“Grace is the event planner over at Saddlethorne. She sends a lot of her brides to me for their wedding flowers, and she does my fruit baskets. Well. She did. But no. We’re not together. Not like that. Her boyfriend is a mothman, he works over at the University. If you ever need to know anything about moths or bats or hummingbirds, I suggest you look it up yourself or ask literally anyone else, because you will never escape the conversation with him. That is how you will die.”
She was laughing again as she pulled a small pot from the same tote bag. “Okay, good to know. This is for Ruma.”
Ranar examined the small plant, feeling his heart do an odd somersault that was surely not normal. This was more than a clipping. This had started as a clipping and had been nurtured to its current state, which would continue to grow into a full size plant, if nurtured. The pink princess philodendron wasn’t an especially difficult or needy plant, but it had a cult-like status online, thanks to its splashy pink and green variegated leaves. This was Pinky’s namesake. His stomach swooped, and Ranar couldn’t tell if what he was feeling at that moment was guilt or not.How can you be guilty? You’ve never met her. You’ve never made plans to meet her. You can’t cheat on someone you’ve never even met, right?
“I know she’s a pinky girl. I wanted to make sure I got it to you before she leaves. I figure her visit is probably winding down, right?”
“How do you know that?” His voice was a hair sharper than he intended, Sumi’s eyes going wide. He had been lamenting earlier that same week to Pinky, his heart already feeling a bit heavier, knowing Ruma would be leaving soon.
“Oh, um, she – she mentioned something about it the last time I was in the shop. You know, when you yelled at me outside my car. And told me never to come back.”
He let out the breath that had been building in his chest. “Right, of course. Well, she’ll love this. It’s funny, I . . . I have a friend who cultivates philodendron. This variety is one of her prized possessions.”
“It’s a real beauty,” Sumi agreed, humming lightly. “Well, again. I didn’t want to make it burst a blood vessel in your eye or anything, so.”
He laughed again at her audacity. “Don’t worry, my mother and daughter are completely enamored of you, I hope you’ll be happy to hear. They’ll be over the moon to know thatIcame tonight, andtheyreceived gifts.”
She made her way back to him slowly, carefully. His stomach muscles jumped when she gripped a handful of his shirt, tip of his tail thrashing from its coil. “Well, I have something very different in mind for you.”
This time, Ranar was ready. His arm came around her as their mouths met, groaning when she scraped the back of his neck. Her giant, soulless flower factory assembly line was so well provisioned, that he had his choice in which way to turn, twisting on his coil as he gripped her, lifting her easily to sit atop one of the work tables. He wanted to taste that spot on her neck, that enticing, kissable spot that her earrings drew his eye to like a beacon.
Ranar tried to pay close attention to her every response as their mouths moved over each other. Her fluttering intakes of breath, her soundless little whimpers, the thrum of her pulse beneath his lips as he kissed over her jaw and down the delicate column of her neck, his tongue finding that spot just beneath her ear, gratified when she shivered against him.
He wasn’t sure when she had begun unbuttoning his shirt, only realizing she had done so when it was parted, and then her hot hands were everywhere, her nails scraping over his stomach, catching on a pebbled nipple, her palm flat against his heartbeat.
She had her legs open, straddling his thick trunk, her ankles hooked behind him, rubbing against his scales. Ranar could feel his core beginning to heat, his cocks vibrating within their sheath, begging to come out.No. That’s not what this is. Not until she makes it that. The tip of his tail wrapped around her ankle, and was stroking her leg with a slight pressure when she pulled back, gasping.
“Is – is that your tail?”
He didn’t know how to answer, his mouth hanging open from where she had pulled back, nodding.
“What else can it do?”
She had him at an unfair advantage, he thought, returning his mouth to her throat, sucking her pulse point as her head dropped back to give him better exposure, as if he were a vampire. He wanted to kiss down her chest, bury his face in the soft mounds of her breasts, suck her nipples to hardness and not worry if his cocks slid free… But he would have to make do with his tail for the time being, for this was no place to undress her, here in her gray cinder block sweatshop.
Sumi whimpered as his tail moved up her leg, slipping beneath her dress. This woman had ruined his life, he reminded himself as the pointed tip of his tail stroked against her inner thighs, seeking entrance. She was his enemy, that hissing little voiceon his shoulder rejoined, as he learned the feeling of her silky panties, tracing against their front, back and forth, and down until she whimpered into his hair. She was careless and hadn’t thought beyond her own ambitions, he couldn’t help but remember as he began to stroke in the spot that made her jerk against him. He would hate himself in the morning, a likely reality as his tail found its way beneath the hem, dragging through her slickness.
Sumi’s mouth was open, her breath thready as he kissed his way back up her throat, scraping his fangs on her jaw, that’s the tip of his tail moved in circles around her clit.
It was ironic, he thought, following her subtle little cues, the way she trembled, the way she gasped, tickling over the exposed pearl and making her jump, before resuming his tight circles around her, pressing into the side of her hood. She claimed this was something she had in mind forhim, and now her head was thrown back, both hands over his shoulders, gripping him tightly, her eyes closed and her mouth hanging open, as he teased her ever closer to coming against his tail.
“A little faster. Right…right there.Fuck, right there. Just against the underside.”
She now had her arms looped around his neck, the pretense of her doing anything other than enjoying herself gone. He chuffed about a soundless laugh against her hair, grateful for the instruction. Ranar continued to kiss her neck and her shoulders, hating himself as he loved the feel of her in his arms and the way she trembled against him.
He felt the moment when her orgasm hit, her hips bucking slightly against the counter, panting against his bare neck. When it was clear she had already tipped over the edge, he moved his tail, removing the pressure from her spasming clit, pressing into her heat to feel the rhythmic squeeze of her muscles. Sumi moaned against his skin, her thighs trembling. When sheslumped against him, her muscles going slack, he just held her for a long moment, rubbing her back as his tail withdrew.
“That was amazing.” Her voice came out a laugh, shoulders shaking against him as she sat up slowly, taking his face in her hands. “I’m sorry, Ranar. For all of it. I hope someday you can forgive me.”
He didn’t fight her when she pulled his face to hers, meeting her lips and another soft, sugar edged kiss.
When her hand moved down his chest, he expected her to begin buttoning his shirt. He wasn’t as ready for the hand that slid down, past his skin and into his scales. They always stopped just a few inches short, he thought, taking her wrist and moving her hand to the right spot, knowing she could already feel the swell of him just inside. The end of his tail came up over his shoulder, allowing him to suck the tip clean, his first taste of her, but hopefully not the only one.
“Okay, that’s like, stupid hot. I need you to understand,” she murmured gently, scratching behind his ear with the hand still cupping his jaw, “that I’m going to fuck you unconscious tonight. Okay? I hope you’re ready. Your place or mine?”
Things We Won't Regret Tomorrow
Sumi
