, and that scared the shit out of me. I was a selfish bastard by nature, and Lily was definitely something I planned on keeping a hold of no matter what it cost me. The trouble was, Lily wasn’t stupid. She knew I was holding something back. And while I’d been tempted plenty to admit the truth, I could never seem to find the right words to express it. What if she never looked at me the same again? What if I scared her off? Not just because I was in a very old, very powerful crime family. Honestly, that was pretty damn normal compared to blood red skin, horns and black eyes.

Oh yeah, and a tail, the ability to turn into smoke and hypnotize people.

And the blood drinking.

I grit my teeth, sharp incisors digging into my bottom lip, and shook my head at the impossible fucking situation.

Lily wasn’t the delicate flower her name suggested, but I’d lost more than one friend and lover when they’d seen what was beneath the glamour that enabled me to appear Human, or Mundane as we called them. And while it had hurt to be rejected, I’d gotten over it. If I lost Lily, though, I wasn’t sure I’d ever survive that.

Even with the things I held back, she was the one person on this miserable planet that truly knew me.

I sighed as I typed a response, determined to not let these worries take away the pleasure of her company.

“I have a work event tonight and I’ll be out late. Hence brunch.”

“What kind of work event could an investment banker have that goes late? Doesn’t everyone in your line of work go to bed by ten?”

“She’s such a smart ass,” I murmured, dragging my tongue over my fangs as I considered how to explain what I was doing tonight.

My acquisition of the Swords and Hearts club was fairly recent. It was one of the few businesses I owned that had nothing to do with my father’s holdings on the west coast, which I oversaw. Lily was aware of my BDSM practices, and I felt tempted to confess that my event had a connection to the club, but my fingers hesitated over the screen. I wanted to see her face when I told her about this place, maybe bring her here in off hours, show it off a little. Lily could hide nothing from me. If I saw her face, I’d see what she thought about all this and then if that didn’t bother her, maybe she’d accept my true face as well.

“I’ll explain tomorrow.”

I finally replied.

“Ooooh cryptic. Alright, keep your secret. I’ll see you at eleven tomorrow.”

My stomach clenched at that comment.

“Keep your secret…” I repeated and set the phone down. “So she’s still pissed about last time.”

I ran a hand down my face and sighed. Eventually, I’d have to decide to tell her. It wasn’t right to keep this from her as long as I had.

Maybe over brunch…maybe…

“What’s got you so grumpy? It’s downright terrifying,” said my co-owner in the club, a tall Gryphon by the name of Sapphire.

“Nothing,” I said, stuffing the phone in my pocket.

“Uh-huh, no phones on the floor.”

I sighed and locked it in my private safe. It was one of the first rules we’d implemented when I’d bought out their former partner, a cop who now lived in New York. The club was pretty well managed when I came on, but Sapphire and I had both agreed that a few adjustments were in order.

We over hauled the rules, updated some of the decor and hired some new staff. We also decided to do theme nights, which I’d rolled my eyes at initially until I saw the first few months of revenue for those events. It was very popular, to say the least. So when Sapphire had suggested we do an amateur night every month for those new to BDSM I had agreed.

Tonight was our third one and from the roster of those who’d signed up, we’d have a full house.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” they asked, golden eyes surveying my outfit.

“Not exactly,” I shed the black hoodie to reveal the plain black pants with a hole in the back for my tail.

“What, no whip?”

“Don’t want to scare the newbies.”

Sapphire arched an eyebrow.

“You’re taking part tonight?”

While I could’ve since we’d made a rule that only experienced Doms and subs that we trusted were allowed to bring guests and participate in the evening, I had decided to pass.

“No, but I’ll be on the floor making sure everything is going well.”

Sapphire’s expression turned from playful to concerned.

“What?” I asked, unable to keep the defensiveness from my voice.

“You haven’t had a partner in…well, months. It’s not like you.”

“Just because I don’t want to train a new sub–“

“There are plenty of subs that know you. That’s not it.”

“And it’s newcomer night. Most aren’t exactly comfortable around Ephemerals.”

“That still doesn’t explain–“

“I just…” I let out a long breath and steadied my voice. “I’m just not interested right now, okay? Why all the sudden concern for my cock?”

“It’s not your dick I’m worried about,” Sapphire admitted. “You’ve been short-tempered lately, and coming in late. You’ve got dark circles under your eyes and you’ve lost weight.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“If I didn’t know any better– “

“You don’t.”

“– I’d say you’re in love.”

I startled at that, because it was the most absurd theory I’d ever heard. I’d never come close to that particular affliction, and I never planned to. My world was dangerous enough for me. I would never subject a female and children to it, much to the consternation of my father.

Still, their words irritated me oddly that I didn’t have the time to examine and my voice was snappish when I answered them.

“I’m running two businesses, one of which is vast and complicated. I don’t have time to take a piss, much less fall in love. So your assumptions are wrong. Now, can we get to the floor? The doors should’ve opened half an hour ago.”

Sapphire gave me one more long look, which from a Gryphon felt like someone was dissecting your soul. I held their gaze as long as I could and broke it off before they did, snatching the domino mask from the table by the office door on my way out.

We’d agreed that these nights should be anonymous to make the newcomers feel more comfortable playing. We also allowed aliases, although for legal reasons Sapphire and I needed to know the legal names of everyone involved so they could run background checks. I handled the theme for the night, the costumes of the servers, and the Doms and subs that would help with special demonstrations. I also oversaw the security teams for these nights, since Sapphire insisted that being at the bar was the best place to supervise their part of the floor. Sapphire handled all the paperwork and other logistics that made me want to poke my eyes out with needles.

When we descended the stairs from the office, which was at the furthest side of the west wing of the vast house that comprised the club, Sapphire turned to me with an annoyed look from behind their mask.

“Heaven and Hell? Really?”

“What?” I asked with a grin.

“It’s cliche.”

“It’s sexy, and yes cliche, but newbies tend to like that. They’re not jaded like the two of us.”

Sapphire snorted.

“Speak for yourself, Satan.”

I chuckled and did an elaborate bow.

Ephemerals were often mistaken for old time demons and I, being a bit of an attention whore, never minded playing that up a bit when it suited me.

My mask for tonight was black with red crystals encrusted on it, which would highlight the dark of my eyes. I had also bought a cane with a pitchfork on the top, covered in orange and red crystals that looked like flames in the right light. I activated a special sub glamour I had purchased for the night, which gave my red skin the appearance of being lightly covered in gold powder. All of it was simple but effective if the lust filled looks from some of the amateurs were any sign.

“You’re going to break their hearts,” Sapphire said with a wicked grin. “You sure you don’t want to play tonight? A newcomer might be just what you need.”

“I’m sure,” I said, a little harsher than I intended. Then, with an apologetic smile, “Thank you for being concerned. I’m alright.”

Sapphire gave me a nod and when to the bar to applause from their admirers who had been waiting for the Gryphon to show up and start mixing cocktails.

I was used to the feel of eyes on me, especially here. Some of the Doms nodded greetings at me. I checked in with some of the staff, making sure all the safety protocols were being followed. The music and lights were perfect for the night, the feel of anticipation thick in the air. But none of it touched me.

I was as bored tonight as I had been for months, and I had no idea why. Nothing seemed to stir me to passion, not even the invitation of a few exquisite men and women bent over benches or tied to Saint Andrew’s Crosses. There was one that crawled to me where I sat on a tall chair at the back of the room and I dismissed them with barely a flick of my fingers.

It was a few hours into the night, and the paperwork waiting for me at the office was looking far more interesting than anything happening on the floor at the moment.

Maybe I’ll see what Lily is doing.

Just the thought of her brought a smile to my lips. I was suddenly wishing the night would pass quickly so I could hear her voice, feel the light of her smile.

It was then that something stirred in the air around me, like the call of a siren. I looked up, and there she was.

Dressed in criss-crossed ribbons of white over practically sheer layers of satin, a white feathered mask over dark skin dusted with silver powder. Her lips were a chaste pink, short legs clad in thigh-high stockings held in place by silver and white garters that glinted in the low light. She was being led around by a Dom I knew well, and a swell of jealousy lit me up from the inside.

This little angel was mine. I didn’t know how I knew this, but I did, as sure as I did my own name.

I sprang up from my seat and the crowd parted before me as I made my way to the woman. Her plump lips were parted, brown eyes wide behind her mask as she took in the room. And then they met mine and a jolt of heat lanced through me, coalescing in my dick.

“Well, my lord,” said the Dom, a tall Werewolf by the name of Cindy.

No one ever addressed me by any other name here, and I nodded in greeting.

“This is my friend Aida,” Cindy continued.

“Is she yours for the night?” I asked, surprised at how rough my voice was.

“No, I am merely her escort.”

I picked up Aida’s hand and saw the green and gold bracelet on her wrist, indicating she was a sub and new at this. My lips brushed her knuckles, never taking my eyes off her. Her skin smelled of vanilla and coconut, as well as undertones of something else I couldn’t place, though it was familiar.

“Well then,” I whispered, “perhaps she’d consider being my companion for the night.”

Aida’s breath caught, and she nodded.

“Words little dove.”

“Yes,” she breathed, a beautifully low voice caressing my ears.

“Then I will leave you in his capable hands,” Cindy said with a grin before sauntering off.

“May I see your card?” I asked.

Attached to the bracelet was a card outlining what she was willing to do, what her safe word was, and her experience or lack thereof.

“Yes.”

I perused it and while the list of things she was curious about and willing to do was woefully short, it was enough to make my dick even harder. She was a true amateur, and this world that had become dull to me was fresh and exciting to her. I could see it in the way she breathed, the gleam in her eyes.

And I would be the one to open the door for her, to show her around this dark, carnal kingdom.

“You want to watch,” I whispered as I walked slowly around her.

“Yes.”

“Address me as my lord.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And you want to be touched while we watch?”

“Yes my lord”

“And if I ask you to suck my cock in front of others?”

“I-I would like that, I think.”

“You would,” I crooned, coming around to stand in front of her again. “And tell me, do you wish to be played with where others can watch? Do you want me to part your pussy and let them see how wet you are? Hear the squish of my fingers as I fuck your wet, tight hole slowly until you scream?”

She whimpered, thighs squeezing tight, and I took a deep inhale of the sweetest, most pungent pussy I’d smelled in a very long time.

“Words little dove.”

“Yes,” the word came out on a whoosh of breath, “I would like that very much…my lord.”

“Gods below, you are a gift,” I growled at her. “Come, we will find something to entertain you.”

I took her by the hand and made my way to one of the private rooms with a viewing window, saying a silent prayer to the lower gods that there was one free. I wanted to see what this lush little dove would be like once the curtain was opened, without having to wait.

It was a medium-sized room with a few spanking implements, lube, bondage cuffs, a spanking bench, a large leather chair and a wall at the far end that was made of glass. A curtain was drawn behind it where a couple had been notified the moment we closed the door and were now preparing to put on a little show for us.

A thick black carpet covered the floor, and the walls were a deep, blood red, completely sound proof. A small camera was in the corner for security in case anyone got out of hand.

“Kneel on the cushion,” I said, pointing at the one at my feet, “knees apart, hands on your thighs. No touching of yourself unless I tell you.”

The little dove did as she was told straight away, and I let my fingers slide up and down her bare spine. She shivered under my touch and I chuckled.

“So sensitive. This will be interesting. You know the colors?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Recite it to me.”

“Green means keep going, yellow means slow down and red means stop, full stop.”

“Yes. If you say red, we stop completely, no more playing. Yellow is a pause. I will check in with you, make sure you’re alright. At any time, and I do mean any time at all, you may say red and I will cease. I too have this ability, so if I see you pushing yourself too hard, or if it is too much for me for any reason, I too may stop the session. Is all that clear, my dove?”

“Completely my lord.”

I turned her by the chin to look back at me. Her dark gaze was so innocent yet alluring, an angel indeed sent to tempt this devil.

“I want to make you feel good, and I need your trust, though we’ve just met. I will reward obedience, and I aim to dominate you. Disobedience will be punished. You listed spanking…”

“I did.”

“I will use my hand on your bare bottom if you disobey. If you obey me enough, if you are a good little dove, I will give you as many orgasms as you want with my fingers, my tongue.”

“Your cock?”

The member stirred, and I had to bite back a groan at the thought of slowly parting her pussy with my dick, watching it dip in and out of her body. I never had vaginal intercourse on the first time with a new sub, but this little one was certainly tempting me to break that old rule. To take the edge off, I decided that her mouth would be acceptable.

“Not in your cunt, but perhaps in your mouth. Will that satisfy you, my hungry angel?”

Her gaze darted down to the tent in my pants and her little tongue darted out to wet her full lips.

“Yes, my lord,” her voice was as ravenous as her gaze.

I wondered how long I’d be able to wait to get her wet mouth around me. I swallowed and took a firm hand with my base desires. I wasn’t a fresh faced Dom who couldn’t hold his load. I’d been doing this for too long to give in before my little dove had experienced her fill.

I hoped.

“Turn around.” My voice was hard and her pupils widened, startled at the harshness. “The show is about to begin.”

​

Chapter Two

Lily

What the hell was happening?

I had expected attention, expected beautiful supernaturals to come up to me, want to be with me. But never, in my wildest dreams had I expected this male to take an interest in me, much less be about to make one of my filthiest dreams come true.

And I had also expected to be far more nervous that I was.

Don’t get me wrong, I was nervous. Butterflies the size of puppies were currently dive bombing in my gut.

But I wasn’t afraid. If anything, I was trembling with anticipation.

This Dom was gorgeous and looked like every demon fantasy I’d ever had. His beautiful red skin, his dusky voice that felt like sin and chocolate on my soul. The way he looked at me behind his mask, like I was the most beautiful feast he’d ever laid eyes on. I wanted him to devour me, to use me and take all the ‘proper good girl’ pressure off.

I was so damn tired of following the rules, of being what everyone expected. I longed to let someone else take the reins, decide what happened next, and not look down on me for the things I craved. And as long as I could remember, from the time I’d discovered what that little button between my legs could do, I’d wanted this.

To be ruled and ruined.

Now, this powerful male had me at his feet, his finger tips skating up and down my bare spine as the curtain in front of me parted to reveal three mesmerizing individuals on the other side.

One was a huge Gargoyle, his thick cock standing proudly, a honey like substance dripping off the small protrusion at the base as a human woman licked it greedily off him.

The third was a Werewolf male standing behind the woman, fisting his cock as he trailed a leather flail down the woman’s spine. Her hands were bound behind her back and there was…

Oh my god…an anal plug in her ass…

My hips pulsed a little, and I felt my breath stutter.

“No, my dove,” my lord’s hand grasped the back of my neck, “don’t even try to stimulate yourself, not unless you ask and I will not give you permission yet.”

I was already so wet just from the few minutes of our interaction, and I knew things had barely gotten started. How in the world was I going to stop from touching myself?

The woman on her knees now had the Gargoyle’s dick in her mouth, though she couldn’t even take half of it. The Gargoyle had his hand fisted in her brown hair and was fucking her mouth, grinning down at her.

“You’re such a filthy girl,” he said.

I startled at the sound and then jumped gain when my lord’s hot breath grazed my ear.

“Speakers, so you can hear them. If you don’t like it, I can shut them off.”

“N-no my lord, please. I do like them.”

“Good,” he nipped my jaw. “No, no. Keep your eyes open and on them.”

I did as he told me, still in awe that submitting came so easily. There was something about his voice that put me at ease, made me feel safe. Maybe it was just knowing that Cindy would never let me go with anyone that wasn’t safe, or maybe it was the fact that his voice and physique resembled…

No, don’t think of Drake. Even if I wish it really was him behind me.

I’d been half in love with my best friend since we were in high school. He was everything a good girls wasn’t supposed to want, and therefore, I did. But if something was going to happen between us, I was pretty sure it would have by now. Drake had always been protective of me, always said he cared about me, but it was never more than as a friend.

And he won’t even open up to me. These past few years, he’s been distant. Besides, he’s not a gorgeous Ephemeral, I think he’d at least tell me if he were. So this is just a stranger. And that’s as it should be.

The snap of the leather against the woman’s bare ass kept me from delving too deeply into my complicated feelings around my best friend. Her throaty moan came through the speakers, as did the laughter of the Werewolf.

“Our little cum slut enjoys being whipped while she sucks cock.”

The Gargoyle’s laugh was deep, menacing.

“You like that little human?”

She moaned in response and the Gargoyle fucked her mouth even harder while the Werewolf let loose with the flail. His dick was brushing his belly with white streaks of pre-cum, the knot at the base obscenely large.

The Gargoyle took the woman’s mouth off him, a long trail of saliva strung between them and her chin shiny with it. She stared up adoringly with dazed eyes. The Werewolf massaged her ass, and then started to work the anal plug back and forth into her.

“You know what we want,” the Gargoyle growled.

The woman whimpered.

“Yes.”

My body was throbbing with heat as I watched them untie her hands and then stretch her out spread eagle on the floor. The Werewolf knelt at the apex of her thighs and his long tongue licked her pussy like he was slurping up cream from a dish.

The woman’s cries of ecstasy made me dig my fingertips into the tops of my thighs and squirm even though I tried desperately not to.

“Please,” I said at the same time the woman did.

“What do you want, little dove?” my lord’s voice was rough.

And when I glanced back, his gaze reflected the same hunger as mine.

“Please touch me.”

His grin was slow, delighted, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I’d just asked the Devil himself to give me this, and he was going to enjoy every second.

“Come here,” he ordered, patting his lap.

I jumped up and straddled him eagerly, but he shook his head.

“Turn around so you can still watch, the best is yet to come.”

I did, my back against the left side of his upper body as he positioned one leg on the outside of his left thigh and pulled the other open.

“Now,” his lips were against my ear as his fingers played with the sensitive flesh just on the outside of my vulva, “watch them split her in half.”

He chuckled at the idea and I gasped at the slow, soft way he was beginning to play with me.

While the Werewolf riled the woman to a loud orgasm, my lord hooked his finger into my thong and tore the crotch out. Then, so slowly that I felt every single atom on his skin, he dragged his finger from my taint, up through my pussy lips and to my aching clit.

“Don’t come until I tell you,” he said, lips against my jaw.

“Yes, m-my lord.”

I didn’t recognize my voice, the way my body was so pliable in his hands.

Who was this wanton creature? It certainly wasn’t me, was it?

He pressed light, open-mouthed kisses to my neck as his fingers skated so slowly through my drenched folds. He was like a musician, playing his new instrument so carefully but with the exquisite skill of a master. Except for that first pass, he avoided my clit, preferring instead to tease me by caressing every other part of my pussy.

The Werewolf was now lifting the woman in the scene up and placed her on the Gargoyle’s lap in a mirror of me. I didn’t know if she could see me or not, but it felt like she was looking at us, getting off as much on what my lord was doing to me as what the Gargoyle was to her.

I wasn’t sure what the Gargoyle was doing until the woman’s eyes grew wide and she let out a high-pitched squeak.

“She likes it,” my lord breathed on me, his other hand doing something to my neglige. “Would you like my cock in your ass someday?”

I undulated in response and was delighted to feel the hard, long length of him against my ass.

“Yes,” I moved again and dragged a groan out of his throat. “I would love that.”

The hand at my cunt reared back, and he delivered a sharp slap. I yelped, the sting painful for a second, and then a rush of desire hit me.

He did it again and again and I arched my back, desperate for something.

“You like the pain? Gods below, you are a gift…” the top of my neglige fell, revealing my heavy breasts. “My gift…mine…I won’t share you.”

And he dipped his head down, taking one stiff peak between his teeth and biting it. I yelled and threaded my fingers through his hair.

“Please…please,” my hips were bucking as he drew my nipple deeper into his mouth. “Please my lord…I need…I need…”

I screamed when he plunged two fingers into my tight channel. He released my nipple only to clamp down on the side of my breast with his incisors. The rush of pain differed from the slap. It was sharper, more primal, and I had the sense of being fucked by a carnal beast and not anything close to a man.

It should’ve been terrifying. But instead, a switch in my brain clicked, and I drifted away, consumed by the unhinged desire to be at his mercy. I wanted more. More of his biting, more of his growls. I wanted to be his plaything, to use and devour as he saw fit.

The three in the scene were grunting and groaning, the woman whimpering and screaming as the Gargoyle penetrated her ass and the Werewolf drove into her cunt. They were indeed splitting her in half, but she threw her head back against the Gargoyle’s shoulder in ecstasy, her eyes glassy and smile drugged.

And I knew exactly how she felt.

My lord let my breast go, only to bite my shoulder now, his hips thrusting up as I ground my ass down. His cock strained his pants, and I wanted it freed so badly but I was to overcome with what he was doing to me to make my hands move to his pants.

His palm pressed against my clit while his fingers plunged into me, his mouth licking and sucking at my skin.

“You’re mine,” he growled, so low, so animal like. “Say it!”

“Yours my lord.”

“Not ‘my lord’ say….Say…”

I turned my head and looked at him for the first time since crawling up onto his lap. Gone was the domineering, powerful Ephemeral. This was a starving, savage beast lost in the haze of possessive passion. He would tear apart everyone except me. I knew it in my bones as he held me tight and yet gentle.

My fingers ran along his jaw, and he closed his eyes on a low moan.

“Kiss me?” I whispered.

He hesitated before slamming his lips to mine. I tasted the iron of my blood on the tongue he forced into my mouth, but it did not bother me. I drank it all down, every ounce of his longing and brutality. I was so overwhelmed by his kiss that I didn’t notice the way he was winding me up, higher and higher until I broke the kiss off with a cry .

“I’m…I’m …”

“Do it…let me see you come on my fingers.”

Every thing shattered around me as a rush of wet came from me and stars bloomed behind my eyes. My toes curled and my back bowed as it kept going in wave after wave of pleasure so intense that I wondered if I’d ever come down from it.

I was vaguely aware of wet at my back and my lord speaking in broken syllables against my skin. But everything was hazy, unreal.

It was a few moments later that I realized I heard nothing from beyond the glass. When I could open my eyes and focus on something, the three from the scene were gone.

I laid against him, our chests heaving like we’d been running, bodies wet with sweat and cum, but I didn’t care. My limbs were so relaxed I doubted I could move them if I wanted to. And I did not want to lose my contact with this male. I knew that our time was drawing to an end, there was no reason to remain. So I would draw out these last few moments as long as possible.

It was then, just as my mind started to clear from the fog, that a sudden tremble wracked my body, causing my teeth to chatter.

“Oh, shit,” he said. “You’re coming down from the adrenaline. It’s ok, I have you.”

He scooped me up and carried me a large pile of cushions in the corner. I thought he might leave me and tears sprang to my eyes at the thought when he slid in next to me and brought a soft blanket up over us. My back was to his front, the little spoon, and I threaded my fingers through his.

“H-how long d-does it last?” I asked, shaking in earnest now.

“It varies for everyone, but I’m here. I’ll help you through it. It’s normal, I swear.”

I nodded, focusing on the warmth at my back, the way his breath felt in my hair, the gentle way he was holding me.

“You did so good,” he whispered, “you’re a natural. I’m sorry if I bit you too hard.”

“N-no…I l-liked it.”

He chuckled, and it was so familiar I almost turned around, expecting to see Drake.

“You liked it, huh? Well, that seals it then.”

“I’m yours?”

He stilled behind me, and my heart stopped beating.

“I shouldn’t have said that. I got caught up and I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t mind. I thought it was all part of the scene.”

He said nothing for an endless moment, and then he slowly pulled away, tucking the blanket around me.

“Stay in bed for a few more minutes,” the distance was back in his voice, somehow hurting far worse than anything he did to me in the scene. “I’m going in to the bathroom and then I’ll get you some water. We can…talk.”

I forced myself to smile and glanced back, but he was already moving toward the bathroom door. When it clicked shut, I let the tears fall. I wasn’t sure if this was part of the adrenaline crash or if it was the disappointment and embarrassment at being rejected. But whatever the reason, when I was done, I felt well enough to sit up. I slipped the expensive mask off and set it carefully on the bedside table. Then I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

I needed to pee and then tell him it was really okay if it was all part of the scene. He should know that this was the best night of my life and I wanted to thank him for making my first experience so wonderful.

I knocked on the door, the water running on the other side.

“I just need to pee,” I said, “and to…to let you know that this was wonderful. Thank you. I-I dont know how this works but I’d like to do another scene with you.”

I thought I heard a sigh on the other side of the door and cringed.

“Or not. I understand if you’d rather not.”

“It’s not that, I–“

He opened the door and stared down at me. At first, I was confused because he was looking at me like I was a ghost, and then I realized he wasn’t wearing his mask either and he looked like…

“Drake…” I whispered and backed up. “No, that… you’re not…Drake?”

Drake was an Ephemeral?

Drake was…he’d been…

He swallowed, the column of his strong throat working and the fact that it was as sexy as it always was pissed me right off.

“You…you!”

I lunged at him and slapped him solidly on his chest since I wasn’t tall enough to reach his face.

“How…why…you-you…!”

I was babbling, unable to make my mind form a coherent sentence. All I knew was that spark of anger was fast growing into an inferno. Coupled with an intense desire for the floor to open up and swallow me and I was going off pure instinct.

“I didn’t know it was you,” Drake said, grabbing my wrists. “I swear I didn’t recognize you! I never would’ve done this if I’d known.”

He should’ve punched me in the stomach, it would’ve hurt a hell of a lot less.

“Oh, that’s great! I’m sorry that I’m just a big fucking regret for you now.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

He had replaced his pants with sweats that were riding low on his hips and making it hard to focus on being angry at him, especially since I could see the outline of his dick very clearly and it was getting hard again.

Probably changed because he’d come in his pants while I was writhing around on top of him. Oh god, I was…

And that’s when I realized my breasts were still hanging out of the top of my lingerie, and that I had no crotch in my thong. I was basically naked in front of my best friend and the male I’d fantasized about since I was sixteen.

I ripped my hands out of his and screeched as I ran around him into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it before sliding down and falling on my ass.

“Please Lily, open up,” Drake begged on the other side. “We need to talk about this.”

“No, we don’t!” tears coursed hot and mortifying down my cheeks.

This had been the best night of my life. I believed that something new had opened up for me, a door that I had always known I was meant to walk through. I thought maybe he could teach me, guide me and now…

I buried my face in my hands as every single second of what we’d done came careening through my mind.

He’d fingered me to the best orgasm of my life, he’d dirty talked me, told me I was his, came in his fucking pants because of me. It was everything I’d ever wanted with Drake, and I got it. Just not how I’d wanted.

“Go away!” I screamed through my sobs. “I don’t want to see you!”

Drake swore on the other side of the door and I heard him moving around, slamming drawers as I sat on the cold linoleum and sobbed.

“I left some clothes on the bed for you, a protein bar and a bottle of water,” he said.

“I don’t’ want anything from you!”

“Well, too bad, aftercare is important! I’ll see you tomorrow and we will talk about this.”

“Like hell we will.”

I waited until I heard the door close and then opened the bathroom door.

The room was empty and cold. A pair of soft sweats and a hoodie were on the bed with the protein bar and water he’d promised. The room smelled like what we’d done, but it also smelled like Drake’s spicy aftershave he always used. It made my throat tighten and more tears fell. I hated those tears, hated that he had the power to make me feel this way.

I knew he’d been keeping things from me, but that he was an Ephemeral wasn’t remotely one of the possibilities I’d considered.

Why couldn’t he trust me with this?

I believed him when he’d said that he didn’t know it was me, but did he have any inkling that something was familiar, like I did with him? Or was I simply too boring, too innocent for him to suspect that I would want this?

We would never be the same after tonight. There was no way we could go back to being just friends, no way that I could look at him and not remember the feel of his mouth on mine, the way he’d played my body like a fine instrument.

And I didn’t want to forget. That was part of the problem, even as furious and embarrassed as I was.

I wanted him to want this to be something more than just two friends who accidentally fucked each other. I wanted him to fulfill those words he’d spoken in the heat of the moment.

I wanted to be his.

 

Don’t despair, chapters three and four coming in July!

 

Thanks for reading! If you’re feeling a little spicy, would you consider leaving a little tip on my Kofi page? Just the tip...

The post Amateur Night first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

She put a spell on me

Kat the Witch had cast a spell on me.

That’s the only explanation I could think of as to why I couldn’t get her tight pussy out of my mind since we fucked one night in June.

I’d been exhausted, overworked and stressed. I’d wanted a hot shower, a glass of scotch and to sleep for a week. Then in strolled that fucking witch with her dark eyes, her plump hips that begged to be bruised and a pussy that had milked me like no other.

I didn’t like her.

I hated her.

Hated the way her lips pursed when she glared at me when I made any suggestion at all about a mission.

Hated the way she blushed when the latest in a string of losers she’d been dating sent her a text message.

Hated that I still woke up hard, remembering how she had begged me to fuck her rough and dirty, just like I like it.

Now I was sitting here with Luke Turner, my boss at the Secret Archive, his wife and a few of the other agents at the yearly Christmas party, trying not to look around for Kat. She hadn’t shown up yet, and that was frustrating considering I’d only shown up to ruin her night. Maybe to get a little of her attention for once.

She gives everyone else the time of day, but not me. Not even after what happened. It’s like it was just another fuck to her…not that that’s bad. It didn’t mean anything to me either.

I’d been her partner since May and as many times as I’d sworn after every single mission that I was done with her, I still couldn’t manage to put in the transfer request.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I didn’t usually stick around long when it came to fuck buddies, much less one-night stands. I keep in touch if it’s a mutually casual thing. If not, I don’t give them a second thought.

But since Kat had put a spell on me, I couldn’t seem to put that necessary distance between us.

A spell is the only explanation for this.

I’ve never had a woman I couldn’t get out of my mind before. And the fact that it’s Kat, the most know-it-all woman with the most infuriatingly sexy voice, just makes it that much more torture.

A spell is something she would do too. Just to fuck with me. It ends tonight.

“You still with us, Zach?” asked Luke.

“The splinter of the true cross is not in Cairo,” I said, as if I’d been doing more than skimming the conversation.

“How do you know?” asked Andy, his wife.

I opened my mouth to answer when that woman’s voice cut in.

“Because I told him it wasn’t.”

Kat’s voice was young Kathleen Turner sexy, whiskey soaked with a touch of rattle that made me want to tear my ear drums out. I was powerless against it and that wouldn’t do.

I didn’t bother looking at her and didn’t move when she gave my arm a little shove. There was plenty of room on the other couch.

But Kat, determined bitch that she was, decided that the sliver of space between me and the arm of the small couch was the perfect place for her peach of an ass. Her soft curves pressed against me, the tight, dark red wrap dress with the plunging neckline and six inch black stilettos with sparkly red bows on the back made her look like a pornographic Christmas present that I wanted to open with my teeth and tie to a spanking bench until she learned some fucking manners.

“There’s a whole sitting area going on, you know,” I hissed.

“Yeah, but I like it here,” she said with a poisonous sweetness in her voice.

I growled at her, my teeth showing and her dark eyes narrowed. I suppose some might say hooded, as if it were some benign reaction. But I knew better. She wasn’t turned on, she was angry.

I took a breath in and cursed myself.

Okay, so she wasn’t only turned on.

And now my cock is getting hard.

I downed the drink in my hand and jumped up from the couch. Since this was an Archive exclusive party, I didn’t have to bother with my glamour, which was just fine with me since I hated the damn thing.

“I’m getting a drink,” I mumbled.

“Finally, a little room,” she said and stretched out where I’d been sitting, long pale legs on full display against the black upholstery.

I was frozen as an image of her splayed out on my black leather couch at home, skin glowing in the moonlight, hit me. She met my eyes, and something sharp passed between us. The same electric spark that I’d felt in that shower room months ago. The one we’d both been pretending hadn’t happened.

Her lips parted, a flush rising on her gorgeous cleavage as her eyes sparked. If I didn’t move, she was going to get up and follow me. And then…

I’ll fuck her mouth this time, paint those tits in my cum and rub it in so she smells like me all fucking night.

“I’m thirsty,” she said, “and since someone hadn’t bothered to offer to get me a drink, I’ll have to do it myself.”

“I’ll get you a drink,” said our newest addition, a young Orc who looked like a linebacker and had been panting after her since day one.

“Oh, you’re sweet, but I’m not sure what I want.”

The way he watched Kat walk away, how his eyes zeroed in on that dip of her waist before her body blossomed into wide hips, made me see red. Of course, about half a dozen others also eye fucked her as she walked across the room to the bar, including me. But that wasn’t the point. She wasn’t theirs to eye fuck.

She’s not mine either, damn it!

“She’s not fucking helpless,” I snapped at the Orc.

“Uh…I know,” he said, jaw tightening. “What’s your problem? I was just being nice.”

“Ya know what?” Andy said, trying to hide a grin. “I’m hungry, and the buffet is open. Anyone else?”

The Orc looked like he was about to say no so he could stay and fight with me, but Andy slipped her arm through his and insisted he go with her. Luke walked up to me with a nervous smile on his face.

“Look, this is probably none of my business but–“

“If you’re about to say what I think you are, it’s not.”

Luke nodded.

“Well, be that as it may, you’re my friend and I’d hate to see you let someone like Kat slip away. You two obviously like each other.”

“We don’t.”

He chuckled.

“Okay Zach, whatever you say. My point is, a woman like that isn’t going to wait around forever. You two might have something. If you get out of your own way, that’s all I’m saying.”

My eyes widened, and I was speechless as I watched him walk after his wife and the rest of the team, who gave me looks ranging from pity to confusion. Did everyone know about that night? Had Kat been running her mouth about it? I’d thought she had been tight-lipped about it, but what if she’d been gossiping with everyone this whole time? What if it was just like the last time I’d let someone in, only to find out that everyone knew what she was doing behind my back but me?

The passion I’d been ready to expel onto Kat developed a dark edge and was starting to curdle by the time I stormed up to her at the bar.

“I need to talk to you,” I said.

“And people in hell need ice water.”

“Now Kat.”

I grabbed her arm and half dragged her down a hall that I thought had led to a set of empty offices. Instead it was the lifts, one of which was standing at the ready, doors open.

Fuck it.

I pulled her in and pushed the button for the rooftop garden.

“What the fuck Zach?” she yelled. “You can’t just drag me out of a party, I’m not your–“

“Shut the hell up,” I snapped, stabbing the stop button.

She wobbled on those heels as the elevator jerked to a stop and I found myself steadying her with a hand on her elbow. She tried to yank out of my grasp, but I held on.

“What gives you the right to tell everyone about what happened in the showers?” I demanded.

Kat stared up at me in shock, her plump red mouth opened like a bow. I wondered what my cock would look like with her lipstick smeared around it and then forced myself to focus.

“I haven’t told anyone about that disgraceful incident,” she said, and then poked my chest with her finger. “Maybe they think something’s going on because you growl at anyone who comes near me.”

“I don’t, I’m just growling at you.”

I leaned toward her, and Kat took a step back.

“Oh really? Is that why Marcus asked me yesterday if we were dating?”

“Who the fuck is Marcus?”

“The new Orc team member? The one that offered to get me a drink, and you bit his head off.”

Shit, I thought his name was Matt.

“He looks at you like you’re a piece of meat.”

I pressed into her and Kat stepped back again.

“And? What do you care if he does or doesn’t?”

“I don’t.”

“Oh really? Is that what this,” she motioned between us and her hand grazed my stomach, “is conveying? You shoving me into an elevator and stopping it between floors is going to make them think–“

“I don’t care what they think.”

“Bullshit! You’ve been nothing but worse to me since that night, even though you wanted me as much as I did you. So stop pretending that I’m doing anything to you!”

Was there actual hurt in her voice? And why did it matter so much to me if there was?

I took one more step and her back was against the elevator wall. I braced my hands on either side of her head, claws scrapped against the metal as I tried to get a hold of myself.

“You are driving me fucking crazy is what you’re doing. Walking around in tight fucking pants, tight fucking shirts and now this fucking dress.” I rasped, “I hate that I can’t stop thinking about all the things I want to do to you every time you walk through the damn door. I hate that I can still feel you wrapped around me all these months later. And I hate every single fucking male in that office who makes you smile, who makes you feel anything.”

“Does that include you?” she asked with a wicked grin. “Because you make me feel all kinds of things.”

“Shut up Kat.”

“Loathing, the need to punch something,” she said. “And a teensy bit of nausea.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

“Shut. Up.”

“Make me.”

I let loose a long, dark growl before I slammed my mouth down onto hers.

Kat’s red nails scratched a path down my face as I dug my fingers into her ass and lifted her up. My tongue filled her mouth, tangling with hers for dominance, and our teeth clashed. It was less a kiss and more of an explosion of pent up frustration and months of unsatisfied passion. I couldn’t think of anything but fucking her in every single orifice. I wanted to coat her ass with my spend, to see her choking on my cock, hear her screaming as I pistoned into her tight cunt.

“You are such an ass!” she gasped as I bit her throat.

“I hate you.”

I reached between us and found a lace thong that I ripped off her.

“I hate you mooooore, ah fuck…oh Zach.”

My finger was plunged up to my knuckle, thumb rubbed merciless circles on her clit, which was ripe and hard.

I pulled back enough to look in her eyes as I held her pinned to the wall, her legs around my hips and finger fucked her slow. Kat’s dark eyes glittered up at me, anger and lust an inferno that I let myself fall into.

“You like that?” I rasped.

“It doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Kat whispered as she clung to me.

“Really? So if I stopped…”

I did, and she whimpered, pelvis moving, searching for what I’d taken back. I chuckled, dark and low against that sensitive spot on her shoulder that I’d never forgotten.

“I’ll get you off, if you beg.”

“Fuck you.”

“No baby, fuck you, with my fingers,” I grazed her clit and she gasped, “with my tongue,” I licked up her throat, “with my cock,” I ground myself into her. “But only if you beg me.”

Kat tried to move, to find any kind of friction, but I made just enough room between us that I could still hold her to the wall without letting her get any kind of satisfaction. Her legs were too spread to do any good on her greedy little clit, and I knew just from smelling her that Kat was as aroused as I was.

“Please,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Please what?”

“Please, fuck me.”

“With what, be specific, Kat.”

She growled at me, and I got even harder. Had any woman, ever, been so mean, so obstinate with me to this effect?

“Please, fuck me with your tongue.”

I had been expecting her to ask for my fingers, and I had hoped she’d ask for my cock, which was aching and leaking so much pre cum that the entire front of my pants were wet.

But I had mentioned my tongue, and I’d been wondering what she tasted like for months now.

I eased her down to the floor and rucked her skirt up around her tits.

“Hold it in place,” I ordered her.

She took the handful of fabric, cheeks flushed almost as red as her dress.

When I knelt down, I let out a groan at the gorgeous sight that met me.

Her pussy had one strip of trimmed, dark hair on it, otherwise it was waxed smooth and ready for my mouth. The little hair that remained glistened with her arousal and I ran my tongue up in one long lick.

She hissed and grabbed one of my horns.

“No steering,” I snarled. “I’m in control and you come when I tell you.”

“If you expect me to say ‘yes sir’, you’ve got the wrong witch’s pussy in front of you.”

I chuckled and snagged one of her legs, tossing it over my shoulder. She was still wearing those fuck me heels, and I ran a hand up her smooth leg from her ankle up to her inner thigh. I spread her pussy lips with my thumbs and there, wet and pink, peeking from its hood was her clit, just begging to be nibbled on.

“I’m gonna feast on you, drink you down and ruin you for anyone else. When you sit at that desk, and you look at me you’re going to remember what I looked like with your come on my face, you’re going to think of my tongue fucking your tight little hole, and you’re going to squeeze your thighs together to get relief,” I smirked up at her furious, turned on face, “but nothing will be enough until you beg me to make you come under your desk.”

“I thought you were gonna eat my pussy, not talk me to death.”

I slapped her cunt, and she yelped, but it ended on a moan. So I did it again, and she twirled those full hips in desperation.

I couldn’t wait any longer, and I dove in without finesse, only raw hunger.

I sucked her clit between my lips as I slipped two fingers into her and worked her fast and hard. Kat’s hand on my horn tightened, but she didn’t try to move me. I sucked hard and backed off, over and over, hearing her pant and plead with me as I drove her to that edge time and again.

“Please, Zach, you…fucking…asshole, make me come!” she screamed with her palm hitting the wall for emphasis.

The flat of my tongue pressed to her clit, and I curled my fingers inside of her at the same time. She let out a throaty yell and her channel clenched around my fingers. I kept at it, riding out her orgasm and then some. She was trembling above me, incoherent words poured from her mouth as the leg supporting her began to bend.

I caught her and set her on top of my lap, her wet cunt further soaking my ruined pants. Sweat dotted her brow and her eyes were hooded, head lolling to the side, completely lust drunk. I filled my hand with her hair and yanked her head back to look at me.

“We’re not done. You’re going to ride my cock, then I’m going to bend you over and fuck you again. We’re getting this out of our system tonight and that’s it, understand?”

“Yes,” her dusky voice was at once sensual and vulnerable.

I’m not sure what got into me, but I let her hair go and brought her body to mine, cupping the back of her head against my shoulder. Kat hesitated, and I thought that I’d misread and she hadn’t needed an embrace when her arms wound around me, body melting and pliable against mine. It felt…right to hold her like this and that revelation caused a cold hand to grasp my heart and squeeze.

“What you do to me,” my whisper was hoarse, the confession unbidden, “it’s too much.”

“I know. I feel the same.”

We held onto one another like that for another few minutes until she pulled back. Her mascara was smeared, as was her red lipstick, hair was mussed and her dress was skewed, one nipple peeking out from around the decolletage. I couldn’t help it. I ran my finger over it, the tight bud responding to me.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I murmured. “A fucking sex goddess tempting me to let it all go and just…”

I pinched her nipple and Kat gasped against my mouth. Her hands undid my pants with expert speed and had my cock out before I could tell her ‘no’, not that I wanted to. She was already straddling me, so it took nothing for her to slip me inside of her drenched channel.

We both let out a deep throated moan when I was seated inside of her and a sense of rightness wrapped me in warmth. It scared me as much as it tempted me and all I wanted was to forget how angry she made me, how hurt I’d been by others and sink into this feeling, into her.

Kat started to ride me with determined rolls of her hips, but I didn’t want her in control. I was going to fuck her, even if she was on top. So I clasped her hips hard as I thrust up to meet her grinding down. I lost count of how many times I bottomed out in her, my mouth sucking on her perfect tits as she begged and cried out for me over and over. The aphrodisiac in my cock horn kept her orgasm building until it shattered over her in the most beautiful whimpers. This time, a rush of liquid poured out of her and I took an in-ordinant amount of pride in knowing I’d just made her squirt.

“That’s right,” I growled against her skin, “no one fucks you like I do. No one makes you squirt, do they, baby?”

“Shut…up…you…asshole.”

I chuckled and pumped up into her faster. I’d held back before to make this last as long as possible, but now I was too close to the edge. I had to come, but–

“Shit…” I stopped and panted, “…condom, I didn’t…”

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I haven’t been with anyone since…”

I stared up into her eyes as her words cracked something deep in my chest.

Since me.

She hadn’t been with anyone, not even those weak men she’d been dating, since I’d fucked her in the showers.

Six long, excruciating months ago.

“Neither have I,” I said, barely audible.

Something like panic lit up her eyes and I could tell that she was about to run. I couldn’t let her go. I had to hold on to this moment because something told me it wasn’t going to come around again.

So I began to fuck her, deep and hard, so that whatever happened I would be branded onto her deepest parts and she’d never forget me. My hand slid between us as I rubbed my cock horns honey into her clit, desperate for one more sight of how beautiful she looked when she came.

“Zach, I can’t,” she sobbed.

Gods above the way she said my name! Still with a little anger, but now with so much hunger and vulnerability. No one, ever, would say my name like Kat did, and I savored every second of it.

“Come on baby, you got one more in you.”

Her fingers bit into my shoulder and she started to cry even as she pleaded with me to make her come.

This time, when her tight pussy clenched around me, Kat dragged me over the cliff with her, and it really did feel like falling without a landing. Over and over, the waves crested until I was trembling, holding her to me as I licked and kissed her sweaty skin. We both came back to earth slowly, our breaths mingled as we shared one slow, soft kiss that lasted forever.

Kat pulled back first with a broken sigh and when I looked at her, there were tears on her cheeks.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked, brushing them away with my thumbs.

She didn’t answer right away, and I started to worry. Finally, she gave me a watery smile and shook her head.

Reluctantly, I let her go, and she climbed off me. I gave her the handkerchief from my pocket to clean up with and she gave me a crooked smile.

“Very old school.”

I shrugged.

“I’m three hundred and seven years old. Some habits are hard to break.”

“And here I’m thinking you don’t look a day over two-fifty.”

I chuckled at that and attempted to fix my own clothes, but it was hopeless. I didn’t really want her scent off me any way, not yet.

When she was ready, I reached over and started the elevator again. Neither of us really wanted to go to the rooftop now, so we just let the doors open and hit the button for the lobby without a word.

We stood side by side, not touching, not looking at one another. The tension in the air was suffocating. Did she regret this? Had I pushed her? What the hell was that between us?

“Zach,” Kat said, her whiskey soaked voice unusually soft, “I need to say something.”

I took a breath and braced myself for the “this was fun, let’s never do this again” kind of talk. When I turned to her, though, there was none of the bravado and cockiness I’d come to associate with Kat. Instead, she was biting her plump bottom lip and twisting her fingers. She couldn’t even look me in the eye.

I must’ve really pushed it too far.

“Look Kat–“

“I’m leaving,” she blurted out.

I stopped breathing, eyes widened.

“What?”

“I’m…I’ve been offered a promotion to coven leader of the German Archive office and I’m taking it. I leave after the new year. I just…I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else, not after…”

My brain struggled to take in the words. I’d been prepared to be told that I’d been a brute, that I was out of line, that I had no right to barely speak to her since June and then suddenly lock her up and fuck her until she screamed.

But this?

I was not prepared.

So, of course, I reacted like an ass.

I crossed my arms and stared down at her, walling up my bruised heart once again. I’d been an idiot to let her in, even a little.

“Okay.” I shrugged and turned away.

I could practically hear her gaping at me.

“That’s it?” she demanded. “Just ‘okay’?”

“What do you want? Weeping and wailing, on my knees begging you not to go?”

“Some kind of reaction would be nice.”

I whirled around and pinned her with a hard gaze.

“You’re not my girlfriend. We’re not in a relationship. We aren’t even fuck buddies, so why should it matter to me if you go to Germany or not?”

I didn’t see her hand coming, but the force of the slap echoed in the elevator and I saw stars. My Kat had a mean right hook.

Not my anything. Never has been, never will be.

I didn’t want to care that she had tears in her eyes, I didn’t want to care that for the first time since I’d met her, Kat was speechless.

But I did.

It tore at me, and I wanted nothing more than to take it all back, to indeed get on my knees and apologize to her.

Before I could get my head out of my ass though, the elevator opened, and she ran out, leaving me alone with her scent embedded on my brain and her heartbreak echoing in my ears.

The post She put a spell on me first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

As many of you know, my mother was human and one of her favorite holidays was Halloween. For those of you who don’t know, Halloween, or Samhain as some call it, is a night to dress in costumes, play tricks and get candy. But to some, it is also a night to reflect on loved ones who have passed on. Ancient Humans believed that it was on this night that their lost loved ones could visit them from beyond. They would leave out food, light candles and speak messages to them.

As a Zorestran, I believe deeply in the nearness of our ancestors and so when my mother told me of this part of the tradition, I suggested we combine it with a Zorestran candle lighting ceremony that is meant to honor or ancestors.

Every year now, on October 31st, I bake my mother’s favorite pumpkin bread and prepare my fathers Luvtaf stew, light the candles on my altar of remembrance and invite my closests friends to come share the meal with me. I tell them of my family, and ask them to share something of their home as well. My parents are both gone now, but in this way I bring them close to me, no matter where I am in the galaxy.

This year, I’d like to share my mothers pumpkin bread recipe with all of you. She always loved making loaves for friends and family this time of year and I think she’d be so happy to know that others are enjoying this on Halloween.

 My Mothers Pumpkin Bread Recipe

3 1/3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
Pinch powdered Cloves
1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Baking powder

4 Eggs
1 cup Vegetable oil
2/3 cup Water
1 15 oz Can of Pumpkin
Or you can roast or boil fresh pumpkin 15 oz
1 cup walnuts or Pecans (optional)

* Mix *

Beat wet ingredients, eggs, add oil and water.
In another bowl mix dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt and spices.
Make a well of the dry and gradually add wet ingredients.
Mix and pour into greased loaf pans (pound cake size)
Preheated oven at 350 for 1 hour.
Yields 2 -3 breads 

The post Galactic Halloween first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

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The post Testing first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

Part Two: Eddie & Sonta

ALL OF THE STORIES IN THE SHORE LEAVE SERIES OF SHORTS TAKE PLACE THREE MONTHS BEFORE SINFUL MATE, BOOK ONE OF THE INFINITE UNIONS SERIES.

Eddie

Sweat and blood perfumed the air in this part of the Venus Space Station. We were in the bowels of the place, almost literally. The waste processing station was right next door, which explained the occasional whiff of shit that filtered through the damp air. The room was cavernous, a huge round space with old walls decorated in blaster scorches, blood, and torn posters for fights or businesses long gone.

At one corner was a long table that acted as a bar where dozens of kegs were being tapped, their contents poured into recycled bottles and shuttled out to the customers. Waitresses in skimpy skirts and halter tops scurried around, dodging grabby hands as much as possible while also delivering drinks. Old metal benches sat in tiered rows around a raised dais where a huge metal cage currently sat empty. The mat of the cage was currently being cleaned by some drones, though it looked more like they were just smearing the blood around more than anything.

The floor where all of us spectators walked was always sticky underfoot, and I never looked down to find out why, because why take the gross factor up?

Not that I had any room to complain. After all, none of us were here for the ambience.

Unless by ambience, you were looking for illegal cage fighting. And I was.

Even though my days of being the most successful underdog in Terran cage fighting were well behind me thanks to the double knee cap replacement, I’d had one year before joining the Gex-Corps, I still loved to watch.

And gamble, of course, but that went for everyone here, really.

I made my way through the crowd, which was growing by the second because the main event was about to start. The long handle of my compact hover scooter was secured to my back, and the horizontal piece kept sneaking into my periphery on my left. The scooter was a necessity for getting around a station this size that didn’t have any accommodations for someone my height. It was a newer model that had been outfitted with some special bells and whistles by the Intrepid’s engineer, Sophia Dawes. It went faster than a regulation scooter, and the horizontal handle was thicker to account for the barely legal Hornet Blaster that I didn’t go anywhere off ship without.

To most people, though, the long vertical handle might be just about anything. It wasn’t until I depressed the button on top that it unfolded into the hover scooter. It also was a wicked club in a pinch.

I snagged a bottle of beer from a passing waitress, a human with a great ass, and tipped her generously.

“Thanks, handsome,” she said with a wink.

I was distracted by thoughts of getting that beauty in my bed when I was nearly knocked on my ass by a Zorestran with an eye patch who wasn’t  watching where he was going.

“Watch it, you imp!” he snarled.

I flipped him off and started to walk to a seat when his meaty hand landed on my shoulder.

“Seriously?” I said with an eye roll.

I was not in the mood for this, but…

“You need to learn some respect, you shit stain,” the Zorestran said.

He attempted to pick me up when I spun to the side and grabbed a handful of his testicles. I gave them a good yank and squeeze for good measure. An anemic scream escaped his gaping mouth, and I held on.

“Now,” I said, sipping my beer with my free hand, “I was inclined to let your behavior slide, but now I expect you to apologize.”

I squeezed harder, and he groaned.

“I-I’m s-sorry,” he whimpered.

I held on for a second more before letting go. The Zorestran fell on his face on the disgusting floor and I simply walked over him. If I had a credit for every asshole who thought I was someone they could step on because I was only four feet seven, I’d be one rich fucker. The Intrepid was one of the few places that didn’t seem to make a deal out of my short stature. I was the Chief Medical Officer, and the nano sensitive shoes I wore on the ship activated nanites in the floor that raised it up for me when I walked, allowing me to do my job no matter what the height requirements might be.

But the Venus space station had no such accommodations, especially not here.

This particular room wasn’t even on the plans of the station, a small pocket where low-level criminals, bookies, gamblers and those looking to make a name for themselves in illegal cage fighting gathered for a bit of entertainment.

I climbed up onto the bench where a grizzled, huge Zorestran male was waiting for me and clinked the bottle against his.

“Is it just me or did you get uglier since the last time I saw you?” I asked, taking a swig.

He grunted out a hoarse chuckle.

“Naw, I did. Two new scars from breaking up a fight here last week,” he pointed at a nasty one on his left cheek.

“Trace, you don’t watch it I’m gonna be collecting your damn body one of these days.”

The old Talosian just shrugged.

“I’d rather live hard than rot in retirement.”

“Don’t gimme that. After all these fights, you’ve got plenty of creds to get off this floating shit heap.”

“Hey,” his playful smack on my arm nearly knocked me off the bench, “this shit heap has history. Show some respect.”

I snorted and took another swig.

It was true that Venus Station was one of the oldest around, famous for its beautiful bio-domes, old time piano bar and the infamous criminals that were caught on its premises.

Oh, and the cage fighting, of course.

“So,” Trace leaned down to me, “everything set?”

I grinned at him and nodded. Trace and I had been running some variation of the same con for years. He knew virtually every fighter on the station, and when one of them was in need of a hand up or was in too deep with a bad trainer or bookie, he would make sure the odds were driven way low on their winning, I’d show up with an adrenal and they’d miraculously win. Most of the credits would go to the fighter to help them out, and my share always went to Trace. I told him to hold it for me and I’d get it later, but I never did. A few credits were nothing compared to how he’d saved my life when I’d been young and stupid.

“Shira has the adrenal hidden in her glove,” I said. “When she’s about to go down, she’ll hit it and win the fight. I pity the poor sod who’s got to fight her tonight. Who is it anyway?”

“Some newcomer I didn’t recognize. Apparently, they always wear a mask over part of their face and go by an alias. She’s been on a winning streak, so I’m a bit nervous.”

I waved the worry away even though his words made a kernel of doubt start to stir in my mind.

“The other fighter won’t know what hit them. The adrenal is solid.”

“I sure hope so. Those bookies have Shira’s little sister. They’re threatening to sell her.”

“Not gonna happen. Even if I have to beat the shit out of them myself.”

Trace cocked an eyebrow at me.

“What?” I asked, incredulous. “I’m still in my prime.”

He let out a bellowing laugh and hit his knee.

“Sure,” he wiped his eyes, “and I’m a prince in hiding.”

“Alright, alright, alright!” hooted a bald human male dressed in an outlandishly bright green suit. “It’s time for our main event, if you could all take your seats. Betting is now closed.”

In spite of how sure I was that we would win, nerves still ricocheted in my gut. There were always errors that could happen. No plan was perfect and while I could make that adrenal in my sleep, there was an odd itch between my shoulder blades that I couldn’t shake. I’d had the same feeling just before the fight where the brute had broken both my knees. I’d gotten it before my wife had been shot in front of me. And I had it now.

It’s fine…it’s gonna be fine.

“First up,” the human grinned as the spot light hit his shining face, “our challenger. At five feet eleven inches, a rarity indeed, the Valtoshan, Shira Hasus!”

Some cheers, but mostly jeers for the young woman who jogged up to the cage. Her gear was clean but obviously worn, her arms and legs were a patchwork of scars, some from fights and some clearly not. Her riju the tendrils that flowed from her skull and were part of her ability to empathically know what someone was feeling, were all held back by several thin strips of fabric that both kept them out of an opponent reach and kept her from using them as a weapon. Her face was focused, serious, but I’d been around this sport long enough to see the nerves in her eyes.

She found us in the crowd and Trace gave her a nod that she returned. He was her sponsor in this fight, so it was nothing suspicious to have her acknowledge him. It would’ve been weird if she hadn’t.

“And now our champion, standing at six feet ten inches, the mysterious and beautiful Talosian who is undefeated in all of our affiliate fight clubs, Athena!”

A golden skinned woman in black shorts and sports bra, the bottom half of her face covered in a breathing mask, jogged up to the cage while the place went completely crazy. She was fit, that was for sure. A beautiful pattern of amber colored scales ran up her muscular arms and shoulders, up the sides of her neck and to her temples, standing out in shimmering contrast to her golden skin. But it was her eyes that truly set her apart.

They were purple.

And few Talosian I’d ever met had purple fucking eyes.

No…no, no, no.

I stood up on the bench to get a better view of her body as she warmed up on her side of the cage and after a few seconds I saw the tattoo that she always passed off as a birth mark during her physicals, partially covered by the straps of her sports top but it was there.

The sign of the royal family of Talos Five.

The one thing that clinched it without question.

The fighter that Shira was going up against, the one that I’d ensured would go down in a bloody heap, was the first officer of the Intrepid, Commander Sonta Fidelius.

“Shit.”

 

Sonta

The crowd was rabid tonight as I climbed into the cage. This was my little secret, a way to not be the buttoned down Commander of the Galactic Union’s flagship, or fourteenth in line for the Talosian throne.

Both had their pleasures and their burdens.

And I needed an escape from all of it.

This was my solution to that.

Inelegant?

Yeah probably, but I didn’t really care. Everyone out there didn’t care about me beyond the blood splattered spectacle I was about to give them. Still, I wore a mask to make sure that no one recognized me. The Intrepid stopped off on a lot of planets and space stations, and as unlikely as it was that someone from one of those missions or even from the ship itself would be here, I didn’t want to take any chances.

I sized up the opponent in front of me and inwardly cringed. She had a tough facade, and a strong body. From her warm up movements, I could see that she knew what she was doing. But she was also little more than a kid. I was over thirty cycles, though Talosians aged slower than most other species, so I still looked too young to be the first officer of the flagship.

I also looked like someone that could be taken advantage of by the occasional drunken fleet Admiral who assumed I was vulnerable and young.

They didn’t have that assumption intact after I was done with them.

Sometimes other things weren’t intact either but that was a last resort kind of attack that I didn’t relish.

The announcer finally wrapped up his advertisements and self aggrandizements. My heart stilled, my mind focused. It was obvious that I could beat her, but I wanted to do it with as little bloodshed as possible. The crowd might not like that, considering my last opponent was a seven and half foot tall Zorestran who stabbed me with her horn. That had been a difficult wound to explain to doctor Goodman. There was no way he bought my story about it, but being the discrete medical professional he was, Eddie didn’t say a word.

The buzzer went off. The crowd screamed in near mania but it all faded to a dull roar in the back of my mind. Time slowed as she advanced on me. Skills honed on the dusty practice yards of Talos Five and the suffocating sparing rooms of the academy activated as instinct as the world snapped back into my consciousness.

She came out swinging with a jab to my face that dodged, landing an upper cut in response. Her head snapped back, and she stumbled. I didn’t press the advantage that I could have. Instead I circled, getting a sense of how dazed she was. Not very well apparently, because she rammed her shoulder into my middle and slammed me back into the cage, which was a little electrified. That would get worse the longer the match went on. As it was now, the bite of the electricity barely registered.

I hooked my foot around her ankle and let my weight bear down on her as she lost her balance. We fell together, and I had her in an arm lock. This was a short end to the match, which would not please anyone, but it was also the least bloody way to subdue her. A small shoulder displacement. I pay for the repair and she leaves a little wiser and still alive.

Instead, the young woman grit her teeth and slammed her hand on the mat a little too hard. I hadn’t really started approaching what was likely her pain point, so what the hell was that?

“Sorry about this,” she whispered.

I frowned just before her fist connected with my face.

It was like someone took a block of stone and slammed it into my face. I was seeing stars as I lost my grip on her arm and fell to the side. I just got myself onto my hands and knees so that I wouldn’t be an easy pin, but my ears rang.

That blow was not natural, I knew that. It was an adrenal of some kind.

The crowd was going berserk as my opponent climbed on my back and put me in a head lock, her forearm pressed on my wind pipe. She was clearly inexperienced because the way she was doing this, she could easily crush it instead of merely squeeze it and make me pass out.

I slapped her arm, my face pulsing from lack of air. My vision was going in and out already from that punch and now I saw black spots in my vision. But that didn’t keep me from making eye contact with a very familiar face.

What the…?

“Stop! You’ll kill her!” Eddie, and I was sure it was him, screamed from the crowd. “Let her go!”

The other fighter kept the pressure on and I went limp, hoping that would let her know that it was done, that I was defeated.

“You want your champion to die? Get her the fuck off her!” Eddie yelled, just before everything went dark.

Sonta

I woke up to the sting of sulfur in my nose and flung my hands out to get the smell away.

My eyes still werent, focusing all that well, so at first I wasn’t sure if the room had low lighting or it was. But after another few minutes, I realized it was the filthy lights above me in the dingy little laundry room that doubled as a ‘locker room’ for the cage fights.

A small light shone in my eyes and I batted it away.

“Stop that!”

“Hold still. I need to see if you’re concussed.”

“Now you’re worried?”

“Hush, doctor working.”

“I’m going to kill you, Eddie.”

“Okay, after I make sure nothing’s broken.”

I threw up my hands.

“Fine.”

Eddie began to examine my throat, then my eyes, and finally the bruise on the side of my face. I wasn’t sure how long all of it took, but at the end of it, he gave me a hypospray that took the worst of the pain away and slathered a healing gel on my throat to help with the swelling and bruising.

“Thanks,” I said, and sat up slowly.”Now, what are you doing here?”

“Me? I fit here, people wouldn’t think twice about seeing me here. This is expected of me. I’m not exactly an angel. But you? Sonta, what are you doing?”

I glared at him and turned away.

“I don’t need to answer to you.”

“As your doctor, I think you do.”

“We aren’t on the Intrepid Eddie.”

“Okay then, just be straight with me then as a friend. What is this?”

“Blowing off steam. What is it for you?”

He blew out his lips and tossed a towel into a small basket in the corner.

“Repaying a debt or two.”

“That girl?”

“Sort of. It’s a long sad story with a bunch of other equally pathetic and sad stories all blended in. You up for that?”

“Hell no. At least not without a strong drink.”

“Well, you don’t have a head injury, so that’s fine. I’m buying. I owe you that much.”

“Damn right you do.” I gingerly touched my jaw. “What the hell did you give that girl? There was no way she could have hit me that hard unless she was on something.”

“Is that so?” said a gravely voice from the doorway.

“Oh shit,” Eddie murmured just before snagging a vial of something blue and shoving it in the hypospray. “This is going to give you an energy boost and take away all the pain temporarily. You’ll feel it later, but not now.

“What– hey!”

He injected me with it just before doing the same for himself. A cool sensation spread through my body, followed by a rush of adrenaline. I suddenly felt like I punch through walls and not have a scratch. Which was a good thing, since the three Zorestrans that just walked in were about as big as a wall.

“Um, Eddie?” I asked as I got to my feet.

“Tell ya later, just don’t hold back.”

“So ya rigged the fight?” the first guy said.

He was shorter than the other two, but not by much. There was a jagged scar that ran down the length of his face and his head was shaved, making his steel tipped horns stand out all the more.

“I didn’t say that and neither did she,” Eddie said, standing in front of me with his arms crossed. “But since Shira won, you’ll get your credits and you don’t get to keep her sister any more.”

“That’s not really how it is. Ya see, I had a lot riding on this one winning. So you cost me more than Shira made.”

“Not my problem. We had a deal. Shira held up her end and now it’s your turn. Where is her sister?”

“Probably on her way to the pleasure houses on Qellen Two,” he said with a lascivious chuckle. “Kid has a future, I can tell ya that.”

Suddenly I was seeing red as a sick feeling spread through my gut. I’d been invisible once, easily taken advantage of in spite of my royal status. I knew what it was like to be at the mercy of men who thought their size and age gave them leave to do whatever they wanted.

I’d never been able to do anything about those evil men. But these? Oh, these I could do something about.

I got to my feet, adrenaline coursing through me lightning fast. All of my senses were suddenly sharper than ever before. I could hear and see everything, every nuance of movement, every whisper of breath. It should’ve been overwhelming, but instead, all I felt was a wicked joy.

These pricks weren’t gonna know what hit them.

My fist flew at the first Zorestran, smashing into his jaw. Blood and saliva flew as the crack of bone sounded throughout the room.

He yowled in agony, clutching his broken jaw as he attempted to remove his blaster pistol from the holster. I snared his hand, twisted and felt the distinct pop of tendons. His scream was muffled this time, but tears fell in fat drops down his face as he dropped to his knees. I didn’t see Eddie move, but I heard the squeal of pain from the second Zorestran, who fell to the floor, his leg bent the wrong way at the knee.

I grabbed for the third one just as he was fleeing. His shirt ripped in my grip and I shoved him hard into the wall, breaking his nose.

“Stop, I’ll tell you where the girl is!” he cried.

His two friends behind him were sobbing and panting, the distinct smell of urine suddenly invaded the air.

“Talk fast unless you want my friend to rip your balls off,” I said as I pulled him away from the wall and shoved him onto a bench.

Eddie walked up, bleeding from his lip, expression hard as stone as he cracked his knuckles.

“Okay! Look, she’s not gone, not yet. Boss had us sedate her and stow her as cargo for a ship leaving in twenty minutes from docking bay six. Crate number sixteen, twelve, L.”

I stared at him for a few seconds just to draw out the suspense and finally let him go.

“If you’re lying to us,” Eddie’s voice was soft but menacing, “me ripping your balls off will be the least of your troubles.”

“I’m not, I swear!”

In spite of the way my body was humming with energy, I managed to walk, not run out of there. When we got to the hall, I started to run when I realized that Eddie wouldn’t be able to keep up.

“Piggy back ride?” I asked.

He gave me a sour look.

“Fuck no, I’ve got it covered. Let me comm Shira first.”

He pinged the woman I’d fought, her voice thick with worry.

“Where is she?” Shira asked.

“Long story, but we’re on our way to find her,” Eddie said. “Is Trace with you?”

“Yeah, I’m here. What the hell Eddie?” Trace’s gravely voice sounded quite angry.

“I’ll explain later. Trace, stick to the plan. I’ll meet you both at the shuttle with your sister.”

“You sure you don’t need back up?” Trace asked.

“No, I’ve got a friend helping.”

“A friend, huh?” I asked with a smirk. “I always thought you tolerated me.”

“I’m generally a bit on the grumpy side in case you hadn’t noticed. Nothing personal.”

I crossed my arms, because honestly? I didn’t buy it one bit. I was an expert at knowing when someone was wearing a mask. Everyone in my life from the time I was born had ulterior motives, hid things from me and generally played games with their loyalties to my family. I could count on one hand the people who were absolutely honest with me before I joined the Gex-Corps. And I knew, for some reason, that Eddie Goodman had always been stand offish toward me. I just didn’t know why.

“Come on, we don’t have a whole lotta time,” he said, swinging a long pole with a horizontal bar off his back.

When he pressed a blue button at the top, a low whirring sound began and the bottom extended, then widened into a board. Another click of a switch and the engines under fired and Eddie stepped on. He zoomed away from me, yelling over his shoulder as I stared after him, “You coming or what?”

 

Eddie

I had to focus and get Shira’s little sister back, but all I could think about was that I was fighting alongside a member of the same royal family that had instigated the Grellton war ten years ago. The same war where I’d served as a field hospital doctor for the GUP, who had supported the Talosians in that conflict. That was where I’d seen some of the most vile war crimes committed by the so called ‘civilized’ Talosians.

Sonta’s uncle had been one of the worst offenders, earning him a reputation that even the GUP couldn’t ignore after a while. He was finally charged with war crimes, but only after the war was pretty much over. I would never have stayed with the GUP if it hadn’t been for a scrappy first officer named Antony Drake that had been helping with some of the relief efforts. He’d convinced me that there was more to the GUP than what I’d seen, and that I could have a place there, making a difference.

Our Captain had changed my life, but all the service I’d done, all the therapy to work through my anger and PTSD didn’t completely take away my feelings about Talosians, no matter how hard I tried.

Though, I have to admit, Sonta might be different. She’s not the spoiled royal I had expected when Antony told me she’d be joining his crew.

The respect I grudgingly had for Sonta was hard to admit.

The low level attraction was even worse. She was beautiful, fierce, funny, intelligent and brave. Everything that made me weak when it came to a woman. But she was also the Commander of the Intrepid, and a Talosian. So being lovers was ever gonna happen.

Maybe we could be friends…maybe.

Between her long legs and my super charged scooter, we made it to the dock with a few minutes to spare. Usually, our standing in the GUP would be enough to get civilian freighter crews to stand back while we searched cargo, and that had been my plan at the beginning.

Until I saw the markings on the side of the shuttle.

“Nero Pirate Federation,” Sonta said with a twist of disgust as we hid behind some crates in the shuttle bay. “We’re a little outnumbered, but that stuff you injected us with could give us an advantage.”

“Do you see the crate we’re looking for?” I asked, getting my Hornet out of the handle of the scooter.

“Yeah, it’s in that last remaining stack over there.”

I nodded and pressed the button to compress my scooter. I didn’t put the pole back in the harness at my back and instead gripped it where the bar met the handle. There were about a dozen pirates, all different species, loading crates into their shuttle. The Pirate Federations did a lot of business across GUP space, only a little of it was legal. The GUP tended to look the other way as long as the Federation wasn’t raiding GUP ships or selling human cargo, like Shira’s sister. Depending on the influence of the Nero Federation, they might not get into too much trouble about it, though, which really pissed me off.

“We can take ‘em,” I said, “but it’s gonna get messy.”

“I’m okay with messy.”

I snorted.

“What? I am!”

“I know! It’s just…”

“What?” her eyes narrowed. “Is it the royal thing? Trust me, I’m no princess.”

I couldn’t help smiling at that.

“Maybe not, but you’re a damn fine first officer.”

“A compliment? Be still my heart.”

“Alright,” I grunted and stepped out from behind the crate. “Let’s do this before I start to actually like you.”

She chuckled and shook her head.

We didn’t give them time to absorb the fact that a short human man and a Talosian woman were rushing them. I shot the first two with my Hornet set to a strong stun, and they went down with a yell. Sonta punched the one that came at her hard enough for him to spin around, and then she slammed her foot into his knee, which broke with a crack.

Between the two of us, we cut through the first half in no time before the rest of them realized what was happening. I didn’t see a muscular human woman coming at me until her fist had collided with my face. I fell to the side at the impact, the pain starting to break through the block in the adrenal. We didn’t have much time before it ran out completely.

I aimed the Hornet and hit her on the shoulder. She yelped and came at me again. I managed to knock her legs out from under her with the scooter pole and get up before the next one came at me. I landed a solid hit to his knees as well, but didn’t see the pirate aim a blaster at me until it was too late. I dove to the side, and the bolt grazed my thigh.

I cried out, the pain sharp. He advanced on me, blaster raised and I hit him with two bolts from my Hornet. He went down in a heap and I breathed a sigh of relief.

By now, there were only two left. They threw up their hands and backed away while the rest of the shuttle crew lay moaning or unconscious on the ground.

Sonta snagged the two of them and shoved them down onto the ground while I limped up to them. One of the crew grazed me with a blaster in the thigh and while it wasn’t bleeding all that much, it hurt like a son of a bitch. Sonta wiped blood from her mouth, another bruise beginning to bloom around her eye.

“We know you’re transporting sentient cargo,” I said, pointing my Hornet at them. “How many?”

They looked at each other, terrified.

“Don’t tell them a damn thing!” snarled someone on the ground nearby.

“Sonta, dear, would you mind?”

She marched over and stepped on the leg that was clearly broken. He let out a keening cry and begged her to stop.

“Now,” I said when she’d let up, “I’m only gonna ask one more time. How many sentients are you transporting?”

“Those are them,” said one of the scared pirates as he gestured to the last stack of crates. “Just those, that’s it!”

“I’m gonna gut you two!” said the one with the broken leg.

Sonta bent over and punched him twice, and the man finally passed out.

When she got up, her hands were shaking badly and I could see the fear starting to take over. The first time one of these kinds of adrenals wore off, it could get intense. I just needed her to hold it together a little longer, though, and I could give her something to help. She gave me a short nod and stalked over to the crates.

“You two get out of here,” I said.

They scurried off as I commed Trace.

“Where the hell are you?” he asked.

“We have a problem.”

“What’s new?”

“There are about six sentients total that scum was selling off. We’ve got them here and I’m not leaving them. Can you call in a solid with your buddies in the Constabulary?”

“No problem. Shira and I will be there in a few as well.”

“Thanks.”

Sonta fell onto the ground on her bottom and closed her eyes. I ran over to her and checked her pupils.

“What…the…hell did…you give…me?” she stuttered.

“This is the side effect. First couple of times is the worst.”

She nodded and cringed.

“My heart…I think I’m…feel like I’m…”

“Dying?”

She gave me a tiny nod.

“I’m scared…Eddie.”

And then she did an incredibly shocking thing. She reached out and pulled me to her, resting her head on my chest. I was stunned for a second, and then I hugged her back. Her body was trembling from the let down. It would pass in a few minutes, but I knew from experience that the worst withdrawals felt like forever. So I held her tighter, promising her it was going to be alright. My fingers ran over her tight braids against her skull. A few strands had escaped and they were silky through my fingers. I could feel her full breasts against my upper thighs, the strength in her arms as she held onto me. She felt…good. She felt way too damn good in my arms and I should’ve let go, put some distance between us. The last thing I needed was to lust after a damn Talosian royal. But I didn’t let go. I couldn’t ignore someone who was in distress.

By the time she stopped shaking, the Constabulary showed up, demanding we put our hands up.

“I’m Doctor Goodman from the Intrepid,” I said, hand going to the pocket of my pants.”I’m going to reach in here and grab my credentials.”

“Slowly!” snapped the officer with the stun rifle in my face.

I handed it to him, keeping a hand on Sonta’s shoulder as she leaned her head back against the crate she was sitting against.

He scanned the credentials and handed it back, lowering his gun.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

“Long, classified story,” I snapped, and then gestured to the group waiting behind him and the other two officers. “You gonna let the medics through or what?”

 

Sonta

I didn’t remember much after the adrenal wore off. All I could think about was how my heart raced, then dipped, how my entire body ached and was on fire. By the time the symptoms had mostly passed, the station constabulary had secured the pirates and freed the six young women in the crates. I was sitting off to the side, watching Eddie check on each of their vitals while his very large Zorestran friend made sure the Constabulary didn’t give us too much of a hard time.

“Here,” Shira said, handing me a bottle of water. “Thank you for saving my sister.”

A thinner version of Shira was off to the side, a blanket wrapped around her body while Eddie did one final check on a nasty bruise on her head.

“It was nothing,” I said.

“Yes it was. People like me, we don’t usually get help from anyone in Gex-Corps.”

“Technically, that’s not what I’m here for at the moment.”

“Yeah, well, still. You cared enough to help and so thanks. I guess you’re one of the good ones.”

The tone of surprise and yet also bitterness in her voice surprised me. I wasn’t delusional enough to think that Gex-Corps was without fault. I remembered the Grellton conflict. I heard about what my uncle had done. But I had seen enough good to make me believe in our mission, to think that others did too. Maybe that wasn’t the reality, though.

“Do you and your sister need help with anything?” I asked. “Passage or a place to start over?”

She let out a long breath through her nose.

“Well, since Eddie said he took care of the shit bag I owed credits to, we have a good start where that’s concerned, but…I guess I’m not sure. I’m scared of messing up again, ya know? Trusting the wrong person.”

I nodded.

“Then let me help you find the right ones.”

I sent a few contacts over to her wrist comm and stood up.

“I’m Sonta Fidelius,” I said, “and if you use my name with any of them, they’ll get you set up on the worlds they live on. Get you a place to live, a job. You can trust them.”

Shira stared down at the list of names and then back at me, tears in her dark eyes.

“Why would you do this?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do and because everyone deserves a helping hand. If I can do that, I want to.”

“Thank you,” her breath stuttered. “You have no idea what this means to us.”

I wanted to say that I did. That I remembered what it felt like to be given a chance to shed my royal identity and join Gex-Corps. But I didn’t because that was my secret. Instead, I just shook her hand and enjoyed the warm sensation of helping someone in need.

Eddie sauntered toward me, eyeing Shira as she gave her sister a tearful hug.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“Just giving them a little help to start a new life.”

He grunted, and I got the impression that was his way of saying he approved. Not that I should care about that, but oddly, I very much did.

“You ready to return to the ship?” he asked. “I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve had enough shore leave for now. And besides, I need to look you over before you return to duty.”

“What about you? That blaster graze should be looked at.”

He shrugged.

“Gave myself a hypo of a numbing agent, and it’s fine right now. I’ll have Chloe look it over later.”

We got back to the Intrepid without incident and snuck into the sick bay. I hadn’t looked in a mirror, so I had no idea just how bad I looked until the nurse on duty squeaked in shock.

“Oh my goodness, Commander, what happened?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Eddie snapped, “go catalogue something and leave her to me.”

The poor nurse’s eyes widened further when he saw Eddie, but he didn’t say another word. Just did as he was told and ran off to an adjacent room and closed the door.

“You talk to all your nurses like that?” I asked as I jumped up onto a med bed.

Eddie slipped on his nano sensitive shoes and the computer acknowledge his presence.

“Welcome back, Doctor Goodman, activating floor risers.”

The floor elevated for him as the nanites in his shoes reacted to the sensors in the floor, and now he was around the height of an average human. He could go up to six feet with those shoes on, though I’d rarely seen him do that. Eddie seemed to prefer not to be that high off the ground. He began to examine my eyes first, running the small med scanner down my body.

“I talk to some of them like that,” he finally said, “because they need to know that this job isn’t all sunshine and fucking rainbows. If they can’t handle a grumpy doctor, they aren’t going to last long.”

“Harsh.”

“True.”

I was silent after that as he continued the exam. His face was close to mine on several occasions as he administered healing gels to my cuts and bruises. It was a little unnerving that I was just now noticing how handsome he was. Not in the traditional way of most human men, but there was a rough around the edges appeal to his craggy features that I found intriguing. I’d not had many lovers over the years, too focused on proving myself. And I certainly never had one on the ship I was serving on, mostly because I rose through the ranks fast and most were my subordinates. It wasn’t right for me to try to engage in a relationship with such an uneven power balance.

But Eddie was technically my equal. And he was fierce, intelligent. The way his uniform clung to his body showed a man who had a leanly muscular physique, which was generally my weakness. I liked a man who was smaller than me and with my broad shoulders and Talosian height, there were usually plenty to choose from if I wanted.

And yet…

“You don’t like me,” I said as he administered a hypo spray.

Eddie hesitated, his jaw tightening under his trimmed goatee.

“I used to not like you at all,” he admitted.

“And now?”

“I hate the way you’re growing on me.”

I couldn’t help letting loose a chuckle at that and for a second, Eddie stopped and looked me in the eye. We were so close, the slightest movement would bring our mouths close enough to kiss. I noticed the way his hazel eyes flitted down to my mouth and back up, and I had the oddest sort of flutter in my chest. But then he backed off and walked over to the tray he’d been taking different things off of during my exam.

“You served during the Grellton conflict,” I said.

His back stiffened.

“Yeah. What of it?”

“It’s why you’ve never liked me, and I understand that.”

He turned around, arms folded across his chest and just stared at me, daring me to continue. I took a deep breath, not at all sure why I felt the need to explain this to him, why I had to reveal things that I hadn’t told anyone. But something inside of me rebelled against letting Eddie continue to assume that I might’ve agreed with what my family had done. I needed him to see me, or at least start to give me a chance.

“I once asked my father why he did it,” I said, the words hard to get out at first. “He didn’t answer me for a long time. When he finally did, he told me just one thing. That he’d trusted the wrong person. I assumed he meant my uncle because he was the one who had turned him over to the GUP for war crimes.”

Eddie’s eyebrows winged up at that but he didn’t say anything.

“I left to join the Gex-Corps because there was a lot on my planet I didn’t agree with, a lot in the galaxy I wanted to change,” I continued. “But as the youngest and fourteenth in line for the throne, I had no power to change anything. I wanted to serve, but I realized that I didn’t want to serve a throne that had condoned such horrible things, like that war. My father did not agree with my decision, but he never stood in the way of it. I think…I think he knew that I would never be able to live a full life on Talos Five. By the time I graduated the Academy, the war was over.”

“Why tell me all this?”

I took a minute to find an answer because I still kind of wondered that myself.

“I want you to be my friend,” I said, knowing it was the truth. “And I know that you saw some horrible things that my people, my family had done. I needed you to know that I’m not them.”

He let out a long breath, staring down at the floor and I thought after a minute or so that he wasn’t going to respond. When he did, his voice was thick with regrets and sadness.

“I wasn’t exactly an angel during all of that. I did things I’m not proud of.”

“I think that’s probably war.”

“Yeah. Still doesn’t excuse it.”

“No, I guess not.”

“I know you’re not your family,” he said, looking me in the eye. “I knew that the longer I served with you, and I know that after tonight. It was hard to be around you at first. But you wore me down.”

I let out a small laugh.

“It’s what I do.”

He grunted out a laugh at that.

“Yeah, I noticed. It’s damn infuriating.”

I laughed again, a lighter sound this time because I was seeing hope that Eddie might actually let me in. And for some reason, that made me quite happy.

“It wasn’t right of me to judge you at first,” he said, “I’m sorry. “

“Thank you.”

“And I guess we could be friends.”

“Wow,” I said, quirking an eyebrow, “that took a lot didn’t it.”

“You have no idea.”

I hopped off the med bed and walked up to him, extending my hand.

“Thank you, for giving me a chance.”

His grasp was firm, warm and we both might’ve held on a little longer than necessary.

“You going to the Captains brunch tomorrow?” he asked as he started to clean up.

“Of course. You?”

“Not gonna miss out on his cooking. Or his Bloody Mary’s, the man has a heavy hand with the alcohol.”

“Well then,” I said with a grin, “I’ll see you there.”

 

Eddie

I couldn’t get her out of my head all night.

The way she’d smiled at me.

The way her laughter made something tight inside of me, that thing I’d held onto for so long I wasn’t even aware of it anymore, loosen up.

She was…unexpected.

We arrived at the Captain’s quarters together. Her in a crisp dark blue uniform with gold accents, dark hair braided into a conical shape on top of her head. I still thought her hairstyles were ridiculous, although maybe a bit less so now.

“Doctor,” she greeted me with a warm smile.

“Commander,” I said with a nod and…

Fuck me, was I actually smiling at her?

Just a little?

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything, a smart move on her part since I was already shocked enough.

We entered the spacious quarters, the sound of old earth classic rock playing in the background, a cozy fire in the sitting area. The smell of bacon and scones made my mouth water, but it was the sparkling pitcher of Bloody Mary’s that really held my attention. Captain Drake had set the entire ship to interact with my shoes, so I didn’t have to ask anyone to pour me the drink, I could do it myself.

“Well good morning you two,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Captain was half Zorestran, half human, as evidenced by his salt and pepper hair, lighter blue skin and shorter horns. Bastard was still gorgeous and had charisma coming out of every pore. The fact he never turned that charm onto his subordinates was a point in his favor. I hated play boy Captains who couldn’t keep it in their pants on every away mission and at every space station.

“How was the station?” he asked as I poured myself a drink. “You both look like it was an interesting shore leave.”

“It was.” Sonta looked at me with a little panic. “Very.”

Drake’s eyes widened and when we didn’t elaborate he shrugged.

“Okay then. Help yourselves to some fruit while we wait for everyone else to arrive. And then there’s something I need to talk to everyone about.”

My adrenaline spiked, but I hid it behind a long pull from my glass. Sonta gripped a delicate champagne flute filled with a mimosa but her eyes filled with panic. We made our way over to the table while the door opened again and in walked Lt. Kier’Ahn.

“He knows,” Sonta said, downing half her drink in one go.

“If you keep acting guilty, he’s gonna know something is going on.”

“No, I’m serious. I’ve seen that look. That’s his ‘I know what you did on shore leave’ look.”

I frowned incredulously.

“That’s oddly specific.”

“You have no idea who many times we’ve had to confront crew members about something on shore leave. I’m usually his bad cop and now being on this end of it? Not a fan.”

I went to take a drink and stopped.

“You’re the bad cop?”

“Yeah, why? You think I can’t be tough?”

“In the way that bread is tough, maybe.”

“Hey,” she smacked my arm, “I am filled with toughness when I need to be.”

“I’ll take your word for it cage fighter champion.”

“See, that’s an example of me being tough.”

“Got me there but…”

The Captain brought a platter of bacon to the table and we gave him wide smiles. His smile became awkward, and the turned around slowly, as if he were a little unsure how to react.

“Okay, yeah, I see it now,” I said, draining my glass.

Sonta refilled my Bloody Mary and her Mimosa and we drank nervously waiting for everyone else to arrive. When a hung over Lt. Vabaris walked in and the Captain hadn’t said anything yet, I was hopeful Sonta and I were just seeing things.

And then he said, “Alright now, who wants to go first and tell me why I received two messages from the station constabulary and one odd noise complaint from the Priest who works at the station chapel?”

I downed my second drink, let out a groan and said, “I’m too fucking sore and tired to lie. Captain, what happened was…”

An hour later, and several other revealing stories told, a stunned Sonta and I were walking out of the brunch.

“I can’t believe he bought it,” she said.

“Neither can I,” I said with a burp. “It wasn’t my best lie.”

“It was…creative.”

I huffed out a laugh.

“Thanks.”

“So,” she said as we walked to the lift, “next shore leave, am I gonna find you at the cage fight?”

I gave her a sideways glance.

“Am I going to find you there?”

The grin she gave me was heart stopping, and I had the sudden urge to pull her in and find out if her lips were as soft as they looked. I clenched my hands together and resisted.

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

“I guess so…princess.”

I expected her smile to fade, or for her to protest. I expected several things, but not the glint of heat in her purple eyes.

“Don’t call me princess,” she shot back, but there was a playfulness to it that I very much liked.

“Whatever you say.”

The rest of the short walk we were silent, last night, and this morning rolled around in my head, all tangled up with these new feelings I had for her. I didn’t like it. Relationships among the crew were messy, and I didn’t do messy.

But I did do friends with people I respected. And damn it if I didn’t find myself respecting Sonta.

“See you later Doctor,” she said just before walking into the lift.

“See you Commander.”

The post Shore Leave pt2: Eddie & Sonta first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

Part One: Kier’Ahn & Chloe

ALL OF THE STORIES IN THE SHORE LEAVE SERIES OF SHORTS TAKE PLACE THREE MONTHS BEFORE SINFUL MATE, BOOK ONE OF THE INFINITE UNIONS SERIES. MOST OF THIS SHORT STORY APPEARS IN SINFUL MATE: A FRIENDS TO LOVERS ALIEN ROMANCE

CHLOE

The bar on the Venus Space Station had an old Earth piano bar feel to it. Low lighting glinted off the bronze metal accents on the rails and tables. A beautiful baby grand piano sat just behind me near the curving wall of windows with a stunning view of Venus and the ships that were currently docking or leaving. The drinks were also throwbacks like ‘Manhattans’ and ‘Gin and tonic’, though I was more of a wine girl myself.

It was my favorite place to meet a friend or relax when the Intrepid docked at the station, which was a bit on the quaint side itself. A throwback from the time just after first contact with the Atavarians, Venus Station had been retrofitted and repaired hundreds of times because no one had the heart to decommission it. And I was glad, honestly. In spite of how updated the station was, the Galactic Union had made sure that it also retained its old time charm. As a result, the halls were narrower than other stations, portions of the walls were marked with legendary blaster pistol fights from the mythic outlaws of the early days of the Galactic Union. A few had even signed their scorch marks before being carted away for trial.

Even though they really didn’t need them, there were miles of service tunnels that ran under the decks, officially abandoned except for either those running illegal businesses on the station or the occasional adventurous tourist. I’d once had a tryst with a Zorestran in one of the tunnels under deck eight, which was better in theory because the floors were narrow and slick with gods only knew what.

I adjusted the straps of my flowy red dress and sipped the Talosian white blend in front of me. The clock on the wall behind the bar told me that my date was late enough that they probably weren’t coming, which should’ve been far more disappointing than it was.

It had been almost a year since my last casual fling, and while I was pretty damn horny these days, no one really appealed to me. The Talosian I was going to meet was gorgeous, and we’d had a good time last time I was on this station, but in this moment I wasn’t nearly as disappointed as I felt I should’ve been.

This is the weirdest dry spell I’ve ever had.

“Another wine?” asked the bartender, a tall Human male with a shaved head.

“No thanks, I think I’m gonna call it a night.”

He nodded and glanced at something over my shoulder and back at me, a deep frown on his face.

“Could you do me a favor before you go?”

“Okay?” I said with my own frown, wondering what the hell this stranger could be needing to ask me.

“That Atavarian over there, you’re both from the Intrepid and I…well, we don’t get many Atavarians here and he looks mad but then again, how can you tell right?”

Atavarians were tall red skinned aliens with horns and sharp incisors that they once used to rip out the throats of their adversaries. But about a thousand years ago they went through an Enlightenment, as they called it. Now, they used cognitive training to control their strong, primal emotions and were known for their cool heads and logical thinking. They were one of the most respected species in the galaxy, and most places treated them like royalty, so it didn’t surprise me that this guy was nervous about making a good impression.

If the Atavarian in question was from my ship, then it could only be one person: Kier’Ahn, one of my best friends.

“He’s harmless,” I assured the bartender.

“Yeah, but my boss is getting antsy because he’s just sitting there looking more uncomfortable by the second. Do you think you could find out if he needs anything or why he’s here? Every time one of the waitresses approaches him, the guy just says he doesn’t need anything.”

I sighed. Kier wasn’t shy, but he also still had a bit to learn about social interaction. I found it charming honestly, but I understood why others might not.

“Do you have any chamomile tea?” I asked.

The bartender’s face relaxed, and he nodded.

“Oh yeah, absolutely. Does he want blood in it? We have all the synthetic blends.”

Atavarians were blood drinkers in addition to eating fruits and vegetables, but they only drank synthetic blood since their Enlightenment. Trouble was, Kier was half human so he couldn’t digest the blends meant for full-blooded Atavarians, a fact he was a bit sensitive about.

“No, that’s alright. Just the tea.”

I hopped off the stool and walked over to Kier’s table with a playful sway to my hips.

“Well, fancy meeting you here,” I said.

His eyebrows raised, the only sign that I’d surprised him. His glove covered hands remained folded on the table. He was wearing his uniform instead of more casual clothing, which meant that he was covered from neck to toes. All Atavarians were touch telepaths, but a few, like Kier, had a difficult time controlling those gifts and preferred not to touch anyone skin to skin. Kier seemed more sensitive than any I’d ever met, however, not even wanting to be touched through his clothing, so I always made sure to be careful not to cross that boundary with him.

“Chloe, hello,” his green eyes slid down my body and darted quickly back up to mine. “You look as if you were dressed for a date.”

“I was,” I said as I sat across from him, “but they didn’t show, so now I’m bugging you.”

Most people thought that Atavarians were incapable of emotion, but I’d known Kier for about two years now and I recognized the very subtle signs that told me exactly what was going on in him. Not all the time, of course. There was a lot about this sexy red alien that still remained a mystery. But whether it was that he showed me more of himself than others, or that I just observed it better, I could read him pretty well.

And that little look down my body? It was accompanied by a widening of his pupils, a tensing of his hands on the table. He’d been affected by the way I looked.

I like that way more than I probably should.

“I do not feel inconvenienced by your appearance,” he assured me. “I am simply trying to determine if my errand for Chief Althea will be compromised by your presence.”

The waitress brought a black and gold trimmed tea cup and saucer to the table with a matching tea pot.

“Your Chamomile tea,” she said with a smile at him.

“I did not.–“

“Thank you,” I said.

She gave Kier one last appreciative glance that he seemed to ignore before sashaying away.

“You ordered this for me?”

“I did. It’s your favorite, and you seemed a little tense.”

He nodded.

“I am. This errand is strange.”

“Fill me in. Maybe I can help.”

“Security Chief Althea requested that I pick up a package for her. She was not feeling well enough to leave the ship.”

Althea was a Boethelian, a species that had lost their planet and most of their population when the K’Tavi attacked. She was our head of security and usually didn’t take leave, preferring the silence of her hydroponics lab instead.

“I am to meet the courier here,” Kier continued. “But he is late and now I am concerned that I have misunderstood.”

“You’re supposed to meet them here instead of the docking bay?”

“Yes, I thought it curious as well, but the Chief was not willing to answer very many questions.”

“Well, that sounds like Althea. I wonder what she ordered that you wouldn’t be able to pick up through normal channels, though.”

Just then, a very broad Zorestran walked up to us, his blue skin darkened with tattoos that ran up his neck and a brutal scar that ran down his forehead and across his nose. Half the bar had quieted the second he’d walked up to us, and the uptight maitre’d looked about two seconds from attempting to escort the scary male out the door.

“You Kier’Ahn?” he asked, voice hoarse.

“I am.”

He handed Kier a medium-sized round object wrapped in a nondescript gray cloth that was tied into a handle at the top. When Kier took it, his arm dipped as if it were much heavier than he expected.

“Tell her next time it’s double, that thing was nothing but trouble.”

“I will be sure to relay the message.”

The Zorestran stalked out, two ladies trailing him out as they ogled his ass.

“What is that?” I asked, leaning down to get a closer look.

“I do not know, but it is quite heavy for a simple package.”

I was not one to put my nose where it didn’t belong, but curiosity was eating at me. Althea kept pretty simple, sparse quarters, and led an even a more disciplined life than Kier did. The only thing she did that appeared in the least frivolous was grow a bunch of plants that used to be from her home world.

“Is it perishable?” I asked, giving it a poke.

The outside was very hard, like a big bowl, while the top was soft. What the hell could it be and why was it being delivered by a really scary looking Zorestran?

“I feel that I should deliver this to the Chief straight away, “Kier said.

I nodded and stood with him, hoping that the Chief would let us know what this weird package contained.

“I’ll go with you. This night wasn’t exactly what I’d planned.”

“Perhaps we could go to the observatory after I have discharged my duty?” he asked.

I smiled up at him as we walked out of the bar. The observatory on the Intrepid was our special place, far away at the very top of the ship. No one ever went there except us, it seemed. Over the last two years, Kier and I had spent countless hours watching the stars in quiet or eating late night snacks on a blanket as he taught me chess and I gushed about the latest discoveries in nano tech or viral medicine.

“That would be nice. Give me a chance to–“

Rough hands grabbed me from behind and the cold bite of a blade bit into my neck. I could just barely see gold skin on the hand holding the blade, indicating a Talosian, a species that was just as broad and tall as Atavarians, sometimes more. Why the hell was someone holding me at knife point?

And then the male spoke and I knew that this simple shore leave was about to get a lot more complicated.

“Hand it over, big red,” said a gravely voice behind me. “Or her blood is gonna be on your hands.”

KIER’AHN

At the sight of Chloe with a knife at her throat, a spike of anger attempted to slip past my mental barriers. She appeared afraid but also quite ready to fight. Though I knew she was capable in an altercation, there was a concern that the very large Talosian male would be able to harm her delicate throat with his vicious blade.  All of this was making it quite difficult to control these emotions, but not impossible.

I set the package down on the floor and raised my hands. I had no intention of letting them get away with Chief Althea’s belongings, but they did not know that. Subterfuge was not a ploy many Atavarians engaged in, but there were times it was a necessary strategy.

“Let her go,” I demanded, my voice much lower than normal.

I could feel the urge to attack beginning to course through me, the need to protect Chloe at all costs. I took a breath, taking charge of that instinct and channeling it so that instead of merely reacting, I studied the situation in front of me.

Two more males, a Human and another Talosian, stood behind this one exchanging looks as if they were considering attacking me. The Talosian glanced down at the package and then back at me. For a moment, it appeared that he was thinking of hurting Chloe, possibly demanding something else. I took a step forward before I could think through the consequences and held the male’s gaze. I did not have the intimidating black eyes of full-blooded Atavarians since I was half human, but I knew that my red skin, height and broad shoulders along with our history of brutal blood shed was enough to convey the message that I would not tolerate it if he hurt my friend.

He began to lower his blade when Chloe shoved her elbow into his stomach, then drove her foot into his instep. The two others lunged forward. The Human attempted to seize the package, but I tackled him to the ground, the physical contact a harsh brush against my mental walls. I could not read his thoughts, but his psyche was there, a shadow on the edges of my consciousness. I shoved against it as I punched him across the face. I did not hold back my strength, and he was unconscious in one blow.

Rough hands pulled me off him and struck me on the cheek. Pain exploded across my eyes and this time I did feel the Talosians thoughts, but only for a second. He was furious, and he wanted blood.

Chloe screamed behind me and I turned fast to see her being dragged away by the first Talosian, though she was giving him quite a fight. Two trails of blood fell down his face from the tracks of her nails, and his nose was at an odd angle. He also had the package in his other hand, though it was not my main concern at the moment.

I jumped to my feet and began to go after them when the other Talosian yanked me back and attempted to punch me once again. I dodged out of the way, seized his hand, and twisted it at the wrist. The bones crunched, and he screamed. I then clapped either side of his face to disorient him and knocked him unconscious with a well-placed blow to the head.

“Ow you human felshtick!” screamed the first Talosian.

I turned back around to see Chloe attempting to drag the package away from the Talosian, who was gripping his genitals and groaning loudly. He lunged for her again and instead captured one side of the handle of the package. They were engaged in a tug of war when the tie at the top loosened and the cloth was ripped open. The pot inside was propelled up just enough by the disturbance that some of its contents spilled out onto Chloe, who had been on the floor as she’d struggled to gain the upper hand.

The Talosian and Chloe both stopped as I neared and stared at the dark, rich soil that had been inside the ornate gold and green pot.

“Dirt?” Chloe asked as she brushed it off her chest and arms.

The Talosian once again lunged for the pot, but I was there first. I seized him by the collar and yanked him up so high that his toes dangled on the floor.

“You are in violation of statute seven b of the interstellar code of conduct governing all space stations within Galactic Union space. Do you concede?”

“Huh?”

“You broke the law. Are you giving up or does he have to pummel you?” Chloe said.

“Thank you for the translation,” I said.

“No problem.”

“I give up. No pay day is worth getting my blood sucked by an Atavarian,” the Talosian said.

“I do not feed off of living beings,” I said as I pressed him rather hard into the wall. “Now, I will call the authorities and — .”

“Hey!” Chloe yelled.

I turned to see her sprawled on the floor, a slim Human running off clutching the package and trailing dirt behind them. I let out my frustration through a sigh and pressed my lips together. Chloe jumped up and took off her high-heeled shoes.

“Come on, if we hurry, we can catch him!”

“But I have to wait for–“

“No time. Do you want to tell Althea that you lost her special dirt?”

I raised an eyebrow and thought about that for a moment.

“The Chief cares a great deal for her hydroponics. I do not think she will be very happy if I were to lose her soil.”

“Okay then, come on!”

I released the Talosian, who ran off so quickly that he slipped on the pile of dirt on the floor and half crawled until he was once again on his feet. Chloe was already half way down the narrow hall way where the thief had disappeared down and it didn’t take me long to catch up to her.

We turned to the right and then a quick left, finding ourselves in a section of the station with the evidence of scorch marks on the walls, and not the kind that were preserved for posterity.

The Human male slipped through a hatch in the wall to our left and slammed it shut.

“Damn it!” Chloe said when she attempted to turn the handle. “It’s either stuck or he locked it.”

I seemed to be unable to help glancing at the dirt that still clung to the pale skin across her chest, which was on display to a distracting degree this evening. Chloe was a beautiful woman, this was something I had noticed the first time we’d met, but the way the dress clung to her waist and hips, the sway of the fabric around her calves, the dip at the center of her cleavage, it was all very…

Enticing. I must refocus. There is a task to be done and Chloe is my friend…yes, my friend.

“Allow me,” I said, grasping the wheel that would unseal the hatch.

It was indeed very tightly closed, but I leaned into it with all of my considerable Atavarian strength and heard the pop of the gears giving. Soon the wheel spun freely, and the hatch swung open. I climbed through first, followed by Chloe, and took quick stock of the tunnel.

There were approximately seven platforms barely wide enough for someone of my breadth to walk along. The one we’d entered onto was against a wall on one side and open with a low railing on the other. It appeared as if the other platforms were open on either side, a few were missing sections of railing. Each level had a short set of stairs leading up or down to the next platform. This particular tunnel system was lit with red and very low white lights, causing an odd effect of shadows that tricked my eyes for a moment.

“There!” Chloe said, pointing down.

I looked over the edge of the railing and saw the slim human running on the narrow floor one level below us.

We bolted to the stairs at the end of the platform we were on. I got there first and jumped over the last three steps. My feet crashed loudly on the platform, startling the thief. He turned and fired a blaster pistol at me. The first bolt went wide, but the second one grazed my upper thigh.

I hissed out in pain, a flash of fury beat against my cognitive barriers, demanding release. I breathed instead and attempted to put weight on it. The wound throbbed and burned, making it hard to move as quickly as before.

“Kier,” Chloe said as she ran up beside me.

“I’m fine, go, but be careful.”

She took off even faster and managed to tackle the thief just before he made it more than a step down the staircase leading to the next level. He went tumbling down the stairs, and Chloe had managed to take the package from him, but it had slipped out of her hand and started to roll over the side of the platform, spilling dirt everywhere.

I was nearly there when Chloe, who was laying awkwardly on her stomach after the tackle, attempted to grab the pot and lost her balance. She followed the pot over the side and just barely managed to grab one of the broken railings.

“Chloe!” I screamed.

Pain was a distant thing as I sprinted toward her. Panic slipped past my every defense as I imagined her falling to her death before I could reach her.

When I did, she was barely hanging onto the pot, which was mostly empty now, and her hand was clearly slipping off the bar.

A blaster bolt pinged off the bar she was holding onto, and she screamed in fear that matched my own. I dove, reaching out for her just as she let go. My gloved hand caught hers just in time, and I pulled with everything I had to bring her up. The thief fired one more blast at us, which hit the floor right next to me before he ran off further into the tunnels.

I helped Chloe over the edge and got her to her feet. My hands clutched her upper arms as my eyes took her in. More dirt clung to her hair and her dress was ripped across the bodice. But other than that, she appeared unharmed.

My eyes found hers, fear and adrenaline made her pupils widen. She was breathing fast. The puffs of air slipped past her parted lips and brushed across my face. It was then that I realized how close to her I was, that I was still touching her.

Even though my skin was not against hers, there was the gentle presence of her in my mind, like a whisper of sunshine on a cloudy day, there, but not substantial. For the first time in nearly twenty years, I longed to linger here, with her mind almost touching mine.

“Kier, I’m alright,” she whispered.

When I still did not let go, her small hand squeezed my upper arm in reassurance. The pressure sent tingles through my arm and to my chest, startling me enough to let go.

“Yes,” I swallowed. “Yes, I…that is good. I am glad you’re unharmed.”

We had known each other for two years and besides the first time we’d met, this was the first time I had touched her or she me. Somehow I knew, as I forced my gaze away from hers, that this moment would linger on my mind, a taste of something sweet that I would never be able to explore further. And I found myself oddly saddened by that fact.

“We should get as much of the dirt back in the pot as we can,” Chloe said with a lopsided grin.

I recognized it for what it was: an attempt to move past the moment we’d just experienced, return to our normal dynamic.

And I was more than happy to oblige.

“Yes, that is a very good idea.”

CHLOE

I hoped Kier didn’t notice all the times I glanced over at him, or the times I ran a hand over the places he’d gripped my arms tight. It was odd, the way the moment stretched in my mind, how it had been so all-consuming and then vanished.

Now, as we rode the lift on the Intrepid, we both acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As if it hadn’t been the first real time we’d ever touched, the first time I’d noticed how full his lips were, the sheer size of his hands and biceps. I’d always known Kier was handsome. I would’ve had to be blind not to notice that. And I knew his intelligence, his quiet humor and deep compassion for the people around him. Things most people overlooked because he seemed unapproachable.

All of these things had made him a friend before. Now, they swam in my mind, that one brief touch activating a metamorphosis that I was aware of but could not predict the end result of. What would all my history and experiences with him transform into? Would our friendship become stronger, deeper? Would it splinter apart? Or would something else happen?

I glanced at him sideways, but except for the way he favored the leg that had been shot, he looked as he always did: Tall, back straight, hands clasped behind him.

Those strong hands…with those very long fingers.

His eyes slid in my direction and I quickly looked away. I had the package, such as it was now, in my arms. The fabric was in the bowl on top of what little dirt we’d been able to scoop up, and the bowl had a chip at the top. Even though he didn’t show it fully, I could tell that Kier felt terrible about what had happened to Althea’s package. He took any duty, no matter how small, very seriously.

I shifted a little on my bare feet, having lost my shoes somewhere in the old maintenance tunnel we’d been in. There was still dirt down my dress and some of it was caught in the cup of my strapless bra. The itch was getting horrible, and I couldn’t wait to get back to my quarters and shower the filth off.

When the lift stopped on the deck where Althea’s quarters were, we stepped off and walked slowly to her door.

“I should take responsibility for this mishap,” Kier said.

“No, it wasn’t your fault, really. How were you supposed to know that someone was going to try to steal it? Which,” I frowned up at him as the obvious question finally presented itself, “why would several people want to steal dirt?”

“That is an excellent question. Perhaps it was the bowl itself?”

“Maybe a Boethelian artifact of some kind?”

We both looked at the bowl in my arms. It was pretty, but nothing stood out about the designs. In fact, I could swear I’d seen something like it in a shop two doors down from the piano bar.

I looked up to tell Kier that, when I saw his eyes were still looking down, but instead of looking at the bowl, he was staring at my cleavage. It was a mere second, perhaps less, and his eyes darted to the door of Althea’s quarters, but I saw it nonetheless. A flush crept up my cheeks, and I reached for the call button at the same time Kier did.

“Oh sorry,” I withdrew my fingers.

“My apologies,” he said at the same time, also snatching his hand back.

We stood there, waiting for the other to reach and neither of us moving.

“Perhaps, since it is on your side,” Kier suggested.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” I said, my voice breathy, nervous.

It seemed like an eternity between the time I pushed the button and Althea answered the door, the two of us looking anywhere but at one another.

“Finally!” Althea answered and snatched the bowl from my hands without so much as a ‘hello’.

She was taller than me but shorter than Kier. Her dark green skin was covered on her arms, throat, sides of her face and the shaved sides of her head with intricate gold tattoos that were the symbols of her faith and people. Her white hair down the middle of her head was in hundreds of small braids decorated with beads and bands.

She was looking at the bowl intensely and hadn’t even bothered to invite us in. Kier and I looked at one another, unsure of what to do next.

“Um, we had some trouble,” I said, “and we’re really sorry about the soil.”

“Yes,” Kier said, “it was an unfortunate series of events that–“

Althea raised the bowl above her head and smashed it to the ground.

I let out a shocked yell, and Kier and I both jumped at the crash.

“Uh…” I looked from Althea to Kier and back again.

Kier’s face was tense, his eyes wide as he also looked at the Security Chief in confusion and worry.

She got on her hands and knees, sifting through the wreckage of the shattered pot, muttering to herself.

“Um, Chief?” I asked. “Are you alright? Maybe you shouldn’t touch that. Those edges are sharp.”

“Ah-ha!” she shouted triumphantly and held up a small silver disc in her hand.

It was about the size of the base of the pot, carved with symbols similar to her tattoos.

I slowly turned to Kier, and we stared at one another, speechless.

“Thanks for getting this here,” Althea said, though she was examining the disc and not even looking at us. “I owe you both. Cleaner drones activate, door close.”

And before we could ask about the dirt, the bowl or the disc in her hand, the door slid shut in our faces.

Kier’s expression went from wide-eyed shock to something resembling frustration, maybe even anger. And I knew I should feel the same. After all, we’d been shot at, I almost fell to my death, I’d had a knife to my throat, Kier’d gotten in a fist fight and was shot and she barely said thank you.

But the memory of her smashing the pot we’d been so worried about, dirt and all, onto her floor, the utter ridiculousness of the situation hit me full and I let out a long snort that ended on a sharp laugh.

Kier arched an eyebrow as he stared at me, and it just made me laugh harder.

“This is…funny?” he asked.

I wheezed and held my stomach, unable to stop the torrent of laughter that was pouring from me.

“Y-yes!” I gasped.

The longer he stared at me, the softer his expression became, the smoother his brow, the less tense his shoulders. Then that illusive, wonderful, tiny smirk appeared on his lips and I knew he wanted to belly laugh too.

“I suppose,” he said, his voice lighter, “that this is absurd enough to be amusing.”

I nodded and wiped tears from my eyes.

“That’s putting it mildly, yes.”

I chuckled for a bit more and then began walking to the lift when Kier gave a hiss of pain.

“You really should let me take a look at that in sick bay,” I said.

“I am alright. It is not bleeding and I believe that it is only a soreness that I will have to endure until it is healed.”

I understood what he wasn’t saying, that we’d already changed things between us and me seeing him without his pants on would make things even more awkward.

I wonder if that’s why he always insisted on Jack doing his exams and not me.

I shook off the thought and called for the lift.

“I fear my injury does preclude me from meeting you at the observatory, however. I should rest my leg,” he continued.

“At least stop by sick bay and get a hypospray for the pain. Will you do that?”

He gave me an indulgent nod.

“If it will alleviate your concerns, yes.”

“Why thank you,” I said with a nod of my own.

“Are you attending the Captain’s brunch tomorrow?” Kier asked as the lift arrived.

“I think so.”

“Then I will see you there. Good night Chloe.”

“Good night Kier.”

KIER’AHN

I did not sleep well.

I was sure it was mostly the discomfort from the blaster wound on my thigh, not the dreams I had of Chloe.

I would also theorize that those dreams were due to the pain. Perhaps both the odd adventure we shared and the discomfort.

No matter the cause, it had been an…arousing sequence of images that my brain had conjured. No matter how tempting it was to resurrect them, I resisted the urge to think in detail about what I was doing to Chloe in those dreams.

I arrived at the Captain’s quarters on time, as usual, and stepped inside. The room was spacious and comfortable, with a bookshelf along one wall and comfortable chairs nearby for reading. A couch acted as a partition between that space and where his dining table was set for the command crew. That area flowed into his large kitchen, with an island acting as an area for preparation and display of the dishes. I had already partaken of my synthetic blood blend in my quarters this morning, but the Captain still had prepared a blood quiche for me. By now, he knew of my special synthetic formula and I was curious about the ingredients in the small dish set out from the rest.

“Kier, are you limping?” the captain said, walking around from behind the island.

He wore a flour dusted apron that said “Captains make the best cooks” and was holding a bowl of fresh scones.

“I am, but it is alright, I assure you.”

The Captain was half Zorestran, half Human, so his horns were shorter and his blue skin lighter than full-blooded Zorestrans. Where other Zorestrans had bright white hair, Captain Drake had a salt and pepper mix that he kept short. Other than that, he was quite similar to most Zorestrans, though most that I knew did not have such a fondness for baked goods as Captain Drake did.

“What is with all of you and this shore leave? Everyone’s coming back with bruises.”

I glanced over at the table and spotted Dr. Goodman and First Officer Sonta, a tall Talosian woman, both nursing beverages that I suspected had alcohol in them. Both also had bruises around their eyes. Commander Sonta had a split lip and a large bruise on her golden skin that spread from her chin up to her cheek.

“I can’t wait to hear the story,” Captain Drake said with a grin. “Is Nurse Carter coming or–?”

The door opened in the middle of his question and in walked Chloe, freshly showered and clothed in a pair of pink and blue lounge pants and a loose shirt. She looked comfortable, the heavy makeup of the night before scrubbed off.

My hands tingled inside my gloves at the memory of touching her and I clenched them tight behind my back. As per usual, I was the only one in my uniform.

“Good to see that you at least don’t have any injuries,” Drake said to Chloe.

She gave him a toothy grin.

“Nope, though Kier and I had quite the night.”

“Well, grab a drink and meet me at the table. You’re not the only one with a tale, apparently.”

“Oh my gods, what happened to Sonta and Jack?” she asked me.

“I do not know, but it appears they also had an interesting shore leave.”

“No kidding.”

I indulged in looking at her longer than was necessary, just to make certain that she was, indeed, without any injuries from last night. Chloe seemed not to notice as she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Dr. Goodman. The seat next to her was vacant, and I turned to make myself a cup of tea, hoping that I could perhaps sit next to her when the door opened and in walked Lt. Vabaris, another Zorestran and one of Chloe’s friends.

He groaned and poured himself a drink. I think the Captain called it a Bloody Mary.

“Ancestors above, what a night!” he complained.

But he didn’t wait for me to respond. Instead he stumbled over to the table and took the seat next to Chloe, throwing an arm around her shoulder and saying something that had her laughing.

Something dark and sour was roused in me at the sight of his arm around her, his lips so close to her ear. I did not understand it, but I knew it was not something I should let out of its cage. So I looked away and busied myself with the tea. By the time I made it to the table, the instinct was under control, sequestered away behind my mental walls.

I took a seat next to Captain Drake, leaving the chair between Lt. Vabaris and me empty.

“Alright now,” the Captain said with a wide grin, “who wants to go first and tell me why I received two messages from the station constabulary and one odd noise complaint from the Priest who works at the station chapel?”

I glanced at Chloe, her eyes wide. I knew that one of the messages from the constabulary was likely about us, but how did I tell the story without admitting to transporting what was likely an illegal artifact onto the ship?

She and I opened our mouths to talk when Dr. Goodman let out a groan and said, “I’m too fucking sore and tired to lie. Captain, what happened was…”

STAY TUNED FOR DOCTOR GOODMAN AND COMMANDER SONTA’S STORY COMING NEXT MONTH!  AND DON’T FORGET TO PREORDER SINFUL MATE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR  KIER AND CHLOE.

The post Shore Leave pt1: Kier & Chloe first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

My Favorite Naughty Word

It should come as no surprise that my favorite naughty word is absolutely dripping with history.

This word is controversial. It’s filthy some say. Others, myself included, are of the opinion that it is, in fact, empowering.

I’m speaking of the word: Cunt.

Now before you turn away, let me divulge a little bit of the fascinating history of this word.

Did you know that the word ‘cunt‘ is one of the oldest words for female genitalia in the English language; and possibly further back? The only word that is possibly older is ‘yoni‘. Not only that, it is the only word of it‘s kind to encompass all of the female bits: vulva, clit and vagina.

Vagina, on the other hand, was first seen in 17th century medical texts and means “sheath or scabbard“, it is literally something a sword goes into, that is it‘s complete etymological function-to hold a penis.

Cunt, on the other hand, derives from a Proto Indo European root word meaning woman, knowledge, creator or queen. Pretty bad ass right?

‘Cunt’ also has a bit of a mixed usage in our modern day.

In America, it’s a terribly dirty swear word. In Glasgow, a term of endearment. I’m inclined, however, to use it for what it was intended, which is to describe my most intimate, most mysterious parts. The parts that are so often seen as needing to be waxed, or perfumed. The parts that have been judged ‘dirty’ once a month because I bleed.  In other words, I want to reclaim the word that calls my genitalia powerful, wonderful, queenly, creative instead of dirty, smelly and unkempt.

And just to be clear: there are trans-men that have cunts. They get to have the power of this word too if they choose. I believe that in this age, the power of the cunt belongs to all that have them, whether they identify as female or not. Yes the symbolism and ancient meaning had the gender of female in mind, but I also believe that this word can be living and breathing. It can and should evolve to encompass more and that’s why I believe that trans men can also own this word if they so choose and it doesn’t take anything away from anyone.

I love how startling it is when you hear the word ‘cunt’. Transgressive even. But it’s also empowering in way no other word really is. I mean, if you’re bold enough to use the word ‘cunt’, what else are you going to do?

I see ‘cunt’ having a rennaissance of sorts. Loads of women and people with cunts, young and old, reclaiming it alongside their right to bodily autonomy and equality.

And I’m here for it.

 

 

The post My Favorite Naughty Word first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

Love to Hate You

I was really fucking tired.

Three weeks of researching a scalpel that supposedly had the ability to reverse any illness and I still didn’t have a specific location.

I was one of the researchers in the newly reborn Medical Research Department within the Secret Archive. I’d come on a year ago and since then I’d helped find a major artifact that our medical team was currently trying to apply to a cure of a rare form of childhood cancer.

This job came around just as I was contemplating leaving this place because I couldn’t stand how fucking greedy they were. I was a Witch, I knew that there were some things people shouldn’t have access to. But the way the Archive hoarded artifacts that actually could do some good in the right hands had never sat right with me.

But when Professor Luke Turner came to me with this proposition, I was in before he’d even finished his speech. 

I didn’t expect, however, that the Agent I’d be partnered with would be the single most frustration, annoying, grumpy Gargoyle on the fucking planet!

Just thinking about him had my anger roaring to life.

He was a know it all. He called my magical abilities “parlor tricks”. He punched first and asked questions later. We’d been lucky to get that damn artifact on our first assignment and now here I was, stuck with the son of a bitch on a second mission!

If I didn’t believe so strongly in what we were doing, I would’ve told Professor Turner that I was done after that first trip with Zach.

That was his name.

Zach, the grumpiest Gargoyle.

I rubbed my eyes and tried not to think of him. It was almost two in the morning and I needed sleep but I could feel that I was close to a breakthrough with the location. I wasn’t a fan of the Archive library, so I’d checked out some books and was reading at my desk. We all had small offices within the section of the Archive’s London offices that had been designated for the MRD. Most of us practically lived here when we were on a case, and I was no exception. I grabbed my toiletries bag and headed for the agent locker room. Maybe a shower would help reset me before I made another pot of strong tea and dove back in.

The locker rooms were co-ed, which I thought was completely strange until one of the female agents explained that by the time they all had undergone training and field acclimation, they’d seen each other naked dozens of times.

“You get a little desensitized,” she admitted. “Besides, if anyone is uncomfortable, there’s gendered locker rooms on the upper floor.”

I didn’t really care either way but usually the ones on our floor were too crowded so I used the gendered ones. But tonight I was just too tired and I assumed I was alone.

I was wrong.

I’d just gotten under the warm spray in one of the stalls, closed my eyes and started to relax when I heard the unmistakable click of claws on the tile floor.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Burning the midnight oil?” Zach’s voice carried a sneer. “Your little spell not work?”

“It’s not a fix all,” I snapped as I lathered up with the soap and tried to ignore the fact that Zach took the stall right next to mine.

“Or a fix anything apparently.”

“Did you hang around just for the opportunity to give me shit?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, I had actual work to do.”

I couldn’t hold back the loud grunt of frustration and rinsed the soap off. All joy in the pleasure of a perfect temperature shower went out the window. I swear, this asshole could ruin ANYTHING.

I turned off the water and grabbed my towel at the same time Zach did, our hands tangling.

“That’s my towel!” I said as he snagged it off the hook.

“No, I hung mine there.”

“God damn it hand me the fucking towel!”

“You left yours on the bench!” he yelled.

I peeked around the stall door and cringed.

He was right, the fucker.

I wasn’t shy about my body and I was too tired to really give a fuck about this jerk seeing me in all my wet glory so I stepped out of the stall and marched up to my towel.

“You’re welcome,” he snarled, standing buck naked in the doorway of the shower room.

I ignored him and propped my foot on the bench so I could dry my leg off. 

It was then that I noticed the enormous cock swinging between his beefy thighs. And the fact that it was standing at attention.

Was he getting aroused by the sight of me drying off?

Why was that thought so damn hot all of a sudden? Was I really that fucking desperate for a shag that I’d fuck this asshole?

This asshole who had a cock horn that was currently leaking golden fluid onto a dick that was actually getting bigger.

My pussy, traitor that she was, clenched and my clit quivered.

I tried to ignore him, but Zach took a deep inhale and chuckled.

“You getting hot at the sight of my dick little Witch?”

“You getting hard at the sight of my cunt?” I challenged, propping my other foot on the bench and stepping to the side to expose my bare attributes.

He took a slow step toward me, glittering, dark eyes took their time running down my body, which was still damp. Finally he looked me in the eyes, a deep scowl on his broad face.

“What if I am?” his voice rumbled, and he leaned closer.

What happened next, I still can’t explain.

My hands yanked him by his broad shoulders just as he grabbed me by the back of the neck. Our mouths crashed onto one another as we fought for dominance, tongues and teeth clashed.

I was so fucking aroused that I was driven by pure instinct and base need. In the back of my mind I was screaming at how wrong this was. I hated this guy. But that only made it hotter.

“I’m gonna teach you how to show some damn respect to your–,” he began.

“Elders?” I finished for him.

He growled and spun me around until my hands were braced against a nearby wall.

“I’m going to enjoy fucking this pussy,” he said in my ear. “Or are you a cock sucker? You want my cum on your tits, down your throat?”

“Someone took their Viagra today,” I said, unable to stifle a groan when he brutally pinched my nipples.

“You like that? You want me to use you like a sex doll? Like a little whore?”

“How do you know I’m not using you like a whore?” I shot back and grabbed his dick.

It was a bit of an awkward angle but I managed to squeeze the meaty girth and stroke him hard.

He let out a deep rumble, his eyes rolled back for a second and I laughed in delight.

He was soonback control as he shoved two thick fingers deep inside of me. I was so wet that the noises he made as he eagerly finger fucked me were obscene but the heel of his hand was also hitting my clit so I was suddenly incapable of speech as waves of sensation rolled through me.

“Beg me for my cock” Zach demanded. 

“No.”

He yanked his fingers out and before I could even mourn the loss, a sharp stinging pain rocked through me.

The asshole had spanked me!

And I’d liked it.

Again and again his hand came down on my bare ass until I was crying out from the pain.

“So pretty with my marks on you,” Zach chuckled. “Maybe I’ll make you my little office fuck toy. Would you like that?”

“I don’t know,” I panted, “you haven’t fucked me yet. How do I know you can deliver?”

“You just can’t help it can you?”

He swatted me six more times, and by now tears were coursing down my cheeks but I wasn’t sure if it was from the spanking or the fact that I was so horny if I didn’t get fucked right the hell now I would die.

“I’m going to have so much fun stretching your pussy.”

“Big words usually don’t mean a big– Ugh!”

He was not gentle and I didn’t care. His cock was huge, I could feel that even if I couldn’t see it. He worked himself into me with rough thrusts until I could feel his heavy balls slapping against me.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he groaned.  “I’m not gonna be slow.”

“Good. I want you to fuck me hard.”

He groaned, his thick hands dug into my flesh as he swirled his hips, still buried balls deep inside of me. I let out a long moan at how fucking good it felt when Zach’s finger was suddenly rubbing on my clit. It was fast, two circles and he was gone.

“No,” I complained

Until a new sensation started.

Warmth built from where he’d touched, filling me like a wave.

He’d rubbed some of the aphrodisiac from his cock horn on my clit.

“I want to feel you come at least twice before I fill you up. You okay with me coming inside this tight pussy of yours?”

My head was still clear enough to nod.

“I’ve got an implant and I was tested recently.”

“Me too.”

“This doesn’t mean I like you,” I glared over my shoulder.

He was a dark being, drenched in shadows as his wings flared out behind his massive body and he stared down at me. I hated to admit how fucking hot he looked right now.

“Same, you’re still a pain in my ass.”

“Good, then start fucking me before I change my mind.”

He actually laughed, a deep, jagged sound.

“You’re such a little shit.”

And then we both were lost.

He fucked me hard and long. The slapping of our bodies and the uninhibited screams and groans echoed through the empty locker room. The first orgasm hit me hard and fast. My body shook and I was reeling, but Zach didn’t slow down. 

And I loved it.

Loved being fucked rough and thoroughly by this giant Gargoyle.

Loved how taboo this felt. I hated this asshole, and yet I wanted more.

When the second orgasm hit me I was crying. My clit was so sensitive, my entire body was shaking, on fire and flying apart all at once.

I didn’t think I could take much more when Zach’s hard thrusts started to get erratic and then he was swearing in a breathy, groaning voice as he emptied himself.

“Fuck Kat,” he said, using my name for the first time ever as he trailed biting kisses up my spine. “You took me so well.”

I felt so good I didn’t even mind the little bit of admiration I suddenly had for how talented Zach was with his giant cock.

When he pulled out of me, his cum poured of me and dripped down my thighs.

“Wait here,” he said.

When he came back, he had a warm washcloth. I reached for it but he ignored me and knelt on the floor and started to gently wipe his cum off my skin.

“I can do that,” I whispered as I looked down at him.

“I made the mess, I’ll clean it up.”

His voice was back to that sharp bite he had ever time we spoke, but now I heard the subtle difference, a softness. Seeing this huge Gargoyle kneeling and being so gentle with me was…well, it was kinda sweet.

But even so, I refused to fall for him. He was my co-worker, and one good fuck didn’t mean we were meant to be together. Just because our hate fuck was fun, didn’t mean I was gonna throw away all the anger I had at him for all the snide comments.

When he was finished he paused, staring at the hand marks on my ass that I could just barely see.

“I hope I wasn’t too rough,” he rumbled. “I should’ve asked first, I’m sorry.”

“Stop,” I said, standing up straight and putting my hands on my hips. “I would’ve stopped you if I didn’t want it.”

He stood, and crossed his massive arms, a smug smile on his face.

“Oh really?”

“What? Just because you’re huge and I’m a ‘little Witch’?”

“Exactly.”

I snorted and shook my head, but the anger I usually felt after an interaction like this was less sharp.

I’m just tired…my defenses are down…doesn’t mean a damn thing.

“Like I couldn’t have you on your knees again faster than you could get the upper hand,” I said.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

I gave him a wide grin, swiped a finger down the length of his still hard shaft and walked away. Leave them wanting more wasn’t just good advice for show business.

The post Love to hate you first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

Love to Hate You

I was really fucking tired.

Three weeks of researching a scalpel that supposedly had the ability to reverse any illness and I still didn’t have a specific location.

I was one of the researchers in the newly reborn Medical Research Department within the Secret Archive. I’d come on a year ago and since then I’d helped find a major artifact that our medical team was currently trying to apply to a cure of a rare form of childhood cancer.

This job came around just as I was contemplating leaving this place because I couldn’t stand how fucking greedy they were. I was a Witch, I knew that there were some things people shouldn’t have access to. But the way the Archive hoarded artifacts that actually could do some good in the right hands had never sat right with me.

But when Professor Luke Turner came to me with this proposition, I was in before he’d even finished his speech. 

I didn’t expect, however, that the Agent I’d be partnered with would be the single most frustration, annoying, grumpy Gargoyle on the fucking planet!

Just thinking about him had my anger roaring to life.

He was a know it all. He called my magical abilities “parlor tricks”. He punched first and asked questions later. We’d been lucky to get that damn artifact on our first assignment and now here I was, stuck with the son of a bitch on a second mission!

If I didn’t believe so strongly in what we were doing, I would’ve told Professor Turner that I was done after that first trip with Zach.

That was his name.

Zach, the grumpiest Gargoyle.

I rubbed my eyes and tried not to think of him. It was almost two in the morning and I needed sleep but I could feel that I was close to a breakthrough with the location. I wasn’t a fan of the Archive library, so I’d checked out some books and was reading at my desk. We all had small offices within the section of the Archive’s London offices that had been designated for the MRD. Most of us practically lived here when we were on a case, and I was no exception. I grabbed my toiletries bag and headed for the agent locker room. Maybe a shower would help reset me before I made another pot of strong tea and dove back in.

The locker rooms were co-ed, which I thought was completely strange until one of the female agents explained that by the time they all had undergone training and field acclimation, they’d seen each other naked dozens of times.

“You get a little desensitized,” she admitted. “Besides, if anyone is uncomfortable, there’s gendered locker rooms on the upper floor.”

I didn’t really care either way but usually the ones on our floor were too crowded so I used the gendered ones. But tonight I was just too tired and I assumed I was alone.

I was wrong.

I’d just gotten under the warm spray in one of the stalls, closed my eyes and started to relax when I heard the unmistakable click of claws on the tile floor.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Burning the midnight oil?” Zach’s voice carried a sneer. “Your little spell not work?”

“It’s not a fix all,” I snapped as I lathered up with the soap and tried to ignore the fact that Zach took the stall right next to mine.

“Or a fix anything apparently.”

“Did you hang around just for the opportunity to give me shit?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, I had actual work to do.”

I couldn’t hold back the loud grunt of frustration and rinsed the soap off. All joy in the pleasure of a perfect temperature shower went out the window. I swear, this asshole could ruin ANYTHING.

I turned off the water and grabbed my towel at the same time Zach did, our hands tangling.

“That’s my towel!” I said as he snagged it off the hook.

“No, I hung mine there.”

“God damn it hand me the fucking towel!”

“You left yours on the bench!” he yelled.

I peeked around the stall door and cringed.

He was right, the fucker.

I wasn’t shy about my body and I was too tired to really give a fuck about this jerk seeing me in all my wet glory so I stepped out of the stall and marched up to my towel.

“You’re welcome,” he snarled, standing buck naked in the doorway of the shower room.

I ignored him and propped my foot on the bench so I could dry my leg off. 

It was then that I noticed the enormous cock swinging between his beefy thighs. And the fact that it was standing at attention.

Was he getting aroused by the sight of me drying off?

Why was that thought so damn hot all of a sudden? Was I really that fucking desperate for a shag that I’d fuck this asshole?

This asshole who had a cock horn that was currently leaking golden fluid onto a dick that was actually getting bigger.

My pussy, traitor that she was, clenched and my clit quivered.

I tried to ignore him, but Zach took a deep inhale and chuckled.

“You getting hot at the sight of my dick little Witch?”

“You getting hard at the sight of my cunt?” I challenged, propping my other foot on the bench and stepping to the side to expose my bare attributes.

He took a slow step toward me, glittering, dark eyes took their time running down my body, which was still damp. Finally he looked me in the eyes, a deep scowl on his broad face.

“What if I am?” his voice rumbled, and he leaned closer.

What happened next, I still can’t explain.

My hands yanked him by his broad shoulders just as he grabbed me by the back of the neck. Our mouths crashed onto one another as we fought for dominance, tongues and teeth clashed.

I was so fucking aroused that I was driven by pure instinct and base need. In the back of my mind I was screaming at how wrong this was. I hated this guy. But that only made it hotter.

“I’m gonna teach you how to show some damn respect to your–,” he began.

“Elders?” I finished for him.

He growled and spun me around until my hands were braced against a nearby wall.

“I’m going to enjoy fucking this pussy,” he said in my ear. “Or are you a cock sucker? You want my cum on your tits, down your throat?”

“Someone took their Viagra today,” I said, unable to stifle a groan when he brutally pinched my nipples.

“You like that? You want me to use you like a sex doll? Like a little whore?”

“How do you know I’m not using you like a whore?” I shot back and grabbed his dick.

It was a bit of an awkward angle but I managed to squeeze the meaty girth and stroke him hard.

He let out a deep rumble, his eyes rolled back for a second and I laughed in delight.

He was soonback control as he shoved two thick fingers deep inside of me. I was so wet that the noises he made as he eagerly finger fucked me were obscene but the heel of his hand was also hitting my clit so I was suddenly incapable of speech as waves of sensation rolled through me.

“Beg me for my cock” Zach demanded. 

“No.”

He yanked his fingers out and before I could even mourn the loss, a sharp stinging pain rocked through me.

The asshole had spanked me!

And I’d liked it.

Again and again his hand came down on my bare ass until I was crying out from the pain.

“So pretty with my marks on you,” Zach chuckled. “Maybe I’ll make you my little office fuck toy. Would you like that?”

“I don’t know,” I panted, “you haven’t fucked me yet. How do I know you can deliver?”

“You just can’t help it can you?”

He swatted me six more times, and by now tears were coursing down my cheeks but I wasn’t sure if it was from the spanking or the fact that I was so horny if I didn’t get fucked right the hell now I would die.

“I’m going to have so much fun stretching your pussy.”

“Big words usually don’t mean a big– Ugh!”

He was not gentle and I didn’t care. His cock was huge, I could feel that even if I couldn’t see it. He worked himself into me with rough thrusts until I could feel his heavy balls slapping against me.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he groaned.  “I’m not gonna be slow.”

“Good. I want you to fuck me hard.”

He groaned, his thick hands dug into my flesh as he swirled his hips, still buried balls deep inside of me. I let out a long moan at how fucking good it felt when Zach’s finger was suddenly rubbing on my clit. It was fast, two circles and he was gone.

“No,” I complained

Until a new sensation started.

Warmth built from where he’d touched, filling me like a wave.

He’d rubbed some of the aphrodisiac from his cock horn on my clit.

“I want to feel you come at least twice before I fill you up. You okay with me coming inside this tight pussy of yours?”

My head was still clear enough to nod.

“I’ve got an implant and I was tested recently.”

“Me too.”

“This doesn’t mean I like you,” I glared over my shoulder.

He was a dark being, drenched in shadows as his wings flared out behind his massive body and he stared down at me. I hated to admit how fucking hot he looked right now.

“Same, you’re still a pain in my ass.”

“Good, then start fucking me before I change my mind.”

He actually laughed, a deep, jagged sound.

“You’re such a little shit.”

And then we both were lost.

He fucked me hard and long. The slapping of our bodies and the uninhibited screams and groans echoed through the empty locker room. The first orgasm hit me hard and fast. My body shook and I was reeling, but Zach didn’t slow down. 

And I loved it.

Loved being fucked rough and thoroughly by this giant Gargoyle.

Loved how taboo this felt. I hated this asshole, and yet I wanted more.

When the second orgasm hit me I was crying. My clit was so sensitive, my entire body was shaking, on fire and flying apart all at once.

I didn’t think I could take much more when Zach’s hard thrusts started to get erratic and then he was swearing in a breathy, groaning voice as he emptied himself.

“Fuck Kat,” he said, using my name for the first time ever as he trailed biting kisses up my spine. “You took me so well.”

I felt so good I didn’t even mind the little bit of admiration I suddenly had for how talented Zach was with his giant cock.

When he pulled out of me, his cum poured of me and dripped down my thighs.

“Wait here,” he said.

When he came back, he had a warm washcloth. I reached for it but he ignored me and knelt on the floor and started to gently wipe his cum off my skin.

“I can do that,” I whispered as I looked down at him.

“I made the mess, I’ll clean it up.”

His voice was back to that sharp bite he had ever time we spoke, but now I heard the subtle difference, a softness. Seeing this huge Gargoyle kneeling and being so gentle with me was…well, it was kinda sweet.

But even so, I refused to fall for him. He was my co-worker, and one good fuck didn’t mean we were meant to be together. Just because our hate fuck was fun, didn’t mean I was gonna throw away all the anger I had at him for all the snide comments.

When he was finished he paused, staring at the hand marks on my ass that I could just barely see.

“I hope I wasn’t too rough,” he rumbled. “I should’ve asked first, I’m sorry.”

“Stop,” I said, standing up straight and putting my hands on my hips. “I would’ve stopped you if I didn’t want it.”

He stood, and crossed his massive arms, a smug smile on his face.

“Oh really?”

“What? Just because you’re huge and I’m a ‘little Witch’?”

“Exactly.”

I snorted and shook my head, but the anger I usually felt after an interaction like this was less sharp.

I’m just tired…my defenses are down…doesn’t mean a damn thing.

“Like I couldn’t have you on your knees again faster than you could get the upper hand,” I said.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

I gave him a wide grin, swiped a finger down the length of his still hard shaft and walked away. Leave them wanting more wasn’t just good advice for show business.

The post June Spicy Short Story 2023 first appeared on Trish Heinrich.

Love to Hate You

I was really fucking tired.

Three weeks of working on researching a scalpel that supposedly had the ability to reverse any illness and I still didn’t have a specific location.

I was one of the researchers in the newly reborn Medical Research Department within the Secret Archive. I’d come on a year ago and since then I’d helped find a major artifact that our medical team was currently trying to apply to a cure of a rare form of childhood cancer.

This job came around just as I was contemplating leaving this place because I couldn’t stand how fucking greedy they were. I was a Witch, I knew that there were some things people shouldn’t have access to. But the way the Archive hoarded artifacts that actually could do some good in the right hands had never sat right with me.

But when Professor Luke Turner came to me with this proposition, i was in before he’d even finished his speech. 

I didn’t expect, however, that the Agent I’d be partnered with would be the single most frustration, annoying, grumpy Gargoyle on the fucking planet!

Just thinking about him had my anger roaring to life.

He was a know it all. He called my magical abilities “parlor tricks”. He punched first and asked questions later. We’d been lucking to get that damn artifact on our first assignment and now here I was, stuck with the son of a bitch on a second mission!

If I didn’t believe so strongly in our mission, I would’ve told Professor Turner that I was done after that first trip with Zach.

That was his name.

Zach, the grumpiest Gargoyle.

I rubbed my eyes and tried not to think of him. It was almost two in the morning and I needed sleep but I could feel that I was close to a breakthrough with the location. I wasn’t a fan of the Archive library, so I’d checked out some books and was reading at my desk. We all had small offices within the section of the Archive’s London offices that had been designated for the MRD. Most of us practically lived here when we were on a case, and I was no exception. I grabbed my toiletries bag and headed for the agent locker room. Maybe a shower would help reset me before I made another pot of strong tea and dove back in.

The locker rooms were co-ed, which I thought was completely strange until one of the female agents explained that by the time they all had undergone training and field acclimation, they’d seen each other naked dozens of times.

“You get a little desensitized,” she admitted. “Besides, if anyone is uncomfortable, there’s gendered locker rooms on the upper floor.”

I didn’t really care either way but usually the ones on our floor were too crowded so I used the gendered ones. But tonight I was just too tired and I assumed I was alone.

I was wrong.

I’d just gotten under the warm spray in one of the stalls, closed my eyes and started to relax when i heard the unmistakable click of claws on the tile floor.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Burning the midnight oil?” Zach’s voice carried a sneer. “Your little spell not work?”

“It’s not a fix all,” I snapped as I lathered up with the soap and tried to ignore the fact that Zach took the stall right next to mine.

“Or a fix anything apparently.”

“Did you hang around just for the opportunity to give me shit?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, I had actual work to do.”

I couldn’t hold back the loud grunt of frustration and rinsed the soap off. All joy in the pleasure of a perfect temperature shower went out the window. I swear, this ass hole could ruin ANYTHING.

I turned off the water and grabbed my towel at the same time Zach did, our hands tangling.

“That’s my towel!” I said as he snagged it off the hook.

“No, I hung mine there.”

“God damn it hand me the fucking towel!”

“You left yours on the bench!” he yelled.

I peeked around the stall door and cringed.

He was right, the fucker.

I wasn’t shy about my body and I was too tired to really give a fuck about this jerk seeing me in all my wet glory so I stepped out of the stall and marched up to my towel.

“You’re welcome,” he snarled, standing buck naked in the doorway of the shower room.

I ignored him and propped my foot on the bench so I could dry my leg off. 

It was then that I noticed the enormous cock swinging between his beefy thighs. And the fact that it was standing at attention.

Was he getting aroused by the sight of me drying off?

Why was that thought so damn hot all of a sudden? Was I really that fucking desperate for a shag that I’d fuck this asshole?

This asshole who had a cock horn that was currently leaking golden fluid onto a dick that was actually getting bigger.

My pussy, traitor that she was, clenched and my clit quivered.

I tried to ignore him, but Zach took a deep inhale and chuckled.

“You getting hot at the sight of my dick little Witch?”

“You getting hard at the sight of my cunt?” I challenged, propping my other foot on the bench and stepping to the side to expose my bare attributes.

He took a slow step toward me, glittering, dark eyes took theri time running down my body, which was still damp. Finally he looked me in the eyes, a deep scowl on his broad face.

“What if I am?” his voice rumbled, and he leaned closer.

What happened next, I still can’t explain.

My hands yanked him by his broad shoulders just as he grabbed me by the back of the neck. Our mouths crashed onto one another as we fought for dominance, tongues and teeth clashed.

I was so fucking aroused that I was driven by pure instinct and base need. In the back of my mind I was screaming at how wrong this was. I hated this guy. But that only made it hotter.

“I’m gonna teach you how to show some damn respect to your–,” he began.

“Elders?” I finished for him.

He growled and spun me around until my hands were braced against a nearby wall.

“I’m going to enjoy fucking this pussy,” he said in my ear. “Or are you a cock sucker? You want my cum on your tits, down your throat?”

“Someone took their Viagra today,” I said, unable to stifle a groan when he brutally pinched my nipples.

“You like that? You want me to use you like a sex doll? LIke a little whore?”

“How do you know I’m not using you like a whore?” I shot back and grabbed his dick.

It was a bit of an awkward angle but I managed to squeeze the meaty girth and stroke him hard.

He let out a deep rumble, his eyes rolled back for a second and I laughed in delight.

He soon took back control by shoving two thick fingers deep inside of me. I was so wet that the noises he made as he eagerly finger fucked me were obscene but the heel of his hand was also hitting my clit so I was suddenly incapable of speech as waves of sensation rolled through me.

“Beg me for my cock” Zach demanded. 

“No.”

He yanked his fingers out and before I could even mourn the loss, a sharp stinging pain rocked through me.

The asshole had spanked me!

And I’d liked it.

Again and again his hand came down on my bare ass until I was crying out from the pain.

“So pretty with my marks on you,” Zach chuckled. “Maybe I’ll make you my little office fuck toy. Would you like that?”

“I don’t know,” I panted, “you haven’t fucked me yet. How do I know you can deliver?”

“You just can’t help it can you?”

He swatted me six more times, and by now tears were coursing down my cheeks but I wasn’t sure if it was from the spanking or the fact that i was so horny if I didn’t get fucked right the hell now I would die.

“I’m going to have so much fun stretching your pussy.”

“Big words usually don’t mean a big– Ugh!”

He was not gentle and I didn’t care. His cock was huge, I could feel that even if I couldn’t see it. He worked himself into me with rough thrusts until I could feel his heavy balls slapping against me.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he groaned.  “I’m not gonna be slow.”

“Good. I want you to fuck me hard.”

He groaned, his thick hands dug into my hips as he swirled his hips, still buried balls deep inside of me. I let out a long moan at how fucking good it felt when Zach’s finger was suddenly rubbing on my clit. It was fast, two circles and he was gone.

“No,” I complained

Until a new sensation started.

Warmth built from where he’d touched, filling me like a wave.

He’d rubbed some of the aphrodisiac from his cock horn on my clit.

“I want to feel you come at least twice before I fill you up. You okay with me coming inside this tight pussy of yours?”

My head was still clear enough to nod.

“I’ve got an implant and I was tested recently.”

“Me too.”

“This doesn’t mean I like you,” I glared over my shoulder.

He was a dark being, drenched in shadows as his wings flared out behind his massive body and he stared down at me. I hated to admit how fucking hot he looked right now.

“Same, you’re still a pain in my ass.”

“Good, then start fucking me before I change my mind.”

He actually laughed, a deep, jagged sound.

“You’re such a little shit.”

And then we both were lost.

He fucked me hard and long. The slapping of our bodies and the uninhibited screams and groans echoed through the empty locker room. The first orgasm hit me hard and fast. My body shook and I was reeling, but Zach didn’t slow down. 

And I was loving it.

Loving being fucked rough and thoroughly by this giant Gargoyle.

Loved how taboo this felt. I hated this asshole, and yet I wanted more.

When the second orgasm hit me I was crying from how strongly it hit me. My clit was so sensitive, my entire body was shaking, on fire and flying apart all at once.

I didn’t think I could take much more when Zach’s hard thrusts started to get erratic and then he was swearing in a breathy, groaning voice as he buried himself deep inside of me and emptied himself..

“Fuck Kat,” he said, using my name for the first time ever as he trailed biting kisses up my spine. “You took me so well.”

I was feeling so good I didn’t even mind that I had just a little bit of affection for how talented Zach was with his giant cock.

When he pulled out of me, his come poured of me and dripped down my thighs.

“Wait here,” he said.

When he came back, he had a warm washcloth. I reached for it but he ignored me and knelt on the floor to start wiping gently between my thighs.

“I can do that,” I whispered as I looked down at him.

“I made the mess, I’ll clean it up.”

His voice was back to that sharp bite he had ever time we spoke, but now I heard the subtle difference, a softness. Seeing this huge Gargoyle kneeling and being so gentle with me was…well, it was kinda sweet.

But even so, I refused to fall for him. He was my co-worker, and one good fuck didn’t mean we were meant to be together. Just because our hate fuck was fun, didn’t mean I was gonna throw away all the anger I had at him for all the snide comments.

When he was finished he paused, staring at the hand marks on my ass that I could just barely see.

“I hope I wasn’t too rough,” he rumbled. “I should’ve asked first, I’m sorry.”

“Stop,” I said, standing up straight and putting my hands on my hips. “I would’ve stopped you if I didn’t want it.”

He stood, and crossed his massive arms, a smug smile on his face.

“Oh really?”

“What? Just because you’re huge and I’m a ‘little Witch’?”

“Exactly.”

I snorted and shook my head, but the anger I usually felt after an interaction like this was less sharp.

I’m just tired…my defenses are down…doesn’t mean a damn thing.

“Like I couldn’t have you on your knees again faster than you could get the upper hand,” I said.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

I gave him a wide grin, swiped a finger down the length of his still hard shaft and walked away. Leave them wanting more wasn’t just good advice for show business.

The post April Spicy Short Story 2023 first appeared on Trish Heinrich.