Cassia slipped two fingers inside her.
“Fuck,” Zara let out and spread her legs, unable to control herself.
“I’ll show you because I trust you. I know you want Arwen nearly as much as I want my Iro to return to me. Allow me a question, though. Have you ever wanted to know what it was like to fuck yourself?”
Zara looked back down at her, confused, and when she met Cassia’s eyes, they weren’t Cassia’s at all. They were her own. Zara was looking at herself. Cassia laughed, but it wasn’t Cassia’s laugh. It was Zara’s. Zara climbed off her, wincing at the brief pain of fingers being removed too quickly at an awkward angle before the pain dissipated. Cassia stood, too, but Zara was still looking at herself.
“What the–”
“I’m a shape-shifter,” Cassia told her with a smirk that Zara recognized as her own. “It is very handy. I can become any human I want, and as a special bonus, I can also turn into vampires. Well, notallvampires; ones I’ve turned. I’ve tried turning into the ones I didn’t make myself, and I can’t seem to get that right. I can become Arwen, if you want. I can fuck you as Arwen, how you’ve always dreamed.”
“Oh,” Zara said, picturing it and hating that she’d just pictured it.
“Yes?” Cassia asked with a smirk.
“No,” she replied quickly.
“I see,” Cassia said and transformed back to herself in front of Zara’s eyes. “Well, now you know, and you must not tell anyone, Zara. I don’t use this ability unless I need to, but it’s important that it remains a secret between us.” She moved to Zara and put her hands on Zara’s hips. “Now, we can keep talking, or we can do something else. What’ll it be?”
“You’re not worried that they’re falling in love? That Iro won’t want you back?”
There was a moment where Zara thought she saw a chink in Cassia’s nearly impenetrable armor, but it quickly disappeared, and her smirk returned.
“Why don’t we worry about feeling good right now and save the rest for another day? I’d love to taste you.”
Zara wasn’t sure in which way she meant that, but she stood there, frozen in compliance, and when Cassia started sucking on her clit, she let the pleasure wash over her instead of worrying about Arwen falling in love with Iro.
CHAPTER 14
Iro
Iro needed fresh air after her dinner-and-drinks meeting that had gone on for far too long. The potential partner for one venture had been annoying and definitely enjoyed his alcohol a little too much. He had suggested they go to a cigar lounge after the first round of drinks, but Iro had insisted that they keep their dinner reservation instead, not liking the scent of cigars. He had relented and had three more rounds before letting them be seated at their table. It had already been an hour before she’d even ordered an entrée, and it had gotten worse after that. He had insisted on ordering three appetizers so he could sample them and asked for at least twenty minutes between the entrées in order to more fully enjoy them and not feel rushed. He had hardly been interested in talking about the deal until the entrées had been on the table and he had been on his next round. When she’d gotten out her credit card and prepared to pay, he’d requested dessert. Iro had seethed and thought about how she had better things to do than watch this man eat a plain cheesecake or tiramisu. He had ordered both, of course, expecting her to share, which she had not, and when he’d switched from his vodka tonics to brandy for his dessert, Iro could smell that cheap brandy and thought that this man had known nothing of good liquor. Finally, he’d stuffed himself enough, and she had been able to pay. Then, they had shakenhands, and their deal had been done. He’d offered to give her a ride in his town car, but she’d declined, with her own SUV waiting right outside the restaurant. She had climbed in so that she could make a quick getaway, but two blocks later, she’d asked her driver to pull over, and she had given him the remainder of the night off, deciding she would walk the rest of the way.
She had been walking aimlessly for twenty minutes and had no intention of stopping anytime soon. She only wanted to get home by a reasonable hour in order to text goodnight to Arwen, which wouldn’t end with that goodnight message. They’d probably end up texting each other for a while, or she would work up the courage to call.
Iro had no idea why Arwen made her so nervous. She’d dated before during her breaks from Cassia, but she’d never been so worried that she would be found out. Lying to Arwen about her upbringing wasn’t something she took pride in, although she hadn’t technically lied. Well, she supposed telling Arwen that her sister had died in a car accidenthadbeen a lie. Cars hadn’t existed yet, and it had been a barn fire. Shehadgone to Oxford, but not recently, and her name wouldn’t be on any alumni registry since she had gone under a different name entirely, centuries after her birth. As the time passed, she’d had to change her name several times throughout the years, but every so often, she returned to her given name and went by Iro. Arwen didn’t need to know all of that; at least, not yet. That should give Iro some time, at least a few years, before Arwen would start questioning why she wasn’t getting any older, and by then, she could tell her. She stopped walking when she realized that by then, she was due to be back with Cassia.
“Hello, my love.”
“I thought that was you,” Iro replied.
“I got a little too close, didn’t I?”
Iro turned to see Cassia standing about ten feet behind her on the abandoned sidewalk and said, “Oh, I doubt that. If you’re here and letting me know it, it’s not by accident.”
She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’ve missed you,” Cassia told her and took a few steps closer to her.
“Cassia, this is our time apart. I told you I wasn’t ready in Florence.”
“I know. I know.” She waved Iro off. “I couldn’t resist following you. What can I say? I love you. I miss you being around.”
“Cassia, we don’t interfere when we’re apart. That’s how this thing works between us. It was already bad that you called and I showed up.”
“Oh, please; you loved that. You always love that,” Cassia said and took another step closer.
“I need you to leave DC. What are you doing here?”
