Cassandra was ready on time, dressed in a blood-red choker, black minidress, biker jacket, and a pair of heavy boots with enough buckles, studs, and zippers to make a Cenobite proud. Her jet-black hair was hanging loose down her back, and red lipstick and cat-eye mascara with an eye of Horus accent finished the look. She gave me a little peck on the cheek as she greeted me, and we were on our way.

The party was bigger than I had expected, as was the house. It took me a little time to find my friend, who laughed when I told him the divorce had gone through and shouted, “Welcome back to the land of the living!” I introduced him to Cassandra, leaving out how we had met, and she and I made our way through the party.

Cass was out of her element; dancing in a club where the regulars have become friends is one thing, but a party full of strangers is another, especially when you don’t really fit in with the aesthetic or personalities. I still fit in with the aesthetic, but I realized how little I had in common with most of these folks now, so I could sympathize.

We found a quiet corner and decided to head out early. She went to use the restroom while I made the rounds and said goodbye. And that’s when I ran into Kim.

The thing I had forgotten about the parties in college was that it didn’t matter who had been invited and who hadn’t, and my friend was still in that college mindset. He had invited me because he wanted to make sure I showed up, but I hadn’t realized the invite list wasn’t exclusive but inclusive; anyone who heard about it could and did show up.

“Jason!” She hugged me before I could stop her. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well. I really am sorry about everything, even the way I acted after…” She bit her lip. “I know that wasn’t fair. I should have given you your space, but I just loved you and missed you so much. I should have been more mature and realized you needed your freedom.”

“Uh… thanks? I’m glad you’re doing well, too.”

She smiled sadly. “I’m not. Not really. But I know…” Kim sighed. “I know this is something we have to do. Please, go and find someone to get it out of your system. I’m going to stay faithful while we’re apart, and I’m going to go to therapy. Next time around, I’ll be exactly who you need me to be.”

“What?”

Kim sniffled. “It’ll hurt, but I know we’ll be together again. I’ll check in on you every once in a while and see when you’re ready to get back together.” I dodged the kiss on the cheek, and she waved goodbye as she melted into the crowd.

What the actual fuck.

Cass found me standing in the same spot, shell-shocked. She led me outside to a couple of lawn chairs, and I related the meeting with her sister, her eyes growing wider with each line of the exchange.

“What that actual fuck?”

I nodded. “She’s going to keep coming back if I don’t put a stop to this right now. I need her the fuck out of my life once and for all, and apparently, a divorce isn’t enough.”

She slowly nodded. “Okay. Okay.” A resolute look appeared on her face as she turned fully towards me. “I know what we have to do. Jason, do you trust me?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Cass smiled and touched my cheek, then kissed me softly. “Is this… are we going to be a thing? Like a real, actually, trying-to-be-long-term thing? Do you want us to be?” I kissed her back in answer, and she giggled. “Okay, then, come on.”

She pulled me back into the house, up the stairs, and found an empty bedroom. “I’ll be right back.” I opened my mouth to ask a question, but she just kissed me again, then exited the room, that delightful little giggle the only sound she made.

I waited for about ten minutes before I was ready to go looking for her, but I told her I’d trust her. Five minutes after that, she came into the room, giddy and amped up. She shrugged her jacket off, revealing her inked, toned arms. “Okay, we’ve got about fifteen minutes. Get undressed.”

“Wait, what?”

Her hands were at the back of her choker, working at the fastener. “In a little bit, Kim’s going to come through that door. I told her that I came with you, and that you told me that you wanted to talk with her about the two of you. Resolve things with her. And that’s, hah, that’s true, but just not how she thinks.”

I stood as the choker came off, and she continued, “So I figure the best way to show her it’s over is to really, really show her you’ve moved on. When she opens that door, you’re going to be balls deep in your new girlfriend.” She reached for the hem of her minidress.

This was one of the best ideas I’d ever heard. 

No. No. This was one of the worst ideas I’d ever heard.  

“No.” My voice was clear and commanding. She paused. “No, we’re not doing that.” I crossed the few steps to her and took her hands.

“But I thought you wanted to–” She looked both hesitant and relieved.

“I do. God, I do. But not– not like this. Our first time together… it should be about us. You and me, not her. She doesn’t matter anymore to me, at all. Even as a nuisance. I’ll deal with that. But I’m not…” I kissed her, pulling her to me and holding her tight. “I’m not going to taint this. This is good, us being together is good, and I want it to stay that way.”

We sat on the bed together, cuddling and kissing for a little bit, before she broke away. “I just wanted to… I lo– care about you so much, and I just wanted her out of your– out of our lives.”

“I love you, too.” Her smile could have lit up the surface of the moon. “But I…” A devilish grin spread across my lips. “I want to see you, all of you, when it’s just us. I want to be the last person to see you naked.” I chuckled, “Well, other than your tattoo artist. Can’t avoid that, really.” Cassandra snorted. “It’s… that’s something special. Something you’ve held yourself to, kept as an intimate thing just for yourself and the people you love. And I want to… to honor that. To not dishonor it or you by asking you to–”

Her voice was insistent and a little angry. “You didn’t ask! I would have done it for you. For us!”

My hand brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. “I know you would have, Cass. And I love that. But what I’m saying is that I don’t want you to.” Then, with a happy grin, she pulled me down onto the bed and we made out, taking brief breaks to discuss the new plan, until we heard a knock on the door.

Our hair was mussed. Cassandra’s lipstick was smeared, and I’m sure I had some of it on my face. That lovely, nearly translucent pale skin of hers was flushed, and I couldn’t wait to see how far the flush continued down her neck and beyond. But that would have to wait. We sat up, and I called out, “Come in!”

The door swung open, and Kim’s face went through about a dozen emotions in a moment, finally settling on a sort of angry confusion. “What is– Why are–” 

I took Cass’s hand in mine. “I’m sorry, Kim, I wanted to tell you another way, but this is as good a time as any. Cassandra and I…” I brought it to my mouth and kissed it. “We’re in love. We hadn’t planned to move quite as quickly as this, but the truth is that we’re engaged. I haven’t had time to get her a ring yet, but I know you have good taste. Maybe you can help suggest something?”

“W- W- W- What?!”

Shaking my head, I said, “I’m sorry, I know that’s a lot to ask. But we need to get married pretty soon. You see, Cass is pregnant. You’re going to be an aunt!”

My ex-wife froze. Her face went blank like she was having a total system reboot. Then she shrieked, “You. Fucking! BIIITCH!” I swear to God, I thought her jaw was going to unhinge like a snake’s with that last word. She surged forward, clearly intent on doing physical harm to one or both of us.

I stood up between her and Cass, grabbing her arm as she tried to rake one of her claws across my face. “Get the fuck out of my life, Kim.”

Cass peeked out from behind me. “Yeah. Sorry, sis, but he’s my meal ticket now.”

Kim’s eyes went back and forth between us, and she yelled, “Four years! Four years I was with this fucking loser, you slut! He’s mine! I spent hours listening to him talk about those stupid movies! And do you know how much shit I had to read about the Hundred Years’ War? Who has a fucking war for a hundred years?!”

Cass smirked, “England and France. I was never a history buff, but my man really got me turned onto it. It’s interesting stuff! I can’t wait to watch him teach our kids about it.”

That was it. Finally, I saw it in the beast’s eyes. She was unmasked and defeated. I released her hand, and she drew back and away from me. “Fucking assholes. You deserve each other.” Then she flounced her ass out of the bedroom, slamming it behind her. Cass and I erupted into laughter.

Later, back at my house, we sat and cuddled together on the couch, content with our final and total victory in the War on Kim. Cassandra chuckled, “So, how do you think she’s going to react when she realizes we’re neither engaged nor expecting a child?”

“Oh, poorly, I suspect. But I also don’t really give a damn. I’m more worried that…” I kissed the top of her head. “Everyone in her family, just about, seemed to be on her side. Most of my former friends, too, but I don’t really care about them. I don’t want to be the reason that–”

Cass quickly interrupted. “I don’t give a shit about the family that sided with Kim. My Dad didn’t; his family didn’t, and a couple of my saner cousins didn’t. Anyone that did is either as bad as her or too stupid to want to deal with.”

“Still…”

“No, not ‘still.’ I love you, Jason. She didn’t, and I don’t think she ever did. She just turned out to be really good at faking it. And if my family or our friends have a problem with me loving you the way you deserve? Fuck them. We don’t need them in our lives. I’ve got what I need right here, and I don’t give a shit about them.” She stood and put her hand out to me. “Now come on.”

In the bedroom, she pushed me into a chair, a wild light dancing in her eyes as her slender body danced for me. It was teasing and seductive: a slow swaying of hips, a gentle touch of hands on her thighs as she toyed with the hem of her mini dress. “I’ve wanted to do this for months.” Her jacket had been abandoned on the floor, and now the dress went over her head and joined it.

I gawped at the splendor before me. She hadn’t worn panties, so all that remained was her choker and glasses. Her slight frame was fully exposed to me: that beautifully pale skin; her tiny bee sting tits and their hard pink nipples pierced by stainless steel rings; a completely hairless pussy, with the most delicate, tantalizing lips I could imagine; another glint of metal between her legs, the first hint of what I would soon learn was another ring piercing her clit hood. 

These alone would have been enough for me to want to immediately push her onto the bed and ravish her for the rest of the night and well into the morning, knowing myself to be the luckiest man on Earth. But what made me pause, what most overwhelmed me, was the art that was most intimate to her, in both senses of the words, the hidden masterpiece that adorned her body.

I won’t describe it in its glory; it was hers, and private to her. I was honored to see it, and honored, as I had hoped, to be the last man to ever see it. But I will say that it was exquisite, a mix of art styles that could have easily clashed but instead came together into one single, perfect whole. She was like a medieval tapestry or an illuminated text, beautiful both at first glance and as one examined the detail. I could have looked at her for days.

There were a few bare spots in amongst the art, places that she had clearly left intentionally blank for reasons that were sometimes obvious and other times obscure; but what I realized quickly was that they were reserved for documenting her future.

Cassandra’s smirk slowly disappeared, her bravado replaced with an uncertainty that pained me. She opened her mouth to speak, but I stepped into the silence and said, “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Cass.” I stood and kissed her, and her body molded itself to mine. It was not a gentle kiss; my tongue probed deeply into her mouth, and she devoured me in kind. My hands grabbed her ass and picked her up, carrying her to the bed before almost flinging her onto it.

She laughed as she bounced, but the laugh was cut short by a gasp as I knelt between her legs and began to suck and lick hungrily at that perfect bald pussy. My sexy little goth girl moaned at the way my tongue flicked both across her clit and her piercing, doubling the stimulation that she felt. 

For a woman normally so talkative, her voice now only made sighs and whimpers. I pushed two fingers between her labia, inside of her tight, wet snatch, and she let out a low, needful groan. Then I found what I was looking for, the small raised bit of flesh inside, and hooked my fingers to press on it as my tongue lashed rapidly across her clit. Already close to orgasm, she howled with need as it took her, and then as she squirted into my mouth, crying and begging for more.

As Cassandra came down, panting, I raised my face from between her thighs and smiled. It was absolutely drenched in her juices, and she sounded slightly chagrined as she said, “I’m sorry, that’s– hnh– that’s never happened before.”

I just laughed and gave one last slow, deliberate lick to her slit. “Better get used to it.”

Her adorable giggle turned into a sultrier chuckle as she said, “Get those clothes off, Jase. Let me see you now.”

Cass reclined on her elbows, one leg up on the bed and one hanging over the edge, bare sex lewdly on display for me. She idly toyed with her nipple piercings as she watched me undress, biting her lip in anticipation. There was an appreciative noise when my shirt came off; I hadn’t gotten to the gym as much as I’d meant to recently, so that stroked my ego nicely.

But it was when my pants came off, and more specifically, my briefs, that her eyes went wide with shock, followed by a gleefully horny expression. “Jesus Christ! Kim may have been Malibu Barbie, but you sure as fuck ain’t a Ken doll!” Cass’s hand slid down to her pussy, almost without intention, and she lightly fingered herself as I approached the bed. “It’s, um, it’s been a while, handsome. And never with someone so, ah, gifted.”

In a reassuring tone, I told her, “I’ll be gentle.”

She tugged at a nipple piercing and chided me. “Baby, do I look like the kind of girl that wants to be fucked gently? Just gimme a minute to get adjusted, and then I want you to fucking ruin me with that thing.”

I laughed as she clambered up the bed a bit, then kneeled between her legs. Cassandra’s eyes never wavered from mine as I placed the head of my cock at her entrance, but then they dipped to look at it once more. She giggled, “I feel like I won the dick lottery!”

A voice in the back of my head told me not to say it, but the urge was nigh-irresistible. “So, you’re saying you wanna Powerball?”

The disgust on her face was something to see, part mock and part real. She finally grumbled, “Are you trying to get kicked out of this bed?”

My hand reached for her breast, hooking the nipple ring on one finger and tugging, forcing a little moan from her throat. “It’s my bed, Cass, and you put yourself in it.” I twisted it just a fraction, and she moaned louder. My glans pressed into her, and she grunted as I stretched that sweet little hole as it hadn’t ever been before. “Whose woman are you, beautiful?”

She gasped, “Yours!” as I slowly, steadily fed her tight, hungry cunt what it needed. “Oh, God, Jason, oh fuck! It’s so big, so fucking big!” I eased my assault, not sure if that desperation in her voice was desire or discomfort, but then her legs crossed around my back, and I gave her my full length, plunging deeper into her than any other man ever had or ever would. “Oh, Jesus! God, Jason, I love it! I love you!” 

Cass clung to me, arms and legs wrapped tightly around my body as I began to move in and out, steadily and slowly at first, then with long, almost punishing strokes. Her nails drew blood from my back, and I reveled in the painful, stinging manifestation of her lust. “What do you want, Cass?”

“Harder! Fuck me like a whore, Jase! Like your perfect little whore!” She bit me, nipping at my neck, whining and cursing as I ravaged her newly, roughly stretched hole. Then she was still and silent suddenly, her cunt fluttering around my cock and her heart hammering against mine, the only motion I could feel in her body. Cassandra almost screamed in my ear, a long, loud wordless shout of triumph as she came around my dick, the one that was hers now and hers alone.

I felt more than heard a single, solitary sob as she relinquished her grip on my back, body exhausted for the moment. “Cass?” I went up on my elbows, worried I’d hurt her, really hurt her.

Her blissed-out expression told me that nothing could be further from the truth. She giggled, “Yours.” Another little giggle, “Fuck yes, yours.” Those sweet lips kissed mine as she summoned the strength that she could to lean up, and then she flopped back down onto the bed. “Goddamn, Jase. God, fucking, damn.” Cass looked up at me with concern. “You didn’t come yet. Are you–”

I flipped her onto her stomach, bringing about a sudden, wicked laugh from her, then chuckled in her ear, “Just wanted to take it easy on you at first, yeah?”

My gorgeous gothic whore groaned, “Oh, God, don’t tell me that was ‘taking it easy.’ You’re gonna fucking kill me, lover.”

She was still too noodle-limbed to go on her hands and knees, but that was okay; I pulled her up on her knees anyway, leaving her face pressed against the mattress. As I entered her again, I moaned, “God, you’re so fucking tight, Cass. You’re perfect.”

My joking aside, this was the slow and easy time, letting her regain her strength a bit, and giving me time to focus on how good she made me feel. It was still fucking, still not gentle, but also not without tenderness. Little happy sighs were Cass’s nonverbal vocabulary now, not the whimpers and desperate cries of our previous rutting. “Love that dick, Jase. My dick. All mine now, handsome.” She giggled dreamily, “Cut a bitch if she gets near it.”

I laughed and picked up the pace. “Better give it to you good, then.” Cass pushed herself up to all fours, then reached back to place one hand on my hip as I fucked her, nudging my trajectory slightly now and then. 

On a hunch, I wetted my thumb in my mouth, then placed it against the tight pucker between her cheeks. A new expression, more like a purr than anything else, entered Cass’s lexicon of sounds; I interpreted it correctly, pressing inwards until my thumb was deeply embedded in her. She groaned, “Better- ah, fuck- better not get any ideas, Jase.”

“Too late.”

“L- later. You’re too– too big. Need to pre-prepare first.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “But soon, baby. Soon, I promise. I want to be all yours, every part of me.” That was enough for me. More than enough. Those beautiful eyes, the way they looked at me with love and devotion– not submission, not exactly, because I couldn’t fathom Cass truly submitting to anyone– but a need to be mine, and a need that I be hers.

“Gonna– fuck, Cass, I’m gonna cum!” That look of love had driven me over the edge. 

The hand that had guided my hip pulled me tight to her, nails digging into my flesh. “In me, please! In me, lover!” She hadn’t even finished her sentence when I erupted, balls tightening and unleashing a load of molten heat against her cervix as she came for the third time that night.

Afterward, we lay together, gasping and panting, spooned on the half-bare mattress; somewhere in our frenzied fucking, we’d dislodged all the bedsheets. Her long hair tickled my nose, but I pushed it to the side and kissed her neck, and she pressed herself back against me. “I love you, Cass. I love you so much, baby.”

She sighed with contentment, quietly basking in the post-orgasmic haze. “Mmmm, me too, Jase. God, this is… you’re so fucking scrumptious.” Her head turned slightly, and I pushed myself up on one arm to give her a lingering, loving kiss before laying back down again.

We were quiet then for a while. I was lost in thought, and I’m sure she was as well, but we were also just enjoying each other’s company and bodies and exulting in the pleasant, low-key happiness of our first post-sex cuddle. Then I felt her body tense just a little. “Cass?”

Her hand pulled my arm a little tighter around her. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“A lotta shit.” She snorted. “First, how happy I was. This is way more… like, just way, way more than I ever expected. You know, I’ve had a little crush on you for a long time; I wasn’t, like, in love or anything, but I always thought you were cute and sweet and just completely wasted on her. And then, when we got to be friends, that crush got a little bigger. And then you kicked her out…” 

A little chuckle. “I tried not to look at it as an opportunity because I wanted to be a good friend, but, well…” She patted my thigh. “We can see where that ended up. I fell in love with you somewhere in there, and I’m so glad it was mutual.

“And I was… I honestly felt so loved when you told me that you wouldn’t let me do what I wanted to at the party, and why. I felt really… really seen, I guess, for the first time. When I knew that you understood how important… “She shook her head. “I just– God, I love you so much.” I hugged her tightly.

“But then, that got me to thinking about Kim. And I just felt sad. Sad about her, about what a fucking trainwreck she is. About what she did to you, how… as much as I love this, us being together, I hate that she did that to you. I hate that…” 

Cass grew quiet for a moment, then softly spoke. “You are everything, on paper, that she should want. A hot, sweet guy that can fuck like nobody’s business and provide for a wife and family. Like, you’re a complete jackpot–don’t you dare make another Powerball joke–and it still wasn’t enough. Nothing’s ever going to be enough for her. She’s never going to be happy. 

“And– and she’s a bitch now, but she’s my sister. I used to love her so much, and I just…” She sighed. “I wish things could have been different for her. And that made me wish things could have been different for us. I wish… I wish I had met you before she did.”

I chewed on that a little bit, then slowly said, “I don’t think we would have worked out if you had.” A little kiss on the back of her head quieted her almost protestation. “I wasn’t in a place where I could have let myself love you. I was… I think you would have really disliked me. The last few months have taught me a lot about myself and who I was, and I don’t like the old me very much.  

“I wish I hadn’t married Kim, for a lot of reasons, but I think… I think maybe I needed to find out who I didn’t want to be before I could figure out who I did, you know?” Another affectionate peck. “And we’re here now, together. However we got here, as much as it sucked, I wouldn’t want to change that.” She nestled closer to me, and I gave her a squeeze. 

We snuggled up together for a few more minutes, but then I felt myself stir against her, and we didn’t speak for a long time after that. Cass may have preferred a nice hard fuck, but I learned that she also enjoyed a nice, slow, languid lovemaking session. I pressed into her from behind and slowly took my lover again, hands cupping those tiny little tits and playing with her jewelry as she pushed back against me, taking my length into her welcoming pussy over and over again. She came again on my prick and then once more before I emptied myself into her, and we drifted off to sleep, enraptured with each other as only new lovers can be.

The blank places on her stomach and chest, on the intimate places that she showed only to me, were filled over the years. Over her heart went our initials and the date we married. Other spots eventually held the names of our children. As she aged, and as she bore my sons and daughter, her body changed, adding texture and wrinkles to the art, remaking it anew. I watched as the tapestry of our lives together took shape on her skin. 

Sometimes, when sleeps, I gaze in wonder at her beauty, both her form and her art. Sometimes, she wakes as I stare and invites me into her arms, and we renew once more the love that began when we were just kids, stumbling in the dark towards ourselves.