Author's Disclaimer: All characters depicted are over 18, etc., etc. Enjoy!
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I started looking around the goth-themed clothing shop with some excitement. This was much more my vibe than those old stoggy business suits and anchor-woman clothes. After a minute of perusing the racks, I began wondering where my aunt had gone. Wasn't she right behind me?
Stepping to a spot where I could see out the front window, I located Claire talking on her phone. Who was she...? Did she just curl her hair around a finger? I smiled. Tawny, the cute waitress from last night, it must be. Unless Claire had some other love interest she hadn't mentioned. Just then, Claire looked up and noticed me watching her. She immediately ducked her head and turned away, embarrassed. I just smirked and continued shopping.
A minute or so later, Claire joined me, her face a pleasant rosy color. When the older woman didn't speak, I gave her a mischievous smile.
"Was that Tawny?" I asked.
"Yes," came the reply after a heartbeat's pause. Claire sounded like she was admitting to some deep secret, which made my smile widen. "She asked me out." The statement was almost a whisper.
"When?" I asked.
"How do you know I agreed to it?"
"It's written all over your blushing face and how hard your nipples are," I chuckled, glancing down at my aunt's chest.
Reflexively, Claire covered her breasts with her hands. Then, realizing how that could look, crossed her arms over her chest instead.
"Well, so what?" Claire retorted, looking around to see who else might have noticed her fumbling. "It's...been a while, okay?"
I settled into a less teasing demeanor, except for one corner of my mouth that I couldn't force down.
"A while since you've been on a date or a while since you've been with a woman?"
Claire grimaced before she answered.
"Both," she admitted. "And I've never actually dated a woman." Her voice lowered, and she stepped a little closer. "I messed around in college, but it was just making out and some light petting at parties."
The older woman seemed a little lost and looked at me with pleading eyes.
"What?" I asked, cocking my head. "What's that look for?"
"Well, I...I just thought maybe you could, I don't know, give me some advice." Claire looked around again, mostly to keep from making eye contact.
"For what? Dating women?" I said, amused at the assumption. "Why would it be any different than dating a man? Oh, you're right, sorry. You don't have to worry about guarding your drink or them thinking 'no' just means you're playing hard to get."
I realized too late that I had let a flash of anger seep into my tone. I corrected immediately, hoping Claire hadn't noticed.
"No, Claire, there's nothing different about dating a woman," I sighed. "The important question is, do you have something to wear? I don't think that drab blouse and skirt you had on yesterday exactly screams, 'fuck me'."
Claire's eyes flew open, and she looked like she wanted to cover my mouth with her hand.
"Nyx!" she exclaimed, checking for others listening in again. "I'm not going to...fuck her...on a first date!"
Oh, really? Alright, I could see
one
item I should probably warn her about.
"Okay, maybe there is something different about dating women," I began. "Two women are more likely to end up in bed at the end of a first date. If you click and the desire is there, why not? There's no possibility of an accident committing yourself to a lifelong relationship with this person, you know?"
Claire squeaked and put her face in her hands.
"Relax, Claire," I consoled, putting an arm around the older woman's shoulders. "I'm just teasing you." My aunt's hands lowered so she could look at me. "Kinda," I added.
Claire groaned and buried her face again. I laughed and wheeled around to face her, a hand on each of her upper arms.
"Don't worry," I said, as chipper as I could manage. "We're in the perfect place to get you something amazing for your date!"
Dropping her hands, Claire scanned the racks of black and variations of black. Her head tilted to the side and gave me an incredulous look.
"Not
here
, here," I clarified. "I meant the mall. These," I gestured to the displays around us, "aren't just clothes. These are an attitude. You could never pull it off."
Claire looked a little insulted, but she couldn't really argue and, to her credit, didn't try.
"I, on the other hand," I continued, pulling a dress I had been eyeing previously from a rack, "will kill in this!"
We...well, I spent the next thirty minutes picking out outfits, accessories, and shoes, then another thirty minutes trying things on while Claire watched and waited. She got bored and frustrated that I didn't come out and model for her, but I didn't want to tempt her anymore today than I already had.
I finally declared that I was satisfied and took a large pile of clothing to the counter. Claire got a very curious look on her face when I pulled out a credit card, punched in a PIN, and paid for my purchase like it was nothing.
As we turned to leave with several bags of clothing, I ignored Aunt Claire's questioning stare. Finally, she couldn't restrain herself any longer and had to ask.
"Whose card was that?"
There was a long silence before I answered.
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to," I said flatly.
"Excuse me?" Claire replied, gearing up for a confrontation.
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're thinking," I said, cutting off Claire's momentum before it could get started.
"Then where...?" Claire started to push, but I cut her off.
I stopped cold in the middle of the mall concourse, forcing Claire to turn around to face me. Our eyes met, and the older woman shivered.
"It's nothing illegal, and it's none of your business, Claire. Drop it."
I put steel into those last two words, hopefully leaving no room for violation. My aunt was left frozen, her mouth half open. I started walking again, leaving her behind.
"Fine," Claire recovered, turning to catch up. "As long as the police aren't going to show up at my door, it's...none of my business."
"Thank you," I replied with a quick glance over, as I forced my ire back down.
Like nothing ever happened, my eyes brightened, and I angled toward a new clothing store.
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I woke the next morning with my arm draped over Aunt Claire again. Damnit. Despite how much I wanted her, I had been trying to avoid having a sexual relationship with Claire. Unfortunately, my subconscious had other ideas. The repercussions of an infatuated aunt were not something I wanted to deal with. I needed to get her involved with someone else before my overly active libido made me do something...incredibly hot, but dangerous.
My hand moved up her torso of its own accord to touch the underside of her breast.
Fuck me! I groaned inwardly and forced myself to turn over and sit on the edge of the bed. Looking over my shoulder, I couldn't help tracing the lines of the beautiful woman in the bed next to me.
"Just fucking take her," Miriam's voice whispered in my head.
I turned away.
"That's how you beat them, Nyx, by making them beg to be crushed under you."
My hands pressed against my temples, trying to get rid of her voice. She had saved me once, but this was Aunt Claire; I didn't want to beat her or crush her.
"Nyx?" It was Claire waking up. "Are you okay?"
"J..just a little headache," I lied. "Do you have any Advil?"
"In the medicine cabinet in the bathroom," she instructed.
I rose, feeling her eyes taking in my naked twenty-year-old body, and padded across the small hall onto the tiles of the restroom. I went through the motions of finding the pills and taking one. Closing the mirrored door, I looked into my own eyes.
"Why are you still here, Nyx?" I silently asked myself. "You don't need some crappy internship; you know how to make real money."
"Make them beg." Miriam's words again.
I clenched my jaw at the memories. I told myself that I was just revealing their true selves, giving them what they most desired. I never hurt anyone. But that wasn't true. I showed them bliss, and then I ripped it from them.
Sometimes it felt like a superpower, but it was just empathy, for fuck's sake. So many people just need someone to care. I had done more than that, I had become the person they needed, the exact personality to fit into the missing pieces of their soul. I fulfilled needs they didn't even know they had, and they gave me lavish presents and cash in return. I never asked for
anything
, I never needed to.
I had my own reasons beyond the monetary that, I'm sure, some psychologist would have a field day with, but I didn't spend much time thinking about it. This was too much thinking already. Fuck introspection.
I turned to the shower and immersed myself in the morning routine. The bathroom wasn't large enough for a tub, so the shower was just a box with a clear glass door. With the warm water washing down my body, I noticed Claire come in. She had thrown on an oversized T-shirt and acted like I wasn't there. Well, she tried to. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her glancing in my direction more than once.