LIFESTYLE CHANGES

© Elliott Kay 2019

LATE SEPTEMBER

MONDAY

He looked at his phone before getting out of bed, which was always a mistake.

It hadn’t happened for a couple of weeks. The recent sharp, wild turns of his life disrupted so many habits. For the first time since the turns began, he woke up alone.

New bed. New bedroom. New home. Blearily, he reached for one bit of forgotten routine and the steps fell into place: wake up, look at the world, get mad before even getting dressed. The old clock radio with the insipid morning DJ was gone, so at least he didn’t wake up to that. His phone didn’t deliver another asshole with a gun and a body count or something else fucked up in the news.

Instead, it was personal.

“The first couple jokes were funny but this is getting old fast,” Alex typed into the chat program. He only had to delete and re-type four times. Morning fingers. “I don’t poke at anyone else over their bf or gf.”

Carrie is typing, read the pop-up text under his post, and then he saw it: “Most of us only have one.” Perhaps to soften the jab, she followed it with a winking emoji, but laughing faces blinked into view after it. Other responses were already incoming.

“Surprised you’re even talking to us now,” said Chang.

“Yeah, why are you banging away on your phone when you have 2 gfs?” wrote Robbie.

“Phrasing,” wrote Nicole. And Chang. And Carrie. And Drew.

Great. Now Drew’s on, thought Alex. A pop-up warned of Jason typing. He held off in case Jason was about to apologize for being a little too informative with their other friends about his new relationship status. One teasing reference was fine; four in a week apparently left more than enough of a trail for Carrie to pick up.

“Phrasing is so old, guys,” Jason posted.

“OK, you realize this means twice the usual relationship stuff, right?” Alex typed. “More than twice. It’s all the talking and listening for every person and then more to make sure it works for everyone.” He hit send, then responded directly to the crack that got him irritated in the first place: “We aren’t ‘fucking every possible minute.’ WTF.”

White fabric smacked into his face. He blinked, twitched, and found the garment in his hands over his lap. Lace edging decorated the panties now covering his phone.

“I see you there lying about me,” Rachel taunted from the doorway.

He hadn’t noticed the faint glow around the room when she arrived, but he noticed everything about her now: the sparkle in her blue eyes, the ethereal glow of the halo surrounding her blonde hair, the wings, that playful grin undermining her innocent image, and—right now especially—her lithe figure. Rachel’s dress was a variation on a consistent theme for her, tending always to short, white, and flattering.

The hem of that dress rode slightly bunched up at one side, revealing much more slender leg than usual. The explanation covered his hands.

He’d touched them before, of course, but he’d never stopped to look at them. They felt like silk but better somehow. “What are these made out of, anyway?” he asked. “Does someone do lacework in Heaven? Do you make them yourself? Is there a store?”

“Don’t try to change the subject.”

“These are legitimate questions.”

“I’ve got more than those. You want to keep ‘em for a thorough examination?” she teased.

Alex glanced down at again without thinking, but his mind caught up with his reactions a heartbeat later. “I really shouldn’t be turned on by that.”

“You’re more about the intimacy than the fetish.” Rachel’s wings and halo faded out as she came up onto the big bed, soon face to face with her knees tucked under herself. “You don’t really want to keep my lingerie. But you know I’d be all about it if you did. It’s the acceptance and enabling that gets your feelings mushy and your junk hard.

“That’s the only psychoanalysis freebie I’m giving out today. You have to work out the rest of this yourself.”

“The rest?” Alex wondered.

She slid her panties off his fingers and nudged his phone. “Why are you lying about me?”

“I can’t tell them the truth about you.” He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go with this. He didn’t question how she knew what he wrote from across the room. She saw things in people. It was an angel thing. “You said too many people know the truth already.”

“Fuck all that bullshit.” Her flirty grin kept doing things to his emotions, and his body. So did everything else about her. “I’m talking about you.”

“I’m lying to myself?”

“Aren’t you?”

Alex looked down at his phone. Everything he said about communication was real. Here they were again. If that wasn’t bullshit... “We aren’t fucking every possible minute,” he said.

“We’re not?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. “Not literally.”

“Literal isn’t the point.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond, but his heartbeat had a lot to say. So did other parts of his body. He reacted to her voice, her smile, and her piercing words. She did things to him.

Rachel gently poked his chest. “Sexual awakening plus a succubus curse.” She tapped her own chest. “Thousands of years of pent-up horny loneliness.” She gestured to the bathroom. “Genuine sex demon. We fuck a lot.”

“Yeah.” He swallowed hard. She knew how much she was turning him on, but she wanted answers, too.

She tapped his phone with her fingernail. “Why are you lying to yourself, then? About us?”

“I don’t want that to be all there is,” he answered slowly. His eyes returned to hers to find a raised eyebrow and a grin. “I don’t ever want to take it for granted or ignore the rest. Or make you think I do.”

“Not in a million years. That’s not who you are. That’s not who any of us are. It’s why we’re in love. All three of us. And it’s also why there’s so much fucking.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed.

“So with that settled,” she said, “what do you want to do right now?”

Alex caught her with a kiss, but his mind was on more than her welcoming mouth. His hands slid up her thighs, fingers catching under the hem of her dress to push it upward along with his caress. She pulled away the sheets from his waist as he reached her hips. Alex pulled Rachel’s dress up and over as she leaned back, arms up to accommodate him.

The kiss parted to get the dress over her head and away. Fully uncovered now, the pause held as they looked at one another’s bodies. Rachel’s fingers ran down his chest and his abs. He was lean as always, but recent changes left him with definition and tone. It was hardly the only thing she liked about his body. She wasn’t shy about any of it.

Alex could touch only her arms and her sides while she reached out directly with her roaming hands, but he could still see. Clothed, she made his heart ache. Naked, she threatened to stop it entirely. It happened every time. His need for her soared, leaving him almost shaking.

“How long can you stay?” he murmured.

“Never know for sure.” Her voice shook like his. “Always some fuckery around the corner. I think I’ve got time, but what if I’m wrong?” One hand closed around the hardened shaft between them as if he wasn’t turned on out of his mind already. “Only so many possible minutes.”

He kissed her harder, hungrier, both of them rising up on their knees to press together. Her stroking hand made it impossible to continue that for long. Alex pushed Rachel onto her back. Spread legs welcomed him to settle in over her, one hand guiding his cock. Relentless first penetration sank ever deeper. She writhed and moaned in delight with him fully sheathed.

“Ooh fuck yes, I love it,” she declared. Alex withdrew enough to fuck her slowly, kissing her neck. “Wow. Babe. Why do we talk so much?”

“I dunno,” he breathed. The grind was irresistible. So was her appreciation. “Fucked up priorities, I guess.”

“Right? Unh. Lover. More. All morning, I hope. Fuck.”

He leaned back, thrusting indulgently, but still slow. “All morning? You think?”

“Mnh, yeah. All the bases are covered,” Rachel confessed. “Sometimes I want this.”

“Sometimes?” he grinned.

“Literally...all the...fuckin’ time. Mmnh. What’re you doing?”

“Looking at you,” he said. “I love looking at you like this.”

Rachel’s eyes fluttered under his continued thrusts. She had little else to say until his thumb stroked the wet skin between her legs. Then she squirmed and moaned even more.

Movement to one side drew his attention. Lorelei leaned one knee on the bed, fully dressed—business casual this time, but arresting as always. “I’m off to interview with the conservatory,” she said in a soft, sultry voice. “This should be only a formality, but if you would continue to empower me until I’m finished, I’ll be carnally grateful.”

The angel looked up at her with an unspoken word on her lips. Lorelei smothered it with a deep kiss, lingering only to give the same to Alex. Her lovers watched her saunter out of the bedroom without another word.

Alex thought about checking the time on his phone, but it was out of reach. He couldn’t take his eyes off the angel in bed with him, anyway—and he could cut a class or two once in a while. As long as it didn’t become a habit.

Often.

TUESDAY

He patted himself down one last time before leaving the bedroom. Keys, wallet, phone. Cool. Alex headed out looking sharp and even a couple minutes ahead of schedule for once, a result of some determined focus and a little overcompensation.

Empty boxes still littered the hallway, the kitchen, and the empty dining area. Not all of the furniture had arrived yet. They were still living on delivery and take-out. Transitional, but happy. He crossed over toward the foyer for his jacket and helmet, looking back to the mostly-settled living room in search of a goodbye. “Hey, I’m out...wow.”

That swell of happiness at domestic comfort turned to a swell of other feelings.

Lorelei reclined on one couch with a book in hand. Nothing covered her but for the black silk robe draped over her shoulders and arms, which she left wide open in the middle. She seemed almost posed for a photograph. Her body arrested his mind and his eyes, dragging his gaze up her long and perfect legs to the breathtaking allure of her bared waist, her glamour model figure, breasts Taylor called ‘unfair,’ and then the face he fell in love with every time he saw her.

It hadn’t been twenty minutes since he got in the shower. She woke him with indulgence again this morning, riding him in the darkness for pure mutual satisfaction. They’d made love through much of the night before, too. None of it mitigated his reaction to the sight of her nude on the couch.

She smiled back at him, saying nothing as if to graciously give him the moment. She knew. She always knew.

He walked to her without conscious thought. “God, you’re beautiful.”

“Thank you,” said Lorelei. She put the book down, but otherwise didn’t break her pose. “You drive me to distraction yourself.”

A faint grin played at his lips. Humor didn’t break his rapture. “Nah. I don’t even compare.”

“I would argue, but your humility sometimes enhances your charm.”

“Sometimes?”

“Yes. I’m also thrilled when you cast it aside. Your range is wonderful,” she teased. “You have another thought on your tongue.”

“Hard to think of much when I see you like this.”

“No apologies for that.”

“Good.” He kept staring, knowing she loved it. That slowly got his thoughts moving on the track again. “Is this...coincidence, or do you want me to stay?”

Her smile spread nearly to laughter, but not at his expense. “Both, love. You like seeing me like this.”

“Yeah,” he said, though it wasn’t a question.

“Your desires feed me and please me. But no, this is not a lover’s trap. I have no need to leave today. I likely won’t get dressed for hours. Perhaps not even before you get home, or after.” She winked softly. “By then it certainly will be a trap.”

“It’s just that you’re kind of posing,” he said. “You’re laid out like a photo shoot. I don’t know if that’s for you or for me.”

“Consciously neither, but happily both. Do I want you to stay? Yes. Always. But the rest of your mortal life helps us both temper the obsession. Perhaps it makes the rest that much better.”

“Perhaps?”

“I think we’re both being a little too careful, and I might resent looking on the bright side of that,” she confessed.

He laughed a little. ‘What if we have too much sex?’ really was the best problem. Yet those desires were also real. His kept growing. “Right. I’ll be straight home after work. I only asked because I didn’t want ignore you, but I didn’t want to assume, either.”

She tilted her head with a new thought before sitting upright. Even that shift was like another display—long black hair brushed over her shoulders, knees together and directed at him, chest out, all a completely unrehearsed, perfectly executed softcore performance. Her eyes flicked up to him as if to acknowledge his appreciation.

“And as I wait for the conservatory and our remaining deliveries, you’re worried I’ll be bored and lonely at home without you?” She grinned. “Or are you wondering how I’ll pass the time?”

“Sure you can take care of yourself, but it crossed my mind.”

Without breaking eye contact, she picked up the remote for the flat screen newly mounted on the wall. Alex didn’t look away from Lorelei until he heard the volume slowly rise.

Feminine breathing came from the speakers. Breathing, and then moaning, and soft, rhythmic slaps. She was young and dark-haired, wearing only thigh-high stockings and heels, bent over a countertop with a man taking her from behind. Another woman loomed in the doorway beyond the pair as if unknown to them, watching with one hand in her pants.

Alex had instant thoughts about the movie and even recognized one face, but details outside the screen were more important. This was already running when Lorelei turned it on. The quality was good, too.

Fingers stroked his hip, and soon his groin. “You needed more sleep last night,” said Lorelei. “I had some time on my hands.”

“Is this a subscription?” he wondered.

“One of seven so far,” she said. Alex found her grinning when he blinked and looked back at her. “So much of this whole genre is terrible, I’ll admit, but I love it all. From the artistic to the coarse. The ability to create all this is criminally underappreciated.”

“You’re going to stay home and watch porn?” Alex blinked.

“Depending on how the mood takes me. I may go out for a bit, or you may come home to find me right where you leave me. I looked forward to sharing this with you, love. I’ve nothing to hide from you.”

Lorelei stood. Matching Alex in height, she came in close, her hands gently tracing his sides as her breath fell on his lips. “My lust is immortal, Alex. Music, the conservatory—those are all hobbies. I cherish them, but this is my calling. In thousands of years, I have never had enough. My fascination has never waned. This is who I am...and it means so much that I can share it all with you.

“I want nothing and no one as much as I want you and Rachel. For you, everything is an offer, whether made consciously or not. I told you my body will always invite yours, and we will never tire of each other. I keep telling you this not because you don’t believe, but because you do...and because you like hearing it so much.”

She knew what she was doing to him. Of course she did. The sounds of sex from the TV put an extra edge on his desires as if taunting him, or perhaps enabling.

“You have to be at work soon,” she whispered. “Eight whole hours, more with lunch and the commute.” Her fingers slipped up to his belt and the zipper of his slacks. “Can I help you get through your day?”

He trembled. She smelled so good. Felt so good. “Yes.”

Alex gently pushed her back. Surprised, Lorelei let out an uncharacteristic yelp, but she even made falling back onto a couch look sexy. She understood everything as soon as Alex settled to his knees in front of her.

“Ooh, love,” she breathed. His caress parted her thighs and gave her a shiver. “This wasn’t what either of us had in mind,” she challenged with a crooked grin.

“You’re the one with the immortal lust.” His touch ran inward, around the back of her thighs, then pulled her forward on the couch for better access. “Gotta deal with that all day. I’ve at least got work to distract me.”

Alex kissed his way down one leg, neither slowly nor fast. For all her experience and power, Lorelei enjoyed with as much sensitivity as any mortal—or more. She shook at the first touch of his tongue near her damp center, not even yet against her sex, and let out a louder moan with his first probing lick against her lips. Her scent intoxicated him as always. The taste of her took him further into arousal, but he kept his wits.

Her remark about casting aside his humility was a good one, but he’d always been a self-aware sort. “I don’t have long,” he warned softly.

“Of course,” said Lorelei. Then he made her moan again, this time adding his fingers to the work of his mouth. Matters only intensified from there.

Lorelei ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him in closer as he kissed and probed. Her breath deepened. Her eyes tilted upward, lids fluttering until they closed. She grew hot as she enjoyed him.

“Unh!” The first ever-so-gentle lick against her clit sent a jolt through her whole body. She sank back and surrendered as his attention escalated. It was faster than either of them would have liked, but satisfaction before he left was more of a gift than she expected.

“Alex,” she breathed. “Have I told you... doing this... is... dangerous... for anyone else?”

“How dangerous?”

“Addictive. Many would never... want to stop,” she told him. “And would give... anything... for more.”

His tongue laved her with long indulgence, threatening to split her mind. Fingers penetrated her, curving perfectly as he knew just where to go. “Feels pretty dangerous to me, too.”

She groaned and sank into his service, knowing climax was not far off. She was every bit as much at his mercy as Alex was at hers.

WEDNESDAY

“You’re hardly ignoring me, love. I’m right here beside you.”

“Yeah, but I’m not exactly paying attention to you.”

“I feel your desires. They tell me differently.”

“Fucking little bitch, I’m dead again! Are you even playing this fucking game?” The voice from the speakers drowned out every other sound effect as Alex sent his character through gunfire and explosions to heal another player.

“There are also other hints of your attentions,” teased the woman curled up against his side.

Alex let out a sigh. “It’s his fault for charging off to nowhere. I’m doing my job.” Then he dropped on the screen from a single hit. Too late, another character warned, “Sniper!”

“Also I never claimed to be awesome at this,” Alex grumbled. On the screen, he cycled through death and respawn, but his eyes turned immediately to his right. Lorelei cuddled against him with her black silk robe closed this time in good-natured support of his focus. Even that left him hyper aware of what awaited beneath.

She stole a kiss against his neck. Her hand wandered his body, running down his bare chest to the waistband of his flannel pajama pants. Even without active seduction, the nearness of her and her open affection was a luxury.

Rain poured down against the windows and the sliding door to their thin balcony. Lights in the living room were dim, with the fireplace providing more ambience than warmth. The colorful and frenetic game on the screen only spoiled the atmosphere of comfort and seclusion when one of the players spoke. Thankfully, it wasn’t often.

“You are at least a couple of weeks out of practice,” Lorelei conceded. “Life has brought so many distractions.”

“More like the game is the distraction,” he confessed. “A couple warm-up matches is all good but I’d feel better about my choices if my friends would log on. Staying connected to people was the whole point of this.”

“You enjoy the game in itself.”

“That’s true.” Respawned again, Alex guided his character back toward the fight. “It’s nice to veg out a bit. I wanted to come home right after my last class, but I knew if I didn’t get one of those assignments done I’d just get distracted again and be a bundle of stress all night. Still got more to do, but at some point I needed a break from the stress.”

“Ah. Is that what I felt earlier?”

“Hm?”

“We didn’t exactly slump into the couch the moment we were both at home.” Lorelei’s smile carried through in her voice. “Lust, release, relief...and I tasted a slight bit of resentment amid your passion at the beginning.”

“Whoa, that wasn’t anything about you,” Alex began.

“I loved it,” Lorelei whispered into his ear. “You don’t need to explain. I understand. If I was hurt, I would tell you in the moment. I never doubt your love. I want the rest of you, too. Let me take all of your stress and all of your frustrations. Especially when you give them up like that.”

He made it back to the fight. Gunshots flew in every direction. He looked for a teammate to heal, but he also felt a hand at his groin.

“I would indulge you in every dark pleasure you desire,” said Lorelei.

“You’re, um, indulging me in a lot right now,” he replied. Tremors from his inner thigh to his crotch didn’t make finessing the controls any easier.

“Oh, I know exactly what decadence to provide while you play this game.” She grinned as his eyes widened and his breath caught. “Maybe not tonight, but I doubt I’ll watch often. I have other ways of sharing this time with you.”

His eyes were wide. Too good to be true, but then, it would hardly be the first time.

The game bleeped loudly. His character fell to the floor.

“Aw, again? Just quit playing this game already,” complained the angry teammate. “God, this is the worst. Why do you even play?”

“One wonders, with fully-grown brats on your team,” Lorelei muttered.

“I dunno. Something about being social with friends or some nonsense.” Alex was happy to turn his attention back into the shrinking space between them. That brought his eyes in the direction of the balcony. “Wow, it’s really coming down out there now,” he said—and then noticed a new arrival.

Rachel spun and landed with a stable but graceless stomp, her back to the door and her body soaking wet from head to toe. Her wings spread out of view to either side of the door and beat once, then folded and faded out of sight. She leaned on the balcony, head tilted back to welcome the rain in a posture of weary relief.

Her dress clung to her body with an unusual tinge of green. Rachel slid one hand down her arm, then the other, as if slicking something off—and then unceremoniously pulled her dress up over her shoulders, leaving her only in soaking wet panties. She wrung the dress once before slapping it down onto the balcony.

“Wow,” Alex breathed. He felt bad for being so mesmerized, recognizing the foul mood in her body language, but that body was still right in front of him.

“Yes,” said Lorelei.

“I shouldn’t be staring. She looks like she’s had a rough day.”

“Feel no guilt,” said Lorelei, also staring. “Whether or not she knows we see her, she enjoys our lust as a comfort. She knows us.”

Rachel ran her hands through tangled hair, let it fall against her back and then wrung it out. As if it only then occurred to her, she stripped out of her remaining garment, too, throwing it on top of the dress at her feet.

Alex thought idly of how no one else could see her. Then he remembered that wasn’t entirely true. “Hey if there are other angels looking this way, would they see? Does she not care?”

“Probably not. Let them choke on their desires if they are watching,” said Lorelei.

“Feel like I might,” Alex admitted.

“We all feel that way about one another.” She leaned her head back into his shoulder. “You know that, don’t you?”

He slipped an arm around her. “Thank you for saying so.”

“It’s the truth. You’ll hear it more often.”

“Hey, have you respawned yet?” asked a teammate. “Are you playing? Where the fuck are you?” Alex glanced at the screen only long enough to mute the channel.

After rubbing herself down in the rain, Rachel shook herself and passed intangibly through the glass, stopping to drip on the doormat.

“Fucking squiddy demons,” she said, and then pointed irritably out the window. “Stupid, fuck-ugly squiddies, right on the fucking waterfront. It’s filthy. Do you know what kind of chemical garbage shit is in that water? Bullshit mortals just put in there? And then all the demon squid piss and dead shit? It’s fucking gross!”

“I can only imagine,” said Lorelei.

“Yeah,” said Alex. “You don’t look like you carried it out with you.”

“I didn’t. I burned out the squiddies and their garbage and that stuff doesn’t stick to angels anyway, but I still feel gross. I need a shower. Angels aren’t supposed to need showers, but you know what? Fuck it, I live here. I’m showering.”

“Can we help you?” he asked.

“What, shower?” Her shoulders sank, some of her anger melting at his words. “Would you? I had the dumbest day and I’m all tense and I’d love it if you’d fuck it out of me.”

“Say no more,” said Lorelei. She rose from the couch.

“Hey, Alex, we’re here,” said a voice from the speakers. He glanced only once to find his friend group icon instead of the team chat on the screen. “Everyone else is logging on. Soon as you cycle out of your game, we can go.”

Alex stood, hitting the mic on the controller for only a brief reply: “Sorry, gotta log off, maybe next time.” With that, he killed the power and tossed the controller on the couch.

Rachel and Lorelei watched him, but only one showed any surprise. “Didn’t you plan that game all week?” Rachel asked.

“Whatever. You had a rough day and you want stress sex? I know my priorities.”

THURSDAY

Nothing stirred in the darkness. No sound broke the silence, no lights or motion. Alex looked to one each side of the big bed and found himself alone. He had no idea why he had awakened.

Damn it. I’ve got work in the morning. Gonna have to steal some time to finish that other assignment, too...assuming I’m not brain dead. Need to get back to sleep. God, I’ve got so much shit to do.

What time is it? No, better off not knowing. Whatever. He rolled onto his side, turned over the pillow, and closed his eyes.

Waiting to drift off, Alex realized he might fall asleep easier if he hit the bathroom first. He didn’t turn on lights, feeling his way around instead, thankfully not knocking anything over. On his way out again, the water from the sink only woke him up a little more as he washed up. Go back to sleep, he told himself. It’s fine. Whatever.

A sob from the hallway stopped him as he reached the edge of the bed. He heard a second in quick succession. Through the open door, he thought he saw a faint shimmer of light against the hallway walls. Rachel?

He paused to feel around for the flannel pajama pants at the foot of the bed, but gave up on it after only a couple of seconds. They both kept pulling his clothes off, anyway. At some point he should probably get comfortable being naked at home. It wasn’t like his lovers had the slightest inhibitions about it.

Out in the hallway, he felt surer about the light being Rachel’s even if it was dim. He knew it was her voice, too, still only in sobs and gasps. Presumably Lorelei was with her, but if so she said nothing. Alex followed the light out of the hallway wondering what could be wrong...and then felt silly for worrying.

Rachel lay on her back on the kitchen’s island counter, thighs up and parted, one hand over her mouth as she sobbed again. Between those slender legs, Lorelei’s bowed head slowly moved and nudged. She claimed one of Rachel’s breasts with a soft, sensuous grip. Motion from one bared shoulder suggested the other hand was exactly where Alex thought it was.

“Mhmh! Fuck!” Rachel moaned. Her hand muffled her voice, but now Alex knew who had woken him up.

They were beautiful together, loving and dirty. They could’ve zonked him out with magic and taken up half the bed, or gone for any of the couches, but here they were at the kitchen counter. One of them on the kitchen counter. The dynamic spoke volumes about their relationship.

Hot as it was, Alex decided to leave them alone. As a trio of lovers, they shared freely and loved being together. Even so, each pairing needed their own intimacy.

He was turning away when Lorelei looked up from between Rachel’s legs. She beckoned him over with a gesture. Alex hadn’t made a sound, but Lorelei always felt his desires. He couldn’t see them like this and feel anything else.

The view got so much better as he rounded the island counter. Lorelei stood naked, working and manipulating their lover. Rachel’s dress was bunched up over her waist and off her shoulders. She looked up at him in vulnerability, a touch of shame, and far too much helpless pleasure to act on either.

He knew any such shame ran only deep enough to get her that much hotter. Alex leaned in and kissed her without a word. She moaned into his mouth, but felt too good to hold the kiss for long and broke away with another gasp.

“Alex,” said Lorelei.

He came around to her side. Her mouth no longer covered Rachel’s pussy, but her fingers kept the angel in the same state. She hardly even needed to look. “I’m glad you’re here. You know what would elevate her joys?” Her approving eyes at his groin answered the question before he could.

Then she frowned.

“Happy to help if I can,” said their sleepy but fully aroused partner. Caressing Rachel’s thigh, he stepped in between her legs as Lorelei ceded her spot—though she didn’t stop stroking and probing. A doubt arose in his mind as he took the position. He realized it was the same doubt that made Lorelei frown.

“Damn,” said Lorelei.

“Huh?” Rachel panted.

“The counter’s too high,” said Alex.

“It is. Damn it,” Lorelei grumbled.

“Wha?” asked Rachel, still delirious.

“It’s close, but it’s gonna be weird,” Alex thought out loud. “Maybe if I had a thick book to stand on...?”

“No, it’s no good if it isn’t comfortable,” said Lorelei. “Damn. I didn’t look closely enough when we moved in. I’m usually a better judge of these things.”

“It’s not a big deal,” said Alex.

“Wha’s wrong?” Rachel asked dreamily.

“It’s frustrating,” said Lorelei. She nodded her head at Rachel, who still squirmed under her manipulation. “She’s already drifting out of the state she’s in. Should we have the countertop lowered?”

“At three AM?” Alex blinked.

“Going out of my fucking mind,” Rachel pleaded.

“Love, shh,” Lorelei told her. She leaned in to kiss Rachel’s wet sex, fingers still softly swirling and probing. The effort produced a loud whine and Rachel arched her back. It also gave Alex more options.

“Here, keep going,” he murmured. Alex bent, his mouth joining Lorelei’s at their lover’s groin for only a moment of affection. He didn’t want to get in her way, but he did want to share in a little direct affection. A loud moan announced all the appreciation he could want to hear. Lorelei persisted, centering herself in front of Rachel as Alex moved out...and then directly behind the succubus.

“Oh,” Lorelei murmured approvingly at the hand that slid down her ass. Her stance shifted as she read his intentions perfectly. As always, her body welcomed his. She groaned as his cock slid once between her legs and then slowly, deeply inside her.

The sensation overwhelmed every time. If he was awake and interested before, his arousal soared now. A second slow thrust brought a moan from all three lovers as the magic binding them shared his rush with them. Rachel’s helpless ecstasy intensified.

Lorelei’s ass backed against him. She wanted more. Alex had a clouded thought that he might distract her from Rachel, but when his eyes fluttered open again to take in the sight he saw no reason to worry. Lorelei continued to devour and probe like she couldn’t get enough of either lover. She couldn’t, of course. That only made everything better.

“Oh yeah ooh!” Rachel yelped in climax on the counter. Lorelei didn’t let up. Once wouldn’t be enough. That didn’t make things any less intense for Rachel. Alex didn’t let up, either.

In a moment of sensation, hips thrusting and his nerves overwhelmed, his head turned and his eyes unconsciously found the clock on the microwave across the kitchen.

He needed to sleep. He had work tomorrow. Homework after that. Papers due soon.

Lorelei moaned. He thrust into her relentlessly, wanting more, swept away by her beautiful ass against his hips and the sight of Rachel beneath her in spasms and euphoria.

This wasn’t just fun or indulgent. This was love. This was important. He could juggle all the rest and power through later.

Even that decision felt good.

FRIDAY

“Look, I hardly even knew what hit me, alright? The Britneys acted like everything was all super-caz, we never talked boundaries—”

“Wait, super-what?” Taylor interrupted.

“Caz. You know, like casual?” said Jason.

“Don’t try to make up words.” Taylor bent over the pool table to line up her shot. Music and noisy conversations filled the crowded hall. With the weekend at hand, the hall was packed. Its new owners kept a low profile, but they could at least assure themselves of a reserved table.

“Whatever, look, the point being,” Jason went on for the fifth time, “Amanda’s okay, Eric’s okay, and we don’t have to worry about them anymore. They had some split winning lottery ticket and didn’t want anyone to know for a couple months. Now Eric has a new girlfriend and all three of them went off on a cruise or some shit.”

“You know this ain’t the best part of the story,” said Wade.

“They freakin’ disappeared all summer and now we know they’re okay!” Jason argued. “How is that not the best part?”

“Because they were okay all along.” Drew took a stern but amused stance with his cue stick straight up and down in front of him. “If we didn’t have anything to worry about, that makes the punchline the best part.”

“It’s not a punchline,” Jason fumed.

“It kinda is,” Drew maintained.

“Nobody even filed a missing persons report. Not their families, not Amanda’s dorm, no one. Like magic happened or something. Which I’m only saying now ‘cause of the last couple weeks. Before I thought people were just shitty and ignoring it.”

“Ain’t like you filed one,” said Wade.

“No, but...” grumbled Jason.

“Punchline,” Drew pressed.

“It’s not!” Jason objected.

“Side pocket. I want to hear the punchline,” said Taylor. She sent her shot across the table. “Also, that’s game. Rack ‘em, bitches.” She threw Wade a grin as he sighed and got to work.

“My life isn’t a comedy,” grumbled Jason. He turned to the only friend yet to chime in. “Bro, back me up here.”

“Huh?” Alex sat on a stool at the tall table against the wall, his head propped up on one arm. “Yeah, it’s great they’re okay.”

Wade frowned. “Alex, are you okay?”

“I’m just really tired. It’s been a long week.”

“School, work, and girls, girls, girls, huh?” Drew prodded.

“Man. Not cool,” said Jason.

“What? I like ‘em,” Drew replied.

“Sounds kinda sexist to me.”

“I thought it was funny,” said Taylor. “It’s just us. Not like he’s shouting it at a crowd.”

“Okay, but don’t go making a joke of someone’s sex life.”

“Oh that horse done left the barn an’ already got hooked up at a swinger’s party,” said Wade.

“Punchline,” Drew repeated.

“Dude,” Jason complained. He looked to Alex again. “Help me out here.”

“What?” Alex blinked.

“Man, how tired are you?” asked Wade. “Is everything cool at home?”

“Yeah, are you alright?” asked Taylor.

“...I was not prepared for this degree of casual nudity.”

Drew scratched on the cue ball, sending it bouncing off the table. He stood upright. “Man, get out,” he frowned.

“Christ,” Wade muttered, turning his back.

“Yeah, take your privilege problems somewhere else,” said Jason.

Grinning, Taylor gave Alex a nudge. “Can I come over sometime?”