As she kneels before me, her aura is still shaking with orgasm. She takes me in her mouth, full of passion and gratitude. She’s not used to her pleasure taking precedence, but if she’s going to sleep with her last client, at least it should be satisfying. With her eyes closed, she surrenders to the sensation. She must have learned how to fake devotion, but this is real. And it’s only for me. How naive… She has no idea that this time she will pay… with her life.
I grab her black hair, holding her still as I come. I feel her swallow.
I kneel beside her to kiss her. A salty taste on my tongue.
I open my teeth, my hair braiding over her protesting body. The willing infatuation has only lasted so far… The white strands draw blood from her agitated, writhing limbs.
I’m caught up in the rapture, filled with her energy, that is vibrating with terror.
I close her eyes and lower the dried body onto the carpet.
Thank you.
Blood drips from my hair, disgust makes me shudder.
I go into the bathroom, where Jev has already prepared a bath. How nice of her… but I don’t feel like soaking in bloody water. Tempting as it is, I’ll take a shower first. I turn on the faucet, the warm water hitting my head, cleansing me of her sweet perfume and death alike.
I hear a clatter from the room. Jev is spreading out the plastic sheeting. Soon the sound of a meat cleaver comes in. Tearing flesh, breaking bones…
I concentrate on the splash of the shower.
The dragons and the zero-waste lifestyle…
“When you kill her, let’s honor her by using up everything we can.” And I agree, as long as he does the dirty work. I just have to process it in the kitchen after Jev bleeds it out. It’s just like any other meat. The cats are happy for the trimmings, too. For some reason, though, I’m relieved that Talia won’t die in my apartment; for her, cremation is the only option, so no other predators will feed on her body. Jev’s flames consume even the bones, unless our interests dictate otherwise. We always try to leave a trail so the authorities don’t have to investigate any further than necessary. Undercover agents take care of the outcome of the case – properly planted evidence helps, while complications are… costly.
I turn off the faucet and step into the steaming bath.
Hot and intoxicating.
Chop-chop… Fast and rhythmic. Powerful and effective, as befits a dragon.
I dive down, my ear canal fills with water, the noise becomes muffled. Soothing, like a protective shell. I stay under for a long time. It’s a blessing that for me breathing is just an automatic function to fool people. But if I sleep too deeply I stop breathing and… I smile unintentionally as I remember how many roommates I have scared to death with this in my life.
When I hear the sound of packing, I sit up, air rushing into my lungs. I rub my face, my hair crawling to the edge of the tub before I lean back.
Jev enters naked, in the female form I first met her in all those years ago. Her long, wavy hair cascades down her back, her breasts round and firm, her waist slender. She is completely ordinary, yet aesthetic. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that she washed off the blood in the kitchen. My loin begins to throb again.
“Thank you for preparing the water, it’s nice of you.”
“I must admit that I did not do it without an ulterior motive.”
She steps into the tub, kneels between my legs, her graceful fingers entwining me.
She craves me more and more these days… And she wants to make me feel good during it.
“So tell me,” she hums, with an aroused tone, “when do you plan to take her back to the locked section?”
“Her?”
“The girl you’re after! She’s got some really wild scenes in her head at night…”
My body freezing in the hot water, my erection is fading as if drained of blood.
“Jev… She’s wearing my nose!”
“Yes, I saw it. All the more desirable.”
So that’s why she goes out at nights… I pull away from her and she raises an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong now?”
I sigh, resting my elbow on the edge of the tub. Even the memory of that day makes me shudder, but I recall it. As our feet collide under the table, she pushes up her glasses… And the world turns on its heel. I let the freshly seeped memories settle into her, but her smile is unshakable. After a few moments I break the silence:
“Put yourself in my place: you’re facing someone who wears your nose, smiles the same way, crosses their legs the same way when they get horny in public, and their aura is just as fierce as yours.”
“Okay,” she leans back, closes her almond-shaped eyes, “I’m imagining a handsome, beautiful, blue-and-white transforming dragon. His manners are overwhelming, and he enjoys getting into the skin of lesser life forms as much as I do. He also has a bucket list, even a diary…”
She laughs. With a gleeful lasciviousness that I would find attractive in any other circumstance.
“Nope, sorry I can’t. There’s only one of me.”
Of course, the burden of dragon-kind. How could she understand? She’s been in so many bodies over millions of years that she can’t even remember her own face…
“Hey!” she snaps, offended.
“What’s wrong now?” I quote innocently.
Tears well up in her blue eyes and I immediately regret having said or thought such things. I brush a tear from the corner of her eye with my hair before it runs down her cheek.
“I’m sorry. I really am. But to me, what I experience with this girl every day is just as despicable as your… stuff.” I hold her fist in my hand. It takes a few seconds for her cramped fingers to relax.
“So if you didn’t plan on bringing her up here, how are you going to kill her?” She’s changing the subject, but her voice is thick with suppressed emotion.
“It’s her birthday this week; I’m taking her on a trip this weekend.”
“Good,” her tight shoulders finally start to loosen.
“This is a complicated case. But it will end soon.”
“Still… that the cake was delicious…” she sighs. “If you’d taught her a bit, she could have surpassed you in the kitchen one day.”
“I don’t think you’d mind if I cook on my own,” I smile.
“You could make an exception once in a while…”
“You’d just make a mess.”
“I love chaos,” her hand wanders between my legs again. She knows exactly where and how to touch me to arouse my desire, still…
“…I’m not sure it’s going to happen again anytime soon.”
“We’re lucky we have time,” she says in Lili’s voice, pale blue freckles appearing on her white skin.
No… don’t do that…! Don’t you dare…! My hair waves around me in irritation.
I want to push her away, to protest, but I’m paralyzed by desire pulsing with pain.
All these years have passed in vain, I miss her too much.
How can I ever move on, forget? I can’t.
Maybe I don’t want to.
I reach for the light switch with my hair and turn it off.
I can hear her as she dives under the water. I focus on her mouth, her hands. The same fingers, the same lips, the same movements. The past is sweeping over me. With every little detail…
I try not to think that the reason she can stay down without air for so long is because she’s grown gills.