THE UBIQUITOUS MR LOVEGROVE

Tessa's long, ivory legs were spread and tented, my head between them. My mouth was busy, responding to her increasingly breathless directions.

"Fingerfuck me," she said, and I promptly slid a finger into her overheated sex. She moaned, pushing against the intrusion.

It was a sticky night at the end of July and I was learning my way around the curves as it were. I wasn't sure if Tessa was more complex than most or just better at telling me what she wanted. Whatever the truth, she was detailed and thorough on the subject of my pussy eating technique.

I paid attention not only to what she said, but how she moved and the involuntary noises she made. I drank in her scent and felt her pulse through the inside of her thigh. Going down on Tessa was not a sprint. It was a marathon. A delicious marathon.

Tessa came with a throaty moan and a full-body shudder, a sign my skills were improving. I got up on my knees, watching her sweat-soaked chest heaving as she came back down to Earth. She opened her pale blue eyes and looked at me with something I hoped was more than mere friendship.

"C'mon, turn over," I told her.

She smirked. "Real romantic, cowboy."

"Oh, this is a romance?"

She sighed. I'd caught her in her own rules. This was nothing serious. We were fooling around. Romance was for a couple and we were just friends.

"Okay, okay," she said. She turned over, getting onto all fours, presenting herself to me. Sometimes I wonder how different things would have been if she'd demanded I romance her, or if I had merely done it. Kissed her neck like I did in my daydreams, held her gently when I entered her.

I rolled a condom onto my length and took her slender hips. Tessa's willowy figure and porcelain skin made her seem fragile at times, but she was tough. At least, she was tough on the outside. I gave her ass a swat, which was really more for my benefit. Since she'd told me to pull her hair, I found that I enjoyed that aspect. Giving Tessa a little bit of pain to go along with the rest.

I entered her without any further ceremony. I'd primed myself eating her pussy for the last hour and I was ready to explode. That's how these nights usually went. A lesson that gave steadily increasing returns, and she returned the favor with her mouth or pussy. That we'd already fallen into a pattern was either a red flag or good sign. I didn't know. All I knew was that every encounter with Tessa was better than the one before it.

She moved against me, but I didn't need much encouragement. Swiftly I was hammering her with fast thrusts, my pelvis slapping her ass. I came like a thunderbolt, bottoming out in her sweet pussy, my fingers digging into her hips.

When my cock was finished bucking, I pulled out of her, stripped the condom off, tied the end, and tossed it into the trash. Tessa didn't object when I rolled her on her side and cuddled up behind her, my arm around her middle. This was, according to her arcane rules, still in the midst of sex and therefore affection was fine.

She pillowed her head on my arm. Our bodies were slick with sweat, and the sea breeze coming through the open window didn't do much to cool us down. Our breath was soft in the darkened room. My gaze crawled down her slender side. So much of me wanted to press her into a tighter embrace, to kiss her softly, to show her the sweet, warm feeling blooming inside me.

"I was thinking of going up to Santa Cruz this weekend," I said, breaking the silence. "Catch the Lost Boys showing." It was an annual thing, where they showed it outdoors on the beach. Lost Boys was shot in Santa Cruz and had a ton of the local color. I used to watch it every year when I'd been in college. It was always a good time.

"That might be fun."

"You want to come? We could do a road trip kind of thing. Get a motel room. Or, hell, sleep on the beach. I've got a tent."

"I have work."

"Get the night off. We can go on Saturday and come back Sunday."

She was silent. Then, words that put some ice in my heart. "Feels like a boyfriend thing."

"Okay," I said, tracing patterns on her back. "Want to fix me up with Espy then?" I'd been gently teasing her about her friend Espy Rangel. I was attracted to her, but it was mostly a futile attempt to make Tessa jealous.

"Espy's not gonna go away for the weekend with a strange man."

"What's strange about me? Is it the way I yodel when I cum?"

"What?" She looked over her shoulder at me.

"Is it the way I eat cheese with my nose?"

She laughed in disbelief. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Is it the way greet people with tickles?" My fingers dug into her ribs.

She squealed, "You dick!"

I caught her lips with mine, and she responded, her mouth opening, her tongue caressing me. "Is it the way that I always taste like fine champagne?"

She giggled. "You wish you tasted like champagne." Her eyes fell to my lips, a summons I wasn't going to ignore.

Our tongues ran over one another, her teeth worrying at my lip. I struggled, getting ready to rise.

"Where are you going?" she murmured.

"Getting a condom."

"It's fine. Just don't cum in me, okay?"

"You sure?"

She reached behind her, grabbing my rapidly hardening cock and running the turgid head over her lips. "Does this feel like I'm sure?"

I brushed her blue hair from her face and our eyes met. She was uncharacteristically serious, and our gaze never broke as I pushed into her. For the first time I felt Tessa without a layer of latex between us. Her pussy was warm and soft, holding me with something approaching affection.

My hands ran up her flat belly, which was already moving, as she gyrated down onto me. Her small breasts fit nicely into my hands, her nipples hard like pebbles beneath my fingers. She sighed happily, grinding against me, pushing down into my lap. I held her, my stroke deep and long. My other hand fell between her legs, running up and down the place where we were joined. I brought my light touch to the apex of her sex where the hard nubbin of her clit waited.

I brushed it as she had taught me to do with my tongue. She purred under my touch, her squirming growing more desperate with each passing moment. Her mouth broke from mine, "Oh, fuck," she swore, and I watched her shudder through an orgasm.

Her pussy held into mine, and I felt my own climax ready to burst. I pulled out of her with regret. And not a moment too soon. I painted her lower back with shuddering strands of pearl.

We settled back, cuddling in the warm summer air, caching our breaths. I kissed Tessa's neck, right where her pulse beat against her pale skin.

"You sleeping here?" she asked.

"That's cool, right?"

"Yeah." She paused. "I'll see if I can get the night off for Lost Boys, okay? But we come back the same night."

I smiled, kissing her neck. "Anything you say."

We drove up early in the day. The trip was only a couple hours all told, and though we were in my crappy old Nissan, Tessa controlled the stereo. It was 2002, but even then, the tapedeck my car had was a dinosaur. Tessa fed it homemade tapes of her favorite groups, which were pretty much mine too. The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, all the usual suspects.

Tessa spent the whole ride slouched shotgun, one of her long, pale legs up, her foot sticking out the window. I touched the leg closest to me, and she didn't swat my hand away. I kept myself from looking over only through a supreme act of will. The touch let me pretend: this wasn't just my best friend. This was my girlfriend. That's how these stories were supposed to go, anyway. But I knew the instant I looked over, she would turn, her blue eyes bright behind her pitch-black shades. The Tessa Judgment Stare.

That would be it. Illusion pierced. For now, I was going to pretend we were what everyone thought we were in high school.

I'm biased, but there's no better drive than the central Californian coast. In the summer it's just hot enough to feel it, but the cool breeze off the Pacific made the heat not just bearable but delicious. We pulled the standard road trip rules, too. We ate candy and drank sodas and cranked the tunes. We pulled into Santa Cruz in the late afternoon. It was my old stomping grounds, and I took Tessa to the taco truck I'd lived on when I was broke and in school. We ate 39 cent street tacos and washed them down agua frescas.

"Okay, you weren't overselling this place," Tessa said, popping the last lime-soaked wedge of taco into her mouth.

"Right? I thought we had the best tacos in the world in Aragon, but then I come up here..."

"There are times I think I made a mistake going back east for school."

"But on the bright side, we're using our degrees so well. Bartender, guy selling overpriced junk to tourists. You need an advanced education for that."

"If only Vassar had offered a mixology major." She wiped her long fingers off on a thin napkin. "Okay, how are we killing time until the show?"

"Movie's at ten, so we can fuck around on the pier for a couple hours. Want to go play some fixed carny games?"

She grinned. "Win me a dumb stuffed animal and you might just get lucky tonight."

"Who still says 'get lucky'?" I asked.

She gave me a smack. "Come on, cowboy. Show me your worth as a mate by popping a balloon with a dart."

"You're lucky you're hot."

"Believe me, I know. Now let's go. Win me something ridiculous."

We spent a fun evening on the pier, listening to the swirling screams from the rollercoaster that took up about half of the pier. Took me a couple tries, but I won her what she wanted by shooting water into a fake clown's mouth until a balloon popped. It was four years of practice that got me those skills. I had used my time in college wisely.

When it came time to pick her prize, she'd pointed to the spider without hesitation, and now she was cuddling the thing. "What should I call her?" she asked me.

"I don't know, Shelob?"

"What kind of name is that?"

"When Return of the King comes out next year, you're gonna feel silly."

She laughed. "I have to admit, those are good. And not just for the twink."

"You're talking about Legolas."

"He and the short bear are a cute couple."

"I can't even be mad about that."

As the screening approached, we made our way down onto the sand and staked out a spot. I unrolled a blanket. Tessa wrapped a smaller blanket around her shoulders and sat, her long legs curling under her. Even in summer, night on the Pacific was cold, with the night air blowing off the current.

She was smirking as she sat. "What?" I asked.

"You're getting checked out."

"Where?"

"Over my right shoulder."

I followed her direction and caught who she meant. The woman was beautiful, no question about that. She looked around our age, maybe a couple years older. She was Asian, with long, black hair, and a voluptuous figure. She was wearing a curve-hugging dress, heavy tights and a leather jacket. Her friends had the kind of eclectic look I associated with Santa Cruz townies. They reminded me of a second draft of the vampire gang from the movie, a kind of photogenic version of counterculture.

"She's not checking me out," I said. "She's looking at you." She was eyeing Tessa like she wanted to drain her blood to rule the night.

"Oh really now?"

I turned away and Tessa glanced. "You asshole, she's looking at you."

"I swear to God, Tessa. She was staring at your legs."

"Liar," Tessa said, settling back into me and cuddling her spider. It was the most relaxed I'd ever seen her, and I wrapped my arms around her without thinking. I wanted to kiss the top of her head, right where the part of her blue hair showed pale scalp. I just had the feeling if I bridged that gap, kissed her in that affectionate way when sex was the furthest thing from us, that would have destroyed the illusion. As long as I played along with Tessa, pretended that this was just something two friends did, it could go on. I spent so much time trying not to puncture the bubble.

The movie started. I knew every second of it by heart. Wasn't just going to school up here either. It had been part of the canon when I was growing up. I'd even seen it in the theater thanks to some bad decision-making from my father, and had nightmares for weeks after. Didn't matter. I loved it.

Half the crowd was watching, the other half was running lines from the movie, acting out scenes, calling to the screen. Some were ignoring it and drinking or making out. It was an impromptu party, and this was why I wanted Tessa to come with me.

I settled into the movie. It wasn't the memory of it I had as a kid, first in a darkened theater, and then a gauzy VHS copy at sleepovers. This was my memory of seeing it with friends. It was a perfect experience, elevated by Tessa's narrow warmth cuddled up to me. When Grandpa delivered arguably the best closing line in movie history and Echo and the Bunnymen started in with their cover of "People are Strange," I sighed in happiness. I wasn't ready for the night to be over. All that was left was a too-long trip south, when the coastal road damn near turned black.

"You hungry?" I asked.

"I could eat," she said.

I stole a glance over at our admirer. This time our eyes met. She had been looking, but I couldn't tell if it had been at me, or if the movement of my head pulled her attention. Her full lips parted in a grin. Her face had a youthful, elfin quality. I smiled back.

"What are you...oh," Tessa said, turning to see the woman.

She was approaching us now. I got a better look at her. She was shorter than both of us, but moved with the easy confidence of someone who knew just how alluring she was. And she wasn't wrong. The only thing better than the swing of her hips was the bounce of her breasts.

"Hey," she said. "I'm Courtney."

We introduced ourselves.

"Don't know if you had plans, but my friends are gonna have a bonfire thing. You want to come?"

"Yeah," I blurted. This would be a way for the night not to end. More time with Tessa. Tessa, fuck. I looked at her.

"Sure, yeah. That sounds like fun."

"Great," Courtney said. "Come on, I'll introduce you around."

I took the blanket from Tessa and picked up the one we'd been sitting on, rolled them into a bundle and followed the two of them. Tessa stood close and Courtney, a tiny space between them, that unsure, trembling place that existed before any real contact. I shook my head in amusement. I had taken Tessa up here partly to try to get this into something official, and I was only going to succeed in getting her laid.

Courtney introduced us around to her group. Everyone looked around their mid to late 20s, and had that alt-style influenced by a harder subculture. You had goth-adjacents like Tessa and Courtney and me. There were a couple almost-hippies, one kinda-punk, and one guy who looked like he woke up on the beach.

We made up the beach to a quieter area dotted with firepits. While a couple of them busied themselves building the fire, I shook out the blankets, then lay the big one down not far from the fire.

"You're Theo?"

I turned. One of the almost-hippies smiled up at me. She was a pleasantly round woman with sparkling blue eyes. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you."

"Melinda," she reminded me.

"Right, sorry. Ten names all in a row. All I could think of was a cartoon cow playing an accordion."

"That's specific."

We sat down and got to talking. She was a local, a manager at a breakfast place I liked to go to on the few occasions I had the cash to burn on a good hipster meal. She thought it was just incredible that I was from Aragon Beach and that I had gone to college here, and that was right about when I realized she was flirting with me.

Then I felt a weight sit down on the other side of me. I was ready to say hi to Tessa when a voice I didn't recognize said, "Hey there, Theo."

I turned to find Courtney. Her eyes were an incredible shade of brown, nearly black. They were as deep and dark and complex as Tessa's were bright and clear. Her long black hair ruffled in the sea breeze. Her face was soft and feminine.

"Hey," I said, unsure of what else to say.

She flashed her teeth. "Mel keeping you entertained?"

"Yeah, she's great." Melinda hid her annoyance poorly, but I think this happened to her more than once. Courtney was gorgeous and Melinda was merely pretty. I looked over to check on her and she was performatively ignoring us, packing a pipe with weed. I'd figured that was going to come out sooner or later.

Melinda lit up, took the first hit, and passed it to me. When the skunky scent filled the air, the smoke hit me like a truck. I passed it to Courtney, and she passed it to Tessa, who was chatting with one of the other guys. A spike of jealousy seized me. Maybe Courtney wasn't the one I needed to be worried about. Maybe, I had to remind myself, I didn't have the right to be worried at all.

"Tessa tells me you run a souvenir shop?" Courtney asked.

"It's my folks' place. I'm just working there for the summer."

"And then?"

"Million dollar question."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Courtney said. "I graduated...oh, god. Three years ago."

"Yeah? What did you end up doing?"

She shot me a rueful grin. "Still figuring it out. I'm a barista. A barista with student loans."

"That's hopeful."

She shrugged. "I don't think we were built for this world we're in now."

"I never felt like I was built for any world."

"Yeah, it's just like...it's a maze. There's supposed to an exit. I spent my life thinking there was, but now? Damned if I can see it."

"Fuck, Courtney. That's bleak."

"I don't know. If there's no exit, isn't the only thing to do to have fun? Smoke good week on a beautiful night? Flirt with a beautiful stranger?"

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"That's what I'm doing."

My eyes flicked over her shoulder. Tessa had a halo, like the world retreated around her. Or it was really good weed. I'd believe either. "Yeah, she's beautiful."

"You two together?"

"No. No, just friends."

"Oh, bummer." I watched her make calculations silently in her mind. She glanced over, and Tessa was trying not to look at the two of us. "It was nice meeting you."

I was left with Melinda. The whole group of us kept the party going, but I felt like I was on the edge of it. Story of my life, I guess. Eventually, everyone started making noises about turning in. Tessa, who had been talking with Courtney, came to me. She leaned in, her breath hot. I wanted to kiss her.

"Hey, look. Courtney invited me back to her place. I really want to go, but I don't want to leave you in the lurch."

"It's fine."

"You could probably go home with that hippie chick." She nodded at Melinda and yeah, Mel was trying not to be obvious about looking at me.

"If it's all the same to you, I'm gonna drive back. I promised my folks I'd work the shop tomorrow."

"Theo, the sun will be up by the time you get home."

"I know. It's fine. Go home with Courtney."

Tessa broke into a wide grin. "Thanks."

"You can get a ride home?"

"As long as my tongue works. I'll give you a full report."

She was off before I could tell her that she didn't need to. Melinda came up behind me. "Hey, do you have a place to stay?"

"I was gonna head back."

"Oh, okay. Listen, if you're ever up here, give me a call."

She gave me her number, and I wasn't entirely opposed to calling her sometime. I just wanted to get some distance between me and this evening. It was supposed to be the night Tessa became my girlfriend and she was going home with somebody else.

Driving along the black road home, it was easy to turn to dark thoughts. The thing that I kept returning to was that I wasn't any good. She was trying to turn me into a decent lay, and sure, I was better, but I wasn't anything to write home about. The evidence was in front of me. Well, it was back at Courtney's house. Knowing Tessa was fucking her right now when she should be fucking me, gnawed at me.

It kept gnawing.

I got about an hour and a half of sleep before my shift at the store, but that was enough. Being young has its benefits. I kept expecting a call from Tessa. Kept thinking she'd come through the door with a shiteating grin and a story about the mind-blowing sex she'd had with someone who wasn't me. As the day got heavier on my shoulders and though I was worn out, I couldn't stop thinking of Tessa.

She'd be at the Darkhouse. She had a shift that night, which was the whole reason our excursion was originally only a day trip. After work, I cleaned up and got into my more presentable clothes. Well, darker anyway. After sundown, I made a beeline for the Darkhouse. Tessa wasn't there. The bartender was Liza, a pretty woman with long, dyed silver hair and full sleeve tattoos over her slender arms.

"Hey, Liza. Where's Tessa?"

She smirked. "Figured you knew, what with being her boyfriend and all."

"I'm not her boyfriend."

"Right. Well, she called in sick."

Now I felt sick. "Oh."

"Can I get you something? First one's free."

I ordered a cocktail and nursed it, thinking I had to be an idiot to stick around. Here to see Tessa. If I wanted to stew, I could stew at home. Maybe cram myself out onto my balcony and listen to the music from Rosarito's. This might sound strange, but a mariachi cover of "Freebird" is the perfect music to accompany a long dark night of the soul.

I was warming up to the idea when something compelled me to turn around. I'm not a superstitious person, but Blaise Black always had the whiff of witchcraft around her. She'd cultivated it, in her style and mannerisms. Maybe magic realty was just acting like you were magical and everyone else believing the act. I found her swanning into the club at the forefront of her entourage. Her gaze swept the club, her dark mysterious eyes lingering at one person or another.

Then they fell on me.

Blaise's attention was a palpable thing, with its own weight, its own sensation. A shiver ran up the back of my neck like the soft breath of a beautiful woman. When Blaise looks at you, the rest of the world falls away, leaving only her. Her strange beauty eclipsed everything that was not her. And then, somehow, her scent would tickle the nose, that clean, hot aroma of sweet almonds and sandalwood.

I raised my drink to her. Her dark eyes glittered and her lips quirked. She gave me a nod. I nearly popped off my seat right then, but I knew that was the wrong move. Acting like a puppy wasn't going to make any headway with a woman like Blaise.

Tessa warned me away from her. Couldn't help but wonder if going over there, if meeting the mysterious Blaise, would take away some of Tessa's power over me. After all, Tessa was teaching me, but Blaise had taught her. Why fuck Obi-Wan when you could fuck Yoda?

Okay, that comparison might have gotten away from me.

Blaise went to her table, always unoccupied as soon as she wanted it. I watched her, and she watched me. Not constantly, but in between thudding heartbeats. She went about her evening, holding court with the whole gang of them, but she kept returning to me, the look in her eyes more intrigued with each pass. And each time our eyes met they lingered for longer.

Late into the night, I was buzzing with fatigue and booze. My judgment wasn't just addled, it was gone. If I'd ever had any resistance to Blaise, it had long since fled.

"Hey, Teddy, right?" It was Terry Mendez. He had been the man Tessa learned on. I found myself hating him. He was leaning over the bar, sneaking up easily on me in my exhausted ruminations.

"Theo."

"Blaise wants to see you."

I turned around and met Blaise's eyes. "Tell her to come on over."

Terry smiled like I was the slow kid in class. "You don't get it. Blaise wants you to come over. That means you get up and you go over to her."

"She's got legs. She can tell me herself."

"You're really fucking this up, you know that?"

"That's my specialty."

Terry returned to the table, shaking his head. Liza hid a smirk. She'd been eavesdropping. I shot her a wink and I swear a blush rose in her cheeks. I almost turned my attentions on her when that feeling returned to the back of my neck and almonds and sandalwood flooded my senses.

"No one in this club has made me come to them in ten years." Blaise had some kind of accent. At times it sounded French, at other times, Middle Eastern. I'm half-convinced she's faking it, but if so, it's an incredible job. She's never dropped it, even during orgasm.

"I didn't make you do anything," I said.

"True." Her lips quirked again. "You're Theo. Tessa's friend."

"Theo Bright," I said.

"Blaise Black."

I was this close to remarking on our names, but let it go. It felt cheesy and that seemed like a misstep. "It's nice to officially meet you, Blaise."

"Would you like to join me for a drink?"

"I would."

"Wonderful." She made eye contact with Liza and with a nod and a slight movement of her mouth, ordered another round. It was one of the smoother and more elegant things I'd ever seen. She turned and walked back to her table. She was wearing a clingy black gown, and beneath its diaphanous surface, I could just barely glimpse the lines of her thong. Her hips swung like a pendulum, her perfect ass inviting me.

I followed Blaise to the table, taking the seat next to her. "Everyone, this is Theo, a dear friend of Tessa's."

I watched a shadow flit over Terry's face, but everyone else was welcoming. A lot of nods, a few small smiles, a couple handshakes. Then the drinks started flowing. Blaise had turned partially, always some of her energy coming in my direction. She touched me, here on a leg, here on my shoulder, each time her touch seemed to linger long after she took her hand away.

The more I spent there, the more bewitched I became. Somehow, she was all around me. Her touch on my skin, scent in my nose, her voice in my ears, and of course her body in my sight. Blaise remained an unorthodox beauty. Her olive skin had gold undertones, and shone under the lights. Her hair, in her 1920s bob, was slicked to her head, her wide, slanted eyes enigmatic and feline.

The booze, the lack of sleep, and Blaise's natural magnetism were all working on me. As much as I'd managed to moderate my initial reaction, I lost my self-control. I was fawning all over her. I looked for excuses to touch her. I hung on her every word. I devoured her with my eyes. Every time she shifted, and I got a glimpse of her hard body under her gown. The curve of her waist enthralled me. I wanted to touch her, but she was like a fire. I knew I'd get burned.

My brain was too scrambled to do much of anything but worship her. Dimly, I remembered Tessa's warning, but in that moment, I didn't care. More than that, I wanted to do the opposite of what Tessa had advised. I was painfully hard, and every time I shifted, I felt the wet spot of precum in my boxer briefs. Blaise leaned over, and her lips nearly touched my ears, her breath caressing me. "Would you like to come home with me?"

I swallowed, my mouth dry. "More than anything."

"Come," she said, and I couldn't help but hear it both ways.

She stood, and I followed suit, doing my best not to show the substantial bulge in my pants. I glanced over her entourage, and I saw disappointment, resentment, even anger in one or two faces. This was their game. Who got to go home with Blaise for the night. And me, a usurper, won it without even knowing it was being played.

I followed Blaise out to her car, a black Mazda that was a tiny bit too old to be cool. There were cracks in Blaise's façade that were only obvious by the light of day, out of her aura. When you were with Blaise, she could say or do anything, and it would only add to her mystique.

She drove inland, to El Prado, the one suburban neighborhood Aragon Beach had. Out of sight of the ocean, it was the one place that was neither grungy nor ritzy. It was long, winding streets of single-family homes, with a couple strip malls here and there. I always thought it was kind of funny. Why live here if you live in Aragon Beach? Either you get the culture of the seedy Southside, or the money up in Alturas. El Prado could have been nearly anywhere in California.

She pulled into the driveway of a house whose entryway was a faux castle turret. A live oak tree loomed close, giving the door some privacy. The entire yard was dense with native plants. It reminded me of a witch's garden, and it was later, when my faculties truly returned to me, that I realized this was the whole point. Blaise lived in a persona she had painstakingly constructed for herself. An artifice, but one she had made real by living it relentlessly for years.

She took me lightly by the hand, drawing me to the door, letting me go only long enough to unlock it.

Her house was small, decorated with occult knickknacks and copious bookshelves. She lit some incense, the scent heavy, pulling into my fatigue, but sparking along my mind. She drew me past a living room that looked like a place a pharaoh and a vampire might have a quiet cup of tea, down her short hallway and into her bedroom.

She lit candles, throwing a golden glow into her room. Her four poster bed, covered in sumptuous black sheets, waited. My heart shivered. This was happening.

"Do you need the restroom?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt."

She pointed me to the bathroom, one door down the hall. I took a leak and stared at myself in the mirror. A day's growth of beard, my eyes darkly ringed. I looked like a junkie. Hell, maybe I was. I washed my hands and splashed some water on my face. I thought it might wake me up, but the night was thick and heavy, a sultry feeling that sheathed me in desire. This was a dream already and I was hardly lucid.

I went back onto Blaise's bedroom and found her there. The dress was gone. She wore a silk robe decorated with a stylized crane. It was open down to the top of her navel, showing a smooth expanse of golden skin. Music played, soft and sensuous.

"Undress," she said.

I tried not to look too eager. As much as I would have liked to be mysterious and seductive as she was, no one can look very mysterious taking off boots. Or at least I'd never managed it. I got down to my underpants, and my arousal was impossible to hide. Her lips, painted crimson, quirked.

I pulled my boxer briefs down, my cock popping free. She stepped forward, running her fingers up my shaft, swirling over the moistening head. She passed her finger over her tongue. "Interesting. We will need to change your diet." A smirk. "If I allow you in here again."

She turned her back on me and dropped her robe. She was nude. Her back was defined with sculpted, buttery muscle. She was lean, but unmistakably strong, as every movement showed her power coiling beneath her burnished skin. My gaze fell to her ass, as toned as the rest of her. She could have been a statue, though her flesh radiated warmth, catching the candlelight.

She turned to face me. Her breasts weren't quite handfuls, though upturned, capped with golden brown nipples. As she moved, her six pack strained against her taut flesh. Her pussy was completely hairless, her golden slit shining with fresh arousal. That was at least validating. She wanted me.

"Get on your knees," she said. I was already falling to them anyway. Hard to explain, but Blaise was a goddess and I was her supplicant.

She closed the distance between us. The aroma of her pussy, a stronger version of her natural scent, cut with an alluring musk, filed my senses. I stared at her slit, the hood of her clit peeking out at the apex. I knew what she wanted. This was what Tessa had trained me for.

I put my hands on her thighs, running them over her quads. She opened her legs for me. I thought of every lesson Tessa had been giving me, her voice growing higher and breathier until she couldn't speak at all. When her body took over from her mind and she was moving against me with abandon that never approached in her more self-possessed times.

Blaise's legs were smooth and supple. My hands reached the tops, where on Tessa I would have found the iliac points of her pelvis. With Blaise, I found instead the base of her incredible abdominals. I found myself entranced. I'd never seen a six pack on a woman before, and here was one inches from my face.

I succumbed to temptation. Tessa had never given me this particular lesson. She was always very clear. Touch here, lick there, put your finger inside me. They were directions of acts, never telling me to surrender to what I truly wanted. Maybe because she knew if I did that I'd have to admit to myself this was more than a couple friends having fun.

I ran the tip of my tongue down the middle of Blaise's abs to her taut bellybutton. I tasted the salt of her sweat and something else, a flavor at once subtle and spicy. I kissed her muscles, relishing the twitch as my breath brushed over them. Her pussy was just waiting, droplets of moisture glistening along her bare slit.

I circled her pussy like a whirlpool, drawing closer in a spiral to it. I wanted her flesh like I'd never wanted anyone. Tessa had complexities, but with Blaise, it was pure desire. A sense that I was with an emissary of the divine.

I reached her sex and her scent wafted delicious tendrils into my nose. I couldn't resist, I rested the tip of my nose against the apex of her slit and sucked in a breath. A tingle worked its way through me, growing to a shudder as it hit my groin. I felt my cock shudder as a bolt of electricity went up me. A tiny orgasm, only from her scent.

I ran my tongue down her slit, her juices thickening with every delicious centimeter. She tasted as she smelled, but the musk was more intense now. It fired something in my brain, some primitive part. I didn't know if I wanted to throw her down and fuck her or pray to her. I stayed in that state, delirious, as I opened my mouth, taking as much of her mound inside as I could.

Blaise sighed, her hands going to my hair. "Oh, you lovely boy. Tessa has taught you a few things."

This was one of Tessa's lessons. She had told me to eat her out like I was kissing her. Escalation, she told me. Start with exploration, listen to me, what I say and what I don't. I did that now, finding the deposits of Blaise's juices, the flavor reminding me of good bourbon. I parted her then, my tongue fucking into her, for a deeper, earthier taste. I replaced this with my fingers, sliding them in and out of her as I licked and sucked and nibbled.

She was sighing now, her body writhing against me. I wanted to watch her, the muscles dancing under that taut golden flesh. I wished I could step outside the act and watch her get fucked. I wanted to watch the way her abdominals tightened and relaxed, wanted to see her hips gently thrusting into my face, wanted to see her ageless face contorted in pleasure.

She let out a shuddering breath and I took that as my cue. I latched onto her clit, sucking it into my mouth as I filled her with my fingers. Her fist tightened in my hair and she gave a small cry. She was silent only for a moment, her body quivering.

"Stand," she said.

I obeyed, my mouth going to her neck, nibbling the golden flesh.

She chuckled. "My eager boy. One moment." She gently disengaged and went to her bedside, removing a condom from her nightstand. She undid the wrapper with practiced ease. "On the bed."

I did my best not to just jump into bed like a kid, but I was pretty eager. I lay on my back, my cock at rigid attention. Blaise knelt between my legs and slipped the condom into her mouth. Then, with an assured movement, she dipped her head, taking my cock easily inside, skillfully unrolling the condom with her lips and tongue. When she effortlessly took me to the base, she let it go. Then, with her hands, she gave the condom a final adjustment.

She moved languidly, like a panther, crawling up my body on all fours. Her lips found mine, her tongue tracing them, no doubt tasting her own arousal there. Her attention, every movement, set my nerves on fire. My cock leapt again, another spark running through my body, another micro-orgasm. I felt a momentary stab of panic that I'd cum, and she would be disappointed, but I felt my body still primed to explode. I was reaching for her even as she pulled away.

She got up to her knees. "I will mount you," she said with the gravitas of a commandment.

"Okay," I said.

"Hush, my lovely boy. You will be inside me soon, and I will bring you bliss."

She went up on her knees, moving closer. She took my cock in her hands. They were the hands of a sculptress. It was a silly thought, more at home for some kind of gothic hero, but that was Blaise's magic. She put those kinds of thoughts in your head and there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it.

She brought the head of my cock to her sex, running it over her swollen, glistening lips. She never once looked at it, instead, keeping her eyes locked on mine. The world faded away, leaving the goddess that was Blaise Black. She was teasing herself, her breath beginning to heave, those seductive abs tensing and releasing.

"Be in me," she purred.

I nodded, gasping at the sensations she was pulling from me. If I hadn't seen her put the condom on me, I'd not have known it was there at all. With every stroke of the head of my cock against her lips, she sent a burning line up my nerves, going from my sex to my spine. I was already thrusting against air, wordlessly begging to be inside her.

She brought me to the brink of madness with her teasing. I let out an animalistic growl, and she allowed the ghost of a smile to brush her lips. She guided me to the base of her slit, then lowered herself. Her warmth enclosed me and I shuddered as another sparkle of sensation flickered up my nerve endings.

"Oh fuck," I gasped.

"Yes," she said. "That is precisely the idea. Now I will let you to the very gates of my womb. Blessed be." She sank down over me.

The sound I made was halfway between a groan and a curse. Fingers of ecstasy ran from my loins up to the crown of my head. I had never in my life felt anything like being sheathed in Blaise's pussy. I felt like I was fucking velvet gold.

"Now, you will show me how much you want me," she said.

Her pussy was not still. Her control was like nothing I had ever experienced. She gripped, she massaged, every stroke sent that same molten bliss through me. I could only thrust against her, pushing as deep as I could. Blaise had all the control, sliding up and impaling herself over and over again. I watched her abs flex, her chest heaving. I passed a hand over her, caressing up her belly, over her hard nipples, and then, impulse took me.

I pushed my fingers into her mouth.

Her eyes widened in momentary surprise, but almost immediately narrowed. She began to suck, her tongue playing over them. As she blew my fingers, showed me what I could get if she would only take my cock in her mouth, she continued to slide up and down on me.

Each time she took my cock, each time her incredible sex stroked the fiery nerves of my sex, the sparks ran up me, joining with the others, rebounding and growing. I held it, feeling ready to explode at any second, a desperate gambit to keep from finishing too quickly. I wanted Blaise to break first. I knew this was an audition of sorts, and if I was ever going to get her again, I would need to prove myself.

That went out the window when she dropped all of her weight. She took every inch of me, her pussy stroking the whole way. The sparks of arousal that had been bouncing all through me connected, exploded, and the explosions joined. I sobbed out something, clutching her hips as my cock bucked inside her.

"There," she said, and brought herself up, and bottomed out once more.

Only then did the orgasm take her. She threw her head back, grinding hard at the base of me, milking every last bit. Another bolt, one of her micro-orgasms, shot through me on the heels of the big one. She was pulling every last sensation from my body, and I shook with the effort of it.

She sighed, coming to rest, then, gently, she got off me. My cock was cold without the warmth of her sex. She stripped the condom from me, deftly tied it off, and disposed of it. She leaned over and kissed the head of my softening sex. She came up, her tongue flickering out to taste my cum.

"Yes, a small change in your diet. You may stay the night if you wish."

"Yeah!" I said, then realized how needy that sounded. "Sure, yeah."

She turned the covers down and got on her side. After a moment, I slid in, spooning her from behind. Her ass nestled into the curve of my body and I felt myself responding. I kissed her neck, trying to start things up again. Another round would make an already perfect night better.

"Not again," she said sleepily. "Perhaps in the morning."

I sighed, but the fatigue came over me like a black cloak and I fell into a deep sleep.

We didn't fuck the following morning either. I showered and she made a breakfast of egg white Spanish omelets and fruit. "You will eat at least three pieces of fruit every day, is that understood?" she told me, her incredible eyes boring into mine.

"Okay," I said. This was getting weird, but if three pieces of fruit meant I could fuck her again, I was game.

"Wonderful. That will improve your taste. When it is to my liking, perhaps I shall give you my mouth for the evening."

If that wasn't encouragement, nothing was. I ate up and she drove me home. When I came through the door to our apartment, my dad kidded me about staying over at Tessa's, even calling her my girlfriend.

"She's not my girlfriend, Dad," I said, on the way to my room.

"Does she know that?" he asked, smirking to himself.

She did. Knew it too well. I changed clothes and went down to open the shop. The morning passed in a daze. My mind stayed with Blaise. I wondered what a woman like her was doing. I couldn't imagine her going about a normal daily routine. She felt above mundanity. I was counting the minutes until I could look for her at the Darkhouse. Maybe she would pick me again. Maybe not.

Tessa wandered in after lunch. She was positively glowing. "Guess who has a girlfriend," she announced, a wide grin over her face.

I smiled, despite the sinking feeling in her gut. "That...what was her name."

"Courtney," Tessa said dreamily. "Fuck, she just dropped me off. We had the most incredible time."

"That's great, Tessa."

"So what'd you do? Just sit around and pine for me?" She put her elbows on the glass counter.

"Actually, I went home with someone too."

Her eyebrows went up, and her voice caught. "Oh? Anybody I know?"

"Blaise Black," I said.

First, surprise, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Then, as her mouth closed, her eyes hardened. "I warned you about her," she said. Hurt and anger warred in her voice. "I fucking warned you."

"What? I'm not allowed to see who I want?"

She shook her head, her expression dark. "No, no, it's fine. You'll see. Good luck."

And then she stormed out. She didn't speak to me for two weeks. Maybe if she had, I wouldn't have done what I did next.