“She is,” Miranda spoke up. “I want to fuck you.”

  “Yes, please,” Cassia said.

  The human knelt in front of Zara, and seconds later, her clit was in the woman’s mouth, and her ass was getting massaged and squeezed. Zara spread her legs wider, watched as Miranda started to fuck Cassia, who was now nude, too, and she couldn’t believe the power she felt.

  “There,” she instructed.

  Cassia turned her head and watched her.

  “There. Yes!”

  “So sexy, darling,” Cassia said. “Fuck me harder!” That was addressed to Miranda, who seemed to refocus and did fuck Cassia harder. “Oh, yes! There!”

  Zara watched them, holding the woman’s head closer.

  “Like that. Don’t stop. I’ll come.”

  The woman moaned in response, and Zara came. Then, she watched Cassia come as well, and Miranda rolled off her quickly as if they didn’t need to touch anymore now that Cassia had come.

  “Would you like a little more?” the human asked Zara when she stood back up and tilted her head again.

  “No, thank you,” she replied.

  The woman nodded, wiped her wet mouth, and left the room as if nothing at all had just happened. Cassia moved to sit on the sofa and patted her legs for Zara, who walked over and straddled her.

  “You like this,” Cassia stated as she ran her hands up and down Zara’s sides. “Do you want to join Gigi in a room?”

  “Not right now, but maybe later.” She heard herself say that, but she still couldn’t believe she’d just had sex with two strangers and had watched even more.

  “Tell me what you do want, then,” Cassia encouraged before she sucked on Zara’s nipple.

  Zara’s brain continued to have a hard time focusing, but she did her best to remember why she’d come here.

  “I needed to tell you what I saw today.”

  “And what was that?” Cassia asked before she licked her nipple.

  “Arwen and Iro had lunch.”

  “And?”

  “And I’ve never seen Arwen like this before. She said it was serious.”

  Cassia laughed and replied, “It cannot be serious. They just met.”

  “It is. Trust me, I know my best friend. She’s already in love, and she doesn’t know it. That means…” Zara sighed. “That means it’s over for me.”

  “Oh, Zara… You’re still thinking like a human, when you’ll live forever now. If you don’t turn Arwen, she’ll die in a few decades, and you will have moved on. You’ll find someone else how I found my Iro.”

  “Iro is falling for her, too. I don’t know her how you do, but she seems very serious about Arwen.”

  “She’s just a serious person,” Cassia said. “It confuses people who don’t know her.”

  “You’ve mentioned something before about how she would be able to smell you if you got too close.”

  “Yes. We’ve known each other for centuries, so if I get too close, she’ll know I’m in town. That’s why I stayed across the street and stood by a Greek restaurant.”

  “Could she smell me? You said you could smell my cancer and that vampires taste different than humans.”

  “Oh, I see.” Cassia looked up at her then. “You’re worried you’ll be caught as my little spy. Iro is a lot younger than me. Her senses are good, but not as strong as mine. The only reason I worry about her smelling me is that she knows all of my scents. She also refuses to enjoy being a vampire, but for a few special occasions, so she doesn’t often use her heightened senses. It’s unlikely that she even noticed your cancer. I would recommend not getting too close, or she might realize you’re a vampire now, though.”

  “Not getting too close? She’s dating my best friend.”

  “Just meet them in a public place with some confusing scents, and you’ll blend right in. Now, would you like me to fuck you? You can ride my fingers. I’d like that.”

  “No, Cassia. I’m telling you that your plan isn’t working. I know Arwen. She wants Iro, and I’m not just talking sex or for a few dates. God, what does Iro have that I don’t? Is there some vampire power to make someone fall in love with you?”

  “I told you, any kind of powers are incredibly rare. No vampire has ever been able to make a human fall in love with them, even though many of them have tried, I’m sure. Vampires with special abilities are revered, and if you must know, I’m one of them.”

  Zara looked down in surprise and asked, “You can do what, exactly?”

  “Ladies, leave us,” Cassia said abruptly.

  The women around them stopped doing what they were doing instantly, as if in a trance, and without a word, they all left the room to continue doing whatever they wanted to do elsewhere.

  “Well, I have a very special ability. I don’t just tell anyone, Zara. I don’t show them, either.”

  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, not all vampires; 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 shaken hands, 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 accident had been a lie. Cars hadn’t existed yet, and it had been a barn fire. She had gone 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?”

  “I’m here to get you back a little early, obviously. I came here for you. I rented a place. Gigi and Miranda are there, as well as a couple of others, but I’ll happily tell them all to go elsewhere if you come home with me right now and we end this silly time apart.”

  Cassia took Iro’s jacket in her hands and pulled on it.

  Iro breathed in the scent she’d always know and probably respond to a little bit.

  “Yes, my love. I can tell you want me. Let’s go back to Florence. Let’s go home and make love for hours and hours. And if you still insist on this whole non-human diet thing, I’ll even think about joining you, if you want. We can sit by the fire and read poetry, and we can walk around the city and talk about how it’s changed and how some things have always remained, like we used to do.”

  Iro took a step back and said, “No, Cassia. I don’t want that. I’m here for work.”

  “Just work?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I saw you the other night, Iro; with that woman at that horrible-looking restaurant. Tell me you’re not trying to bed a vegan. I can’t imagine she’d feel good about the fact that you used to eat people if she doesn’t even eat cows or pigs.”

  “Stay away from her, Cassia,” Iro warned.

  “So, you’re here not just for work?” Cassia asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring Iro’s posture.

  “I am here for work. I just had a work meeting. It was horrible, and I’m tired and want to go home.”

  “I’ve watched you from afar, circling this block twice. But you’re tired and heading home? Why are you lying to me, Iro? We don’t lie to each other. It’s always worked between us because we’re perfectly honest all the time. I know you like these breaks in our relationship. You explore things. I do the same, just differently. God, the women I’ve been with since you left me this time…” Cassia looked skyward. “The sex has been exquisite.”

  “Sounds like you should be perfectly content for a while longer, then.”

  “I’ll have no problem managing my own contentment, but, darling, I love you, and you love me. We always find our way back to each other. All I’m asking is that we shorten this little break of yours, and maybe you take another one in another ten years or something. Maybe twenty. If you want, I’ll even go back to traveling with you. We don’t have to remain in Florence. I’ll book us on a trip around the world. Whatever makes you happy, my love.”

  “Not yet, Cassia.”

  “Not yet? Why not? I’m conceding here, Iro. I’m giving in to all your demands. Are there more? I’ve already offered not to feed on humans, even the willing ones, and to try your horrible pig-and-cow diet. Just please don’t make me eat squirrels and rabbits.” She cringed.

  “Cassia, I’m dating someone right now.”

  “Yes, I’m aware. Dump her. It’s early. What has it been, one whole date? She’ll be fine. She’ll move on. She’ll probably meet someone who wants her even more than you, apparently, do right now, to be denying me what you know we both want.”

  “I don’t want it,” Iro insisted.

  “Now, because of this silly human. But give it a month, Iro. You’ll be back in my arms, and we’ll sip champagne off our bodies before we deliver them more pleasure.”

  “Cassia, I don’t want that.”

  “Don’t want what?”

  “I don’t want to get back together again. Don’t you see? I haven’t wanted that for the longest time. Haven’t you noticed that I’ve wanted more breaks, and longer ones, for the past several decades?”

  “You like different things than I do, and we’re going to live forever, my love. I’ve been very understanding and very patient with you and your little adventures, Iro, but I’m losing patience right now.”

  “I don’t need your patience, Cassia. I need you to go.”

  “Why? Because of this woman?”

  “Yes, because of her. I want to be with her.”

  “It’s brand-new, Iro.”

  “I know. And I want to see where it goes. I don’t want to have you waiting. I want to be with her without having a backup plan if it doesn’t work.”

  “Backup plan? Centuries together, and I’m the backup plan now because you met a pretty girl and she’s smitten?”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Iro said.

  “I gave you the gift of eternal life, Iro.”

  “I didn’t ask you to!” Iro argued a little louder than she had intended. “I didn’t ask you to, Cassia. I had just lost the woman I loved, and I was drunk because you kept feeding me drinks in your fancy house that I didn’t know you had stolen from someone you’d killed.”

  “I asked you, Iro,” Cassia argued back. “I gave you the choice.”

  “Yes, but I was heartbroken, and drunk, and had nothing else. I–”

  “Your father only let you be unmarried because he had you taking care of that house. He hadn’t wanted a wife to deal with, even though he thought of having a son all day, every day. Did you know that he frequented prostitutes? After I met you in that pub, I followed him. He went somewhere with one, and he fucked her for as long as his money would allow, Iro. After you turned, I kept an eye on him until we left. He was a horrible man. He was not nice to you, but he was worse to the women he bedded. One of those women got pregnant, and he–” Cassia paused. “Well, then she wasn’t.”

  “What are you talking about?” Iro asked on a swallow.

  “You were already too old to be unmarried and not in a religious order, so it was either you turn, you flee on your own and try to support yourself, or you let him marry you off to get a dowry. Those were your options. I gave them to you that day. You chose this.”

  “You’re rewriting history. I was so drunk, I passed out, and when I woke up, I was a vampire.”

  “You woke up beautiful and healthy. That horrible man hardly let you eat, but then, you were healthy, despite the fact that, as a human, you were sick and didn’t even know about it. I saved you from a horrible future, Iro.”

  “I would’ve just killed myself,” Iro spat back. “I’d lost Mary. My father was a miserable man. I didn’t want to live. The only thing keeping me from doing that was my sisters, but then, I lost all of them, too. I would’ve just died.”

  “No one is stopping you now,” Cassia suggested. “One silver stake to your heart, and you can find Mary in that eternal life you spent that whole night talking to me about before I turned you. You have lived this long knowing you could end it at any time, and you haven’t, because you don’t want Mary anymore. You wanted me from that day forward, and you still do.”

  Iro took a deep breath and replied, “No, I don’t.”

  “Be careful, Iro… You’ve never angered me before; not really. Don’t start now.”

  “If you want to kill me, do it, Cassia. I am not coming back to you.”

  “What happens when this new plaything dies, Iro? She’s human. And once she finds out what you are, she won’t want anything to do with you. You have never gotten serious with another woman before. Eventually, you’d have to tell her, and she would be a risk. You know what we do when there are risks, Irabella.”