The Pearl Witch

By Theda Hudson

When twenty-six year old Tarin knocks a small plane out of the sky with blue bolts of energy during sex, she realizes she must learn to control her powers before someone else gets hurt.

Good news. Phillip, the very handsome sex magician, takes on the task of teaching her.

Bad news. When she falls in love with him, but he refuses to admit he loves her even though they make hot and potent magic together.

More news. The other man, actually an alien, begins to teach her to use her powers through S/m and bondage, and wants to use her to open a door between universes to let his people flood in.

Worse news. He tried it with her mom and she died preventing it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lilac Moon Books
• Release date: Feb 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465851260

Theda Hudson

Theda Hudson's deliciously wicked short fiction has appeared in Best Lesbian Erotica 2011 and 2015, Best Lesbian Romance 2011 and 2012, Best Women's Erotica 2007, Sex in San Francisco, Pirate Booty, and Best S/M III. Her novels include Dyke Valiant, an erotic lesbian urban paranormal, and The Pearl Witch and Lord of the Broken Tower, both hetero erotic science fiction. She lives in Colorado with four rescued cats, 1000 books, and an understanding partner. She likes to use her writing to share things women don’t usually get to talk about.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Tarin looked across the cramped office completely filled with two oak desks and four large black filing cabinets. Max sat in his chair, working over the latest sales contract. He was silver haired now and he’d gained a lot of weight over the last year. She looked to wall. He had a ton of sales awards and Optimist Club recognition plaques. He was a big fish in this little pond of a town.

Was this going to be her life? She couldn’t, wouldn’t live it. She’d do anything to save herself from being the next big fish swimming in this desperately small and conservative pond.

Lord preserve me. I have to get out.

What’s up, Tarin? Why the big sigh?

She hadn’t realized she’d sighed.

Nothing, Max, she said, looking across the office to her boss’s desk. Just a long day.

Before you go, I need to talk to you, Max said.

This didn’t sound good.

Mona’s tired of Lone Pine. The grandkids have all graduated now. She wants more excitement.

Tarin could appreciate that. The small plains town was not very busy, unless you counted Bingo and high school basketball and football games.

"We found a place in Cocoa Beach, down in Florida. We closed two weekends ago. Her niece is going to move into the house.

I kept pressing you to get your license so you could take over here, but I can see you aren't interested.

Not in the least. The job here at Max’s real estate office had been a way to pay the bills while she cared for her grandmother.

I figure you need a push to get on with your life too, now that your gramma’s gone to her rest. I’m closing the office in a month and giving all my accounts to Bob over in Agate. So you have to do something.

Something? Yes, like find a job in Denver.

A month?

She looked at her desk, cluttered with contracts, closing statements, title requests, and, on the corner, a picture of her and her grandmother right after she’d moved back home after graduation.

The little white haired woman had a twinkle in her eye and one hand on Tarin’s arm. Tarin had laid her hand over her grandmother’s and another on her shoulder.

How had the time moved so fast? It was now six months since she’d died and her Tarin was, coasting.

Well, not anymore. She’d have to figure out something.

Wow, Max. That’s fast.

"Yeah, Mona doesn’t waste any time once she figures out what she wants.

Which made Tarin think of what she wanted.

To move. To move away. To move to something more exciting more fulfilling than this job and the sexcapades with Chris.

Chris. Oh, God.

You okay?

I just remembered I have a date. I’ll start thinking of what needs to be done and we can talk again tomorrow.

You've been great to me, Tarin. I know how hard you work and all the things you did when I was down. You’ll find something more interesting with better pay. You just have to move on down the road, like north to Denver.

Yeah, Denver. She rose, walking over to lay a hand on his arm. I know you and Mona’ll be happy down there. Don’t worry about me.

I know. You go on now. Have a nice evening, we’ll talk tomorrow.

An hour later she was cutting salad in the bright yellow kitchen, a breeze ruffling the pale butter colored curtains over the sink and carrying the sound and smell of the pork chops sizzling on the grill outside.

Chris tapped his signature shave and a haircut, six bits knock at the front door.

Come on in, she called. Hey, can you flip the chops? she asked when he’d made his way into the kitchen.

He put his arms around her and kissed her. His lips were firm and full and she loved the way they gave when she pushed her mouth against them. His tongue was wet and tasted of beer.

He nuzzled her neck. I can flip you, right into bed.

She laughed, squirming away.

Later, mind the chops.

I am, he leered, smacking his lips.

She shook her head. His jokes are so dumb. But he fucks like nobody’s business. That makes up for everything else.

At least so far.

Go on with you, please.

He laughed and went out.

Dinner was good, the chops were perfect. He could grill, as well as drill.

He poured more wine and hung around the kitchen watching her as she washed dishes and wiped up.

Ready? he asked when she put the hand towel on the rack. He handed her a fresh glass of wine. It was a good red, not right for pork, but it had a rich flavor with none of the sour overtones she usually disliked in reds. She sipped again and flicked Chris’ hair off his shoulder. It was brown and wavy, just shoulder length and she hated it.

Okay, she loved his hair, the color, the weight, the way it felt and looked between her fingers, smooth with golden highlights, but she hated the hippy-dippy California style. Yeah, bring the bottle, she said. This is really good wine.

Yeah, he said as he followed her to the bedroom. The liquor store guy said it makes the chicks’ panties fly right off. Guess he’s right.

I don’t know about fly, but I am certainly going to peel them off.

Aw, I thought I would get to do that.

Well, if you feel so strongly about it…

She hated this part, his stupid banter. All she wanted was to get his clothes off and feel up his body, strong and lithe and warm with maleness and life.

He was very well built. Tall and not too lean, but not fat either, although, if she really thought about it, she could see it that way in ten or fifteen years.

She pushed those thoughts away. They weren't fair to him and they'd ruin the moment. Sipping at the wine again, she savored the taste in her mouth, holding it there so she got the full effect. When she swallowed, she pulled his face down to her and kissed him deeply.

Yes, the rising ambergris flavor mixed in with the wine. It tasted like something thick, earthy, old. She had no idea what ambergris actually tasted like. She just knew it was an ingredient in old perfumes, some kind of whale by-product, but it sounded exotic and the word fit what she tasted.

The taste of first rate sex.

It always rose immediately now when she thought about sex.

His hands stroked her skin. She had been taking care to keep it lotioned.

The smell of that lotion, delicately flowery, rose up now that he had pulled her shirt off.

Chris groaned as he cupped her breasts. You always feel so good.

It would feel better if his hands weren’t so rough. She’d put Jergens on his hands one day, but he’d about had a cow.

That’s for fags. I’m a man, he’d said.

She reached for the glass and drained it before turning back to him. He clenched the hair at the nape of her neck the way she liked. It made her feel weak, no, it was like a switch turned everything off, the way a kitten became limp and compliant when you scruffed it.

Her left hand tingled, and briefly she wondered again if she had carpal tunnel or something, but then he pulled her head back and worked her mouth while he unhooked her bra and slid one hand up underneath it to lift a breast. She arched her back and pressed her sex into his hard on.

He growled and pinched her nipple hard. The pain turned into a delicious spike of pleasure that drove straight between her legs. She struggled to breathe in the midst of such delight and felt the peculiar downshifting in her lower belly she'd felt in the last month and the lightness in her head that became a buzz when he pushed her back on the bed and pushed her silky skirt up her legs. It felt naughty this way, and she squirmed under a new onslaught of pleasure. He slid a finger up under one side of her panties and she opened her eyes to see him staring intently at her, a wicked smile on his face.

You break it, you buy it.

He smiled wider and yanked. The thin material tore and the release of tension in the elastic triggered something inside her, let it loose. Her eye was caught by a glint behind him and as she shifted, she saw that it was her right hand. It was glowing again. When it first started last month, it had been a haze across her palm -- a pale sapphire haze brushed with gold highlights, but tonight it sparkled a brilliant blue with a gold halo. She realized that is was making her hand tingle while her pussy thrummed in sympathy.

Chris pulled the other side, flipped the panties away, and knelt, holding her down, spreading her thighs as he inserted his tongue into the cleft between her thighs.

It was warm and wet and incredibly hard as he probed and laved. She lay back on the bed, her glowing fingers entwined in his hair, holding his head to her, pressing it down when he threatened to pull away, to leave off.

He laughed in her cunt and the vibration made her push her hips up to him frantically.

"You want it, baby, don’t you? You want my tongue, my cock, but you don’t want me, do you, Tarin?

Later, later, later, she thought.

What? I want you. I want you right now.

Yeah? Well, I am going to have you. I’m going to have you the way I want.

What? What do you mean?

In answer, he flipped her over roughly and hauled her hips up so she bent over the bed, her legs pressing against the mattress. He thrust into her hard, hitting that spot and she groaned in pleasure. He grasped her breast in one hand and the back of her hair in another and rode her, just like a jockey, Tarin thought.

She found a rhythm that allowed deeper penetration, just missing that spot. She spread her legs a little wider, no, that didn’t help.

When she lowered herself to her elbows it made an immediate difference, another growling downshift. Chris let go of her nipple and laid his weight on her, his breath harsh and sharp as he struggled to take them up to the crest of the mountain.

Tarin licked her lips, tasting Chris and the ambergris.

The slap of flesh on flesh and the squishy noises were loud as he drove her up the hill, the breeze through window moaning a counterpart. Tarin’s head, filled with the buzz now, made music of it all. The music of sex, the accompaniment to their journey.

Chris was brushing that spot now with every stroke, but it wasn’t enough. Greedy thing! Tarin pressed her face into the pillow, pushed it away when suffocation threatened, and lifted her ass, straining to open for him. It helped, but not enough. They weren’t climbing up the mountain anymore, just hanging at a spot near the top.

She was caught, limp with pleasure between her fingers rubbing her clit and him driving into her.

The buzz in her head grew to a din, the smack of flesh and the whooshing of their hoarse breathing filled her head, her nose with the smell of their efforts, the flowers outside the window, the candle, the sachet, and everything downshifted again, rolling up the incline like a tractor finding purchase in moist, rich soil.

Chris shifted his right hand and Tarin took one of his fingers in her mouth, delighting in the way that it mimicked his eager hardness in her soft moistness.

Am I gettin’ it for you, Snow White?

The nickname made her smile. She did look like Snow White -- her black hair spread out over the sheets, pale skin blushing red with desire, and red lips swollen with pleasure. But he was no Prince Charming, she thought. Too rough and definitely lacking in charm, but in this moment, charm didn’t matter. What mattered was what he was doing with her pussy.

Her right hand was on fire with cobalt sparks of light jumping off them and floating up to the ceiling, bright in the dim light of the bedside lamp.

As she got closer to coming, the sparks got bigger, brighter, like fire. It felt like a little sun of burning pleasure sat in her palm. She shook it.

Why doesn’t he see?

Chris began to moan, his hips shifted, and everything rose to another level altogether.

Sex before now had never been like this. Chris always created a burning, mounting sense of expectation, an impending explosion like nothing she had ever felt before.

A door opened deep inside her just then, revealing depths of ecstasy she had never imagined.

Yes, please, Chris, keep doing that. She lifted her hips, her feet making treading motions on the floor as she strove to climb with him, to position herself better.

Her pleasure downshifted again to climb the final hill to the climax. A throaty purr filled the room and Tarin realized she was making the noise. She was eager to reach the top but forced herself to stop thinking about the destination and just enjoy the ride.

Her right hand felt thick and hot and she shook it again as they ground their way to the top, spilling a cascade of brilliant blue sparks throughout the room. She and Chris fell over the edge, coming at the same time. A great blaze of blue gold light flew off her hand and through the wall.

She stared in a daze at the spot where the ball had disappeared, completely drained, when Chris let her go.

See, that’s what you want, he said, his voice hoarse. You want me to fuck you. You don’t care about me. I never went to college and I haven’t got the smarts you have, but I have a cock and I know how to fuck you.

She rolled over ready to deny it, but knew it was true.

I’m okay with it, Tarin, he said. I really am, but if you want this, he gestured to his still hard cock, it’ll be my way, when I want, where I want, how I want. Got it?

He stared at her, his mouth hard and cruel, an odd light in his eyes.

She stared back, not answering. After a moment, he dressed, took out his wallet and threw a ten on the bed.

There. Buy yourself new panties. Make ‘em pretty, a G-string, blue, yeah, I like blue, and see through.

He turned and left.

Tarin crawled up on the bed. What had just happened?

Chapter 2

Merrill Trakisson turned to look out over Denver from his corner office on the thirty-sixth floor of the Kilburn Tower. The late afternoon sun shone brightly on the tops of the buildings marching toward the south. Shadows pooled around their ground floors, creating an Escher-like contrast that pleased him.

The small clutch of buildings that made up downtown Denver along the Cherry Creek rapidly gave way to one- and two-story buildings toward the south, dotted here and there with taller office buildings and condo complexes. He followed that pattern to the Tech Center, another cluster of taller buildings. South of that, newer developments scattered past the horizon.

If he extended his vision into the spectral realm, he could see her house, a sapphire patch of just released sexual energy surrounded by a golden halo. He knew what it would smell like-- rich soil, ancient life, full of energy he would harvest to complete the plan.

Trakkison imagined her lying exhausted in her bed, curled around her lover, sodden with pleasure, bedewed with effort, dark hair strewn across the bed, contrasting with the white sheets, her pale skin, her red lips bruised with pleasure.

Just like her mother. He’d been waiting for this moment for over twenty-five years. Waiting ever since the bitch had ruined his plans, committing suicide rather than yield to him.

He shook his head. Shelley had thought it ended with her, that she’d ruined the plan. Ignorant human. She’d never known that the power followed from mother to child.

Yes, she’d given him set backs, and forced him to manifest another persona, this time as his own son, a tall, blond man, as muscular as he’d been lean the last time. This time he’d settled for a look in his late thirties, old enough to look experienced but still young enough to appeal to a young woman in the full blush of womanhood.

A smile quirked at his mouth. The bitch mother had actually done him a favor. The extra years had taught him greater subtlety around manipulating humans, keeping them in the dark. They were so much easier to manage when they were ignorant. But they were cunning, too, making it necessary to constantly work at knowing what they knew. Yes, ignorant, but not stupid, best to remember that.

He picked up the phone and dialed. The phone hummed and clicked as he manipulated electrons and photons. The line crackled for a long moment and then he focused his will, clearing the reception across the void between the two universes.

A voice full of hope and burdened by fear answered. Yes, Trakisson? You have a report?

She’s fully awakened, he said with a voice sharp like a dagger, slick like poison on the blade.

Good. The cannon is being prepared?

I expect all the manufacturing to be completed within six months.

Good. How will you get her into position?

I won’t need to do much. She’s like her mother. The power will drive her to find opportunities. There’re few in the little town she lives in. She’ll hunger for experience. I’ll maneuver her here so she cangto find it.

And you’ll keep track of her.

I’m aware of her every moment. I smell her power, her essence like a hound to the hunt.

Which is what you are. Don’t forget the prize in your eagerness for the hunt.

I am my people's servant, as always.

Yes, you are and you shall be rewarded for your work.

Thank you, Master Planner. You are generous.

Generous if you succeed. We’ve invested a fortune in energy to move you, not once, but twice, across the vale. Fail as you did before, and we’ll all pay.

Trakisson shivered, thinking of Riyanya’s beautiful energy pattern torn to bits.

I will succeed, Master.

Keep me apprised of your progress.

Yes, Master.

The phone went dead, except for hissing on the line.

Merrill hung up and turned back to the orange splotch on the horizon. He’d been waiting a long time for this moment. His lips twitched as he thought of the delightful task ahead of him. He’d take a raw sex witch and hone her to a powerful tool.

This time he wouldn't waste time on manifesting lessons. Just her brute strength, that was all he needed. And it would be easier to control her.

Oh, the pleasure of the work he would do with her to build her power up. He moaned, thinking of the sweet energy he would store for his reunion with Riyanya. His human body’s cock rose up hard and eager to begin seducing Tarin Peterson.

Chapter 3

Tarin lay on the bed struggling against sleep, trying to understand what had just happened. Had she been so obvious? Chris was a swell guy, and, yes, she considered him to be an average Joe in the smarts, and there were his dumb jokes.

He was good looking, though, and the man could get busy.

Was she that shallow? Or was she that desperate? She felt bad for him and ashamed that she'd used him like that even as she remembered what they'd done together.

Lone Pine Junction was a small town on the southern edge of Denver’s encroaching metroplex. At first, when she came back to take care of her grandmother after graduation, she’d been completely involved with her care. There had been tons to do, shopping, housework, and caretaking.

But when it was over and all the proverbial dust had settled, well, it had gotten boring. It wasn’t just the limited guy selection either. The job at Max’s real estate office had gotten boring too, if it had ever been challenging.

It was just as well that he was closing the office. She'd considered getting her license when he'd broached it, but the prospect of driving people from here to kingdom come in the hopes that they'd buy a house didn’t appeal to Tarin at all.

No, this was just the kick in the ass she needed to get something new. And there was only one place to get it. She was going to have to move to Denver. There’d be more guys, too, just as handsome, but better educated with better jobs, a better match for her.

Tarin was just falling asleep when the loud wail of a siren jolted her back awake. It sounded like it was just next door. She realized she smelled smoke and fear rolled her out of bed and to the window where she lifted the shade. It was next door her neighbor’s house was on fire.

She threw clothes on quickly and ran outside, the lethargy completely gone with the adrenaline rush of fear that flooded her.

Tarin was just reaching the front yard when the firemen started pushing everyone back. Jack and his wife, Eileen, were standing on the sidewalk. Jack held Muffin, their Pomeranian, while Eileen held Pi, their piebald cat.

What happened?

I don’t know, Eileen said, watching as the firemen sprayed water over everything. The fire crackled, whipped by the breeze, and hissed where the water hit it. Thick, black smoke roiled in the halogen lights mounted on the fire trucks.

I saw it, said Roman, the neighbor from across the street. Well, part of it. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. When I turned, this big blue fireball hit the corner of the house, he said pointing at the corner closest to Tarin’s bedroom.

Tarin sucked wind remembering the whooshing bright ball as it flew off her hands when she was coming. Could it have been real?

No, she thought firmly. But the fire burned brightly, resisting the efforts to extinguish it. They finally got it under control. Tarin stayed with her neighbors until the firemen called it good.

Can we go back in? Eileen asked.

No, ma’am, one of them said. This is a crime scene until we figure out what started it.

Tarin's heart leaped in her chest.

Oh come on, Eileen said. We’ve got to get some clothes and stuff. And Muffin needs her special food.

The man looked at his colleagues. Okay. I’ll go in with you. But make it quick.

Do you want to come over, guys? Tarin asked.

No, we’ll go to my sister’s, Eileen said. Jack made a face behind her and Tarin resisted smiling.

Okay. Hey, I’m really sorry this happened. At least it doesn’t look too bad.

Thanks, kid, Jack said. At least we all got out okay. The rest is just stuff, you know.

Tarin turned and saw a man across the street, watching them, no, her. All she could tell in the dark was that he was tall and thin. When he saw her, he took a step toward her, then walked away quickly down the street.

She watched him until he turned the corner. When she went into her house, she found one last glass of wine in the bottle and poured it.

Who was the man?

Had she started the fire?

And why had he been watching?

The whole thing was crazy. How could she have made a fire ball fly off her hands?

The sex, that was how. It was different, since she started tasting ambergris. She’d never had sex the way she and Chris had. It was intense. It was the best ever. Even now, thinking about him got her riled up again.

She really dug the way his earthy masculine smell combined with the Aqua cologne he wore, the taste of his mouth tinged with wine, the feel of his hard muscles, his fingers on her tender flesh, his growling moan in her ear, full of need for her, when he worked her really hard, oh yes. That was something to get riled up about.

But why? Why was he any different from any other guy? He wasn’t special. Was he? Why should he get her so crazy?

Good questions. And she had no answer. She took the wine to the bedroom with her and lay in bed sipping it, trying to understand why he was so different.

Chemistry, she said. That has to be it. The ambergris is just an effect of pure animal chemistry, cuz God knows there’s nothing else.

Which made her remember his last words to her.

How dare he use her like that? How dare he fuck her and then tell her he knew what was up and buy some new panties, blue and see through, just like that? She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

Yeah, how dare he? It was a really shitty thing to do.

Actually, if she was honest, what she’d been doing was pretty shitty. She’d been using him for pleasure. Okay, their mutual pleasure. And it wasn’t like they’d spoken about anything more than dating. Things had been too new for that.

No, they hadn’t spoken about it, but they had been trying each other out. Three weeks of getting together for dinner, for a game of pool, a movie. And randy sex that just got more and more intense.

It was definitely not fair to him. But she’d only just decided there wasn’t any future for them. Before, she hadn’t actually decided, not consciously anyway. But unconsciously she’d known she disliked enough about him that it came through in the way she treated him.

Shit, Tarin said to the empty room. She finished off the glass and turned off the bedside table lamp. She couldn’t help the finger that slipped between her legs. She didn’t stop herself from replaying the evening’s fun either

She barely saw the faint glow that built along her left hand as it caressed her breast, flowed up from her toes and down from the crown of her head to pool the palm of her right hand, a blue ball with a golden halo.

She came just as he threw the money down and told her to buy panties, blue and see through, just the way he liked ‘em.

The ball shot away through the ceiling.

Oh, well, she thought sleepily. At least it went up this time.

Chapter 4

Trakkison picked up the phone.

Trakkison here.

Merrill, Kathy from Precision Recruiting. You know that woman, Tarin Peterson? I got a resume from her. You said you wanted to know.

Hey, Kathy, good to hear from you. That’s great about Tarin, too.

Do you have any particular jobs you want her placed in, you know, industries or companies?

Trakkison smiled. It didn’t matter what the witch did. She had only one purpose.

You just do what you think is best.

She has a good resume. I mean, college and just the one job, which she’s held for a couple of years.

Yes, I wouldn’t expect anything else.

Huh?

Trakkison frowned. Stupid bitch. Couldn’t she just do what he asked? Was it necessary to pry?

I mean she’s smart and mature.

Oh. Well, I’ve got a few jobs to fill. I’ll talk to her and see what shakes out. Shall I let you know if I place her?

Drop me an email, would you?

Sure. You wanna get together for a drink?

Trakkison considered. She’d been helpful and was a very good bottom. It would be nice to work off some of the tension he’d been under since the witch’s awakening.

That would be good. Friday? We could have a drink and go over to the club

That would be fine.

He could hear the tremble of excitement in her voice. He’d do what he could to make it worthwhile for both of them.

I got a new toy, she said. It would be great if you tried it out.

Kathy was into floggers. She had an impressive collection and could take a lot of pain. Her only rule was no blood. He smiled. There was a lot he could do without letting any blood.

Well, then I’m looking forward even more.

Where do you want to meet?

Paulson’s. It was close enough to the club and had a reasonable amount of panache for something on that side of town.

Nine, same as usual?

Yes. And get a private room, will you?

Trakkison remembered the heat of her sex, her pain, mixed in with the bleach that permeated the club. He could feel the ridges on her flesh where the flogger had been at work.

Yes, sir.

He heard the rush of her pleasure and the flood of submissiveness in her voice as she understood the extent of the pleasures he intended with a private room.

See you Friday, he said with real warmth in his voice. Wear the red one.

Yes, sir.

He hung up the phone and smiled. She was fun and the red corset showed off the ruddy apples of her ass really well once he got her warmed up.

But for now there was work to do. He needed the witch ready in less than six months. His home universe was dissolving rapidly. This was his people’s last chance to save themselves.

He couldn’t afford to fail again.

He’d learned a great deal from his failure with her mother. And his side plan to seize control in this world, this universe, would advance in step with the opening of the portal.

And there was much to be done. Kathy would be a nice reward and a good pressure valve. When he got her into subspace, he could even try to contact Riyanya. Now that would be a reward.

Smiling, Trakkison turned back to work.

Chapter 5

Tarin flopped down on the brown nubby couch, glass in her hand. It had been a good day. A couple of the resumes she’d sent out last week had born fruit. Max had smiled when she’d told him she needed a vacation day to go to Denver.

The recruiter, Kathy Talbot, had been very nice. She’d run Tarin through the admin tests -- software, ten-key, typing. Tarin was a whiz at software and knew she’d aced that part. Ten-key was another thing all together. She and numbers had never been that tight.

Kathy had said that was okay. She was considering Tarin for executive assistant type positions. That was exciting. It was more than she'd hoped for, and meant more money, maybe more interesting tasks, and, best of all, working downtown.

She loved downtown Denver. It was bustling, exciting, filled with all kinds of activities and interesting people. She thought it would also be a great place to find a date, or even possibly, a boyfriend. That would be cool.

The thought of a boyfriend made her think of Chris. She’d felt so bad about last week that she’d called him, asked if he wanted to come over tonight.

And not because she was a mess of desire, either, although, maybe he would take pity on her and help her out there, too.

You are pathetic. Such a whore, a horndog, a slut.

She took a healthy swig of the fruity, dark red wine, just as the sharp knock at the door made her jump. Wine spilled down her chin and onto her tank. She spluttered as the rest went down the wrong pipe.

Chris opened the door, an open beer in one hand, the rest of the six pack in the other. I think there is something to be said for being a horndog.

He was in the door before Tarin could object or get her breath back. He was already sitting on her couch, swigging out of the beer he’d brought in with him when she recovered enough to take a small sip of wine to soothe her throat.

You look good. You going out?

No, I was out, she said. I had a day of vacation and went to Denver.

Have a good time?

She nodded.

Wanna have a good time with me?

He leered at her and she shook her head thinking how dumb he was, how trite. Then he was pulling her up and off the couch and his lips were on hers, his hand cupping her breast, pinching