“Do we have a problem?” What in the world could she be mad at? We’d fucked and then slept and somehow in between I’d done something to offend her?
“Why would we have a problem?” She turned around to face me. Her mascara had smeared across her cheek. Her eyelashes looked like angry spiders.
I sat down on the bed. “I really have no idea. Everything was fine when we went to sleep.”
Vivica inhaled sharply. “Oh, it was? Well, then I guess that explains it.”
What in the hell was this woman on? I dug through the pillowcases to find my bra. I spotted it stuck halfway between the bed and the wall. Reaching out to grab the lace, I stretched as far as I could. Aha. Snagged it. I stood up pulled up my dress. Turning my bra around backwards, I began to fiddle with the closures. Snap, snap, snap. Wiggling it back around and putting each arm through the hole, I stared at her. It’s not easy to be huffy while putting on a bra for large chests, but I managed. “I didn’t do anything. Oh, except make you cum a whole bunch of times.”
“What happened afterwards?”
Afterwards? We went to sleep. “You mean while I was asleep?”
“Before you fell asleep.”
There was something in between us fucking and sleeping? “Did I not cuddle you properly or something. I’m not much of a cuddler, especially while I sleep. It makes me too hot.”
“You called me Maya!”
I what? “No, I didn’t!”
She threw her mascara down on the ground. The pink top bounced a few times and rolled away. Black goop spilled out onto the carpet. Whoever is going to clean our room is going to hate us. Tears sprung to her eyes. “You said it clear as day. Good night Maya. And then you rolled over and fell asleep.”
Ah fuck. “Are you seriously going to get angry at me for this? I’ve been lying next to Maya at night for years. It’s a force of habit, that’s all. It’s not like I thought you were her.”
“You think I’m jealous? Ugh. I feel bad for her. The poor woman’s sitting at home waiting for you. And you’re here having the time of your life.”
“You think this is fun? All we’ve done so far is trek through the woods, have a foursome, and listen to a sob story about tribal history. I don’t know if you see what we’re doing, but it isn’t just fun. We’re performing a selfless duty. Giving our bodies to a cause.”
“You’re so full of shit. That isn’t why you came here. You came here so you could run away from your relationship and your life and have an excuse to cheat. That way you won’t have to deal with whatever mess you’ve got going on inside there.”
Vivica was close to me now and stabbing me in the chest with her pointer finger. Spittle flew from her mouth and her face and neck were beet red. Was all this venom she was spewing about me? Did she really feel this way? I asked the Goddess and she answered. That man appeared right after I communed with the Goddess. It had nothing to do with me. Coincidences like that do not happen. It had to be connected. This is my destiny.
“And you’re throwing yourself at Arkan. That poor man’s been through enough. The last thing he needs is some young witch breaking his heart.” Well that was probably true. My attraction and desire to please Arkan was out of character. I couldn’t explain that. But, I mean becoming a breeder meant I was by definition going to be taking a whole lot of dick soon. And besides where did she get off acting all high and mighty?
“Says the human that ran away from home to breed with shape shifters. You’re the weakest link in here. How do you explain that? You’re putting your life at risk to be here. Those shape shifter babies are going to tear you apart. If their daddies don’t get to it first.” I stepped forward with enough authority to cause her to retreat. She shrank back a bit.
“We’re all putting our lives at risk here. That’s the whole point. We’re doing something brave.”
Her lower lip began to quiver. Brave? Was all of this because she was afraid? I put my hand on her shoulder. She brushed it off with her hand. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her before she could stop me. Vivica struggled for a few seconds, but I just grabbed tighter. After a few seconds, she melted into my embrace.
“I’m being a twat, aren’t I?”
“A little but it’s okay. Probably shouldn’t have called you by my live-in girlfriends name right after your tongue was in my mouth.”
“My tongue was in worse places.” We both burst into giggles.
“What’s really bothering you?” Not that I needed any more emotional baggage.
“I’m nervous about today. All of the tryouts really. I really mean it when I say I can’t go back to my old life. Only two days here and I already feel more like myself than I ever have. Like, I was wearing a mask all this time and I never even realized it. Born into the wrong era, or location, or something.”
“What, they don’t have lovers where you’re from?”
Vivica chuckled. “Everything is really under cover there. There is only one right path. One man. One woman. Marriage. Babies. Repeat. There’s no other way.”
I’d heard that human clans could be quite judgmental, but I always thought it was overblown by outsiders.
“Well, you’re here now.” Great. Super helpful. State the obvious.