NSFW

A Hope Like Hell short: “There’s a Party in Eva’s Pants and Seph’s Invited ;)”

EVA
Three years after the end of HLH (not including the epilogue)

“It looks stunning on you, ma’am!” the Billieuan store clerk gushed, clapping her aquamarine hands together excitedly. “The light purple makes your eyes pop!”

I smoothed my hands over my body, my face still beet-red in the full-length mirror. I didn’t mind the stretch marks or the loose skin on my tummy; it was the scars and discoloration I’d been nervous about, as usual, but my desire to do something special for Seph for our anniversary won out over my self-consciousness. Though I was having a hard time keeping that in mind now that I was out in the wild and staring down the barrel of lingerie shopping. 

“And what was the material, again?” I asked, testing the stretch of the many bands keeping the elaborate lace panties in place. It felt synthetic, and my skin issues made anything too unnatural in fiber content a painful gamble.

“The whole set is 100% calmue. The stretch comes from a special processing that breaks the fibers down and reassembles them under a very high heat. This allows the rigid proteins to break down and soften fully, unlike with the more conventional processing.”

I didn’t bother suppressing my wide smile; calmue was very similar to linen back home, and meant that I’d be able to wear them for more than a half hour before my skin rebelled. “That’s incredible! I guess that explains the price tag.”

She gave me a pained smile, and I flinched. “Not that it’s bad!” I rushed to add, my face flaming hotter. “Totally worth it for the quality!” Why oh why was I always putting my foot in my mouth? At least here I was literally an alien, and most people just brushed off my strangeness as a symptom of that. “I’ll take it!” I told her, turning to admire myself from more angles in the mirror. Aside from the scars, I looked pretty good for a 37 year old woman who’d had a kid, I had to admit. Seph was going to lose his mind when he saw me.

The store clerk bowed out of the fitting room, giving me privacy to change back into the ratty old things I’d shown up in. I stuck to plain cotton or, now that I no longer lived on Earth, more often calmue underthings. With my issues, I’d grown avoidant of anything too fancy, because it was only a matter of time before I had a flare-up and ruined it with a blood stain. 

But even if it only lasted the day, being able to give my lovely mate a little treat was worth it. I’d been planning this for weeks, sneaking in research on my tablet to find this store for the three-year anniversary of when we’d come here and officially become mates–the alien version of marriage. And finally, tomorrow I’d be springing my trap. 

The third anniversary with one’s mate was sacred in yvrenii culture, the number three being holy. From what my man had told me, the third anniversary was the one where their god, Veldar, guided the occasion to reveal the tone and lifespan of the rest of the relationship. It was a lot of pressure, and sometimes thinking about it made me nervous, but I loved that Seph was getting to dive deeper into his culture, thanks to reconnecting with his long-lost aunt, Uraka.

Though more than anything else having to do with the day, I was looking forward to blowing his mind. He was working so hard to get himself through school while working on his mental health and still giving me and Maggie everything we needed, and he deserved getting a little spoiled. On top of the lingerie and inevitable sexy times I was also planning on making him his favorite meal and baking a nice cake just for him. 

Once I was changed, I gathered up the strappy, lacy set and took it to the counter to check out. I was still getting used to the checkout process, the millennial recesses of my brain insisting that I was stealing if I wasn’t physically handing something over to show that I was paying for my purchases. Everything was done via wireless transfer of funds through my wristcom, meaning I just accepted the store’s request for payment and the amount was deducted from my account. I’d not yet been tackled by security on any of my shopping trips, so clearly I wasn’t doing something wrong. But I worried every time, anyway.

I’d already bought the ingredients to bake Seph his favorite cake, so this store was the last one I needed to hit up before I’d be all ready for the big day. 

Or so I’d thought.

As I was leaving the mall, another shop caught my eye: a small boutique that had some very interesting-looking displays in the window. I drifted closer, my eyes locked on a bright pink item that looked a lot like a butt plug, but with a wider neck and less pointed tip. I let out a little gasp of surprise when I read the signs.

I’d stumbled onto a sex toy shop that sold yvrenii-specific toys. Holy shit. 

Sephyr was totally comfortable with using toys on me, and we’d developed quite a collection in the time we’d been here on Billieu. Some of my toys kind of worked on him, but the fit was always wrong and kind of awkward, so more often than not I just used my mouth or my fingers. He still loved it, of course, but there was a distinct appeal to using something more powerful and precise on him. Something tailor-made to the shape of his body that would send him to heights of pleasure my mortal flesh could never hope to achieve on its own.

I was walking in before I could second-guess myself, heading right for the yvrenii section I’d spied from the window. 

I felt like a kid in a candy shop, and not just because all the glitter and bright colors made the products look like candy. There were so many different things here made just for yvrenii sleeves and prods, and I was practically drooling at the idea of using them on Seph. 

Poor man wasn’t gonna know what hit him when I was done with him. Why hadn’t we thought to look for a shop like this in all the time we’d been here? Surely if this one was in a mall they were common? Or at least not hard to find? I grabbed everything that looked good, barely registering the prices, and brought my haul up to the counter.

The felican behind the till gave me a knowing smile as they rang me up. “Fun night planned?” they asked, grinning at me like we were sharing a secret. 

Maybe because I knew it wasn’t for me, the urge to run and hide or feel embarrassed never came. “Oh yeah,” I chuckled, my pussy throbbing hard as I imagined the faces Seph would make when I used these toys on him tomorrow night, “A very special occasion.”

SEPHYR

“What do you mean, Krett canceled on you?” I asked my daughter, frowning.

“Relax, pops. He’s sick and doesn’t want me to catch it. Don’t worry, your favorite child isn’t leaving the nest,” Maggie snarked, rolling her eyes at me. 

I snorted, pulling her in for a one-armed hug. “Ha, ha, ha,” I deadpanned, pecking a kiss on her cheek so that she gagged. But she didn’t pull away, either. “I know you’re not leaving anytime soon, kiddo. Because I won’t let you.”

She blushed, shoving at my side. “Ew, you’re so cringe, Seph. But we all know you love Krett and are seconds away from adopting him.”

“Nah, you’ll always be my favorite, Mags. But I hate to tell you, I don’t think the kids are saying that, anymore,” I said, suppressing a smile. 

“You have no clue what the kids are saying, man! Besides–here, I’m a trendsetter. No one’s even started saying ‘cringe’ yet; I’m ahead of the curve.”

“And so modest, too.” I ruffled the top of her teal hair, making her squeal and duck away from me, then pulled a slice of “banana” bread out of the container on the counter and took a big bite. I closed my eyes as I chewed, lost in the sensory delight of Eva’s incredible baking. Now that we were on Billieu it wasn’t actually made from bananas, but she’d managed to whip together something that tasted damn close by blending several fruits together. Every time I took a bite I was nearly so overwhelmed that I cried, my mind flooding with images of my gorgeous, perfect mate. 

It was why whenever she made it, the loaf only lasted a couple of days.

“You think any of your friends would want to hang out?” I asked her, struggling to remain nonchalant. “It’s always a let down when plans fall through.”

Maggie skewered me with a knowing look, snagging a piece of the bake for herself. “Dude, you are subtle as a heart attack,” she told me, taking a much more reasonable bite than I had. “I know tomorrow is your guys’ anniversary. I’m hanging out with Kaci. We’re going to the holoplex with your credit card.”

I laughed, punching her arm lightly. “Perfect! Thanks, kiddo. Try not to max it out though, yeah?” Not that Billieu had credit cards; it was just a joke the two of us couldn’t seem to stop making, swapping Earth stuff into Billieu situations. Very dumb, very addictive. 

“I know, it’s the perfect anniversary gift. I spent all night wrapping it.”

When Eva came back from her shopping trip I was having the last slice of “banana” bread in the house, my third of the afternoon. I guiltily licked crumbs off of my fingers and pulled her into a tight hug before she’d made it more than a foot in the door. She laughed, hugging me back awkwardly because of her purchases, her two big bags whacking me in the sides and back as she moved her arms. But I didn’t care; thinking about her all day had gotten me missing her something fierce. 

“Hi, there,” she murmured into my ear. 

“I missed you, gorgeous.”

“I was only gone a few hours!” she laughed. “Let me go put this away and then you can manhandle me however you want.”

“Bold of you to assume I’m planning on letting you go any time soon.”

She chuckled, pulling back enough to kiss me. “Well I also have to use the bathroom, so if you get covered in pee you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.”

“I’ll risk it.” I stole another kiss, grabbing her by the chin to force her to linger, nuzzling her face with my nose before letting her go. 

“Thank you, baby!” she called over her shoulder as she all but sprinted to the hygiene room, her thighs squeezed together.

I sighed. Couldn’t believe how lucky I was, getting away from Serr’eza and his crew with my life and landing a female like Eva at the same time. I was suspicious of it, to be honest–a fact which Dr. Shiya and I were working on in my emo reg sessions. You’d think after three years together it would have sunk in…but I guess it was just a testament to how dense I was, sometimes.

None of that negative self-talk, Seph, I heard Dr. Shiya snap in my head. Be kind to yourself!

I chuckled, settling onto the couch and turning on the holo to the cooking channel Eva liked to wait for her to join me. 

When she did I pulled her straight into my lap, tugging her in against my chest until she sighed and melted into me. “You really had to go, huh?” I asked, running my hands over her arms. “You were gone a while.”

She flushed, not quite meeting my eyes. “Weirdo. I also put away my stuff, sir. What, are you timing how long it takes for me to go to the bathroom, now?”

I snorted a laugh, stealing another kiss. “If I don’t meticulously time how long it takes you to use the bathroom, then how will I determine your bladder health?”

“Alright, you’re being really weird,” she said, leveling a look at me. “More than normal. What’s going on?”

I shrugged, taking my turn to look away. “Nothing, really. Just…I dunno, with our anniversary tomorrow I’m feeling kind of nervous, I guess.”

She made a soft sound, wrapping her arms around my neck and cuddling closer. “Why are you nervous? I told you a billion times, Seph, I don’t need anything big–”

“No, it’s not that. The present’s the easy part.” I brushed my knuckles over her soft cheek, my heart aching in my chest at just how beautiful she was. “Three’s such a big one. It’s where Veldar shows us if ours is a love that will last. And I don’t have the best track record with keeping people I care about in my life.”

“Ah,” she said, nodding. “So you’re worried that because we are acknowledging that time has passed and we are happy that the universe is going to take it all away.”

I felt my face flame. “Damn babygirl, let a guy be mysterious for a second.” I dipped my head, letting it rest on her shoulder so my face was shrouded in her long dark hair, her scent all around me. “But hypothetically, you may be correct,” I muttered.

“Honey, with what you’ve been through, having that kind of fear is normal. But I’m not planning on going anywhere, and I don’t want this ruining our special day. So…what would Dr. Shiya tell you to do?”

I thought about it, my fingers still trailing all over her body. “I don’t know…recognize it. Let myself feel it. And then…try to come up with examples of how the opposite might be true. Remind myself that the future isn’t set in stone and I’m not a powerless kid anymore.”

Damn, was it really that easy, though? I went quiet, Eva’s heartbeat in my sensitive ears all I could hear for long minutes. I’d lost my parents when I was just a cub, and I’d never managed to find any other home that wanted me in the fourteen years I bounced around the foster system. That was a big part of my fear, if I had to guess. 

But Hellum had been with me through thick and thin for a decade. And now that I was on Billieu we were closer than ever. Eva had had plenty of chances to kick my ass to the curb, and she hadn’t, yet. For three years she’d not just put up with me, she’d loved me, left everything she’d ever known to be with me, and had welcomed me into her life with open arms.

I could admit that it was looking less and less like I was disposable to the wider world, that there were, in fact, people who cared about me and would fight tooth and claw to keep me. My newfound aunt Uraka would probably take on a small army to keep me in her life…if Eva and Maggie didn’t beat her to it.

I supposed it was more the times that people left without deciding it, when life went out of control and took something precious without asking, that was freaking me out. 

“I guess…I guess I just worry that something will happen. That I’ll lose you, pra’ja, when I just found you.”

“Seph…” She cupped my face in her soft little hands, her thumbs tracing over my cheeks. “We’re safe here. We’re safer than we’ve ever been in either of our lives. Could an accident still happen? Sure–no one ever knows what the future’s going to bring. But we could also stumble onto some amazing luck, too. Right? Good things also happen suddenly.”

I studied her face, her gray eyes intent on mine–she still wasn’t sure what to do with my third, her eyes often trailing in a loop to meet them all–then groaned, pulling her in close again. “Fuck, gorgeous. You can’t be the one with all the looks and the brains. You’re gonna give me a complex.” 

She chuckled, her cheeks pink. “Hush, you. You’re plenty handsome and smart. It’s just easier to see other people’s problems clearly, you know?”

I did. I captured her lips in another kiss, careful not to press too hard with my sharp tusks, and let myself sink into my perfect human mate. 

EVA

I thought for sure Seph was going to sniff out the stash of new toys I’d hastily plugged in to charge and then hidden under the bed, the electrical hum of power flowing so loud even to my less-sensitive human ears, but he didn’t seem to notice anything was different. The gods of good sex were smiling down upon me and blessing our anniversary, clearly.

Seph left for class in the late morning, kissing me breathless on his way out and nipping my earlobe in a way that promised filthy things when he got home, and I got to work cooking and baking, having taken the day off from my steadily-growing bakery to celebrate. I played my favorite playlist on my tablet as I mixed and chopped and poured, getting in a bit of a workout from all the dancing. Once the cake was baked and dinner was more or less ready, I hopped in the shower.

Maggie left to meet her friend for a holo around midafternoon, Seph still in class for another hour. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

I no longer wore makeup, since Seph didn’t care and I found it uncomfortable and distracting, but I did pin up bits of my hair, coaxing the dark tresses into dramatic swoops that framed my face prettily, and curled the bits I left down. I carefully put on my sexy new lingerie, mindful of my active sites and taking the time to arrange the many bands for maximum effect. Then I put on a nice dress, making sure it was dark enough that my surprise wouldn’t show through the fabric, before double-checking that the toys were all ready.

Then all that was left to do was wait.

My stunningly handsome mate walked in the door just as I was about to start screaming from the anticipation. He slammed the door behind him, tossing his things carelessly onto the floor as the door locked and he kicked his shoes off. I opened my mouth to greet him, but the words died in my throat at the intense, single-minded look on his face. He stalked over to me like a predator closing in on its meal, my throat drying up even as my fancy lace panties flooded.

I was gonna get it.

He picked me up in a bridal carry as soon as he reached me, barely pausing in his march to the bedroom to grab me. I giggled, leaning in to kiss and nip at his throat.

“Nice to see you, too, sir,” I murmured into his sensitive pointed ear, tracking the outer edge with my tongue to see if I could get him to stumble. “Did you miss me?”

“Gorgeous, missing you doesn’t even come close to describing it.” He set me on the edge of the bed, leaning down and caging me in with his powerful arms. “I’d say it’s more like I’m starving for you.”

Heat suffused me, my breath hitching when his hand settled on my thigh and trailed up, under the hem of my skirt and making its way with unerring accuracy to where I was aching for him. But he paused when his hand encountered the lacy top of my thigh-high stockings, the texture no doubt surprising him. His ginger brow furrowed, his fingers trailing over the material, trying to map it and figure it out. 

I could see exactly when it clicked, a dark grin spreading over his tawny face, flashing his sharp fangs and small tusks at me. “Eva Nadjiza, what is this?”

I bit my lip, leaning back on my elbow so I could slowly lift my skirt, exposing my surprise by degrees, teasing him. “Happy anniversary, Seph,” I said as the skirt reached the tops of my thigh-highs. All three of my mate’s golden eyes were locked on my hand, slowly exposing my legs, his warm bulk still looming over me. 

“Take off the dress, babygirl,” he growled, his eyes darting up to meet mine. “You got me a present, didn’t you?”

I bit my lip again, then grinned. “I said I would. I think you’ll like it,” I purred, slowly sitting up until I was forcing Sephyr upright. Then I stood, telling him to take my place on the bed. 

I tried to make a show of things, caressing my curves through the plain navy blue material of my dress, thrusting out my chest and rolling my hips. Seph groaned, palming the prominent bulge at his groin that was only growing as I teased him. I unzipped the side of my dress, then slipped the loosened fabric up and off my body, revealing my sexy little secret. I tossed the dress on a nearby chair, striking a pose.

“What do you think?” I asked him, smoothing my hands down my body and winking at him.

Seph was frozen, staring at me with a stunned open-mouthed look. I wasn’t even sure he was breathing, not even a single muscle twitching. 

“Was that expensive?” he asked at last, his voice a hoarse rasp I barely recognized.

My brows lowered. “Uh…not really?”

“Good.”

Then he was up, grabbing me and spinning me, getting me underneath him on the bed in the span of a blink. I squeaked, surprised, as he leaned down, taking the delicate lavender bands criss-crossing all over my torso into his teeth, and shredding them without another word.

My pussy clenched hard on nothing, my nipples aching inside their lacy confines, as I watched him rip through the fabric like it was wet tissue paper, baring me in seconds. 

Once all the bands were severed he yanked the ruined lower half of my set out from under my ass and surged up my body, one big, warm hand cupping the back of my head to lift me towards him for a plundering kiss. He was like a man possessed, his lips and tongue and teeth everywhere at once, teasing me and winding me up tight. When I wriggled my hips and felt just how dripping wet I was between my thighs my face flamed, but Seph didn’t give me any room to be self-conscious; he never did.

He rolled us so that I was on top, grabbing me by my ass and hauling me up his body. I settled over his face with a yelp that bled into a deep groan as he yanked my sopping wet sex down onto his mouth and started eating me out like I was the first meal he’d ever had in his life.

Claws pricked at the skin of my thighs, his chest rumbling with a possessive growl as he devoured me, not leaving a single inch of me un-licked and wanting. 

“Fuck, Seph–” I whimpered, my hips grinding my slit harder into his mouth, chasing the orgasm already blazing through me. “Oh my god, you are so amazing. Yes, just like that, baby..” As my pleasure flared hotter my ability to speak melted away, reducing me to animalistic sounds and wordless cries. Then I was breaking, my body bowing forward and a scream tearing free from my throat from the intensity. My fingers sank into his ginger curls, grabbing fistfuls that I tried to keep gentle, as he expertly worked me to drag my orgasm on and on, until it was too much and I had to wrench myself free.

He looked up at me with dazed, half-feral eyes, his face glazed so thoroughly in my release I gasped. But my mate just grinned, peeling his shirt off and wiping himself clean before undoing his pants and yanking them off. 

He was rock-hard, cock flushed and leaking when it slapped against his soft, furred belly. His sleeve looked as wet as I felt, a sheen coating his skin and matting his fur in the immediate area. “Fuck, look at you,” I rasped, my hand plucking at my nipple as my blunt teeth dug into my lip from the force of my desire for the man spread out before me on our bed. My eyes darted to his, and I grinned, sliding off the bed to retrieve the new toys from where I’d stashed them. 

“Now for the rest of your present, my love,” I trilled, just barely suppressing the urge to cackle.

SEPHYR

Damn this woman for stealing my thunder, I thought lovingly as Eva prowled over to the closet, sliding a drawer open and pulling a bag out of the wall storage I’d never seen before. 

“What in Veldar’s creation did I do to deserve all this?” I asked, not even caring if she pulled a blaster out of that bag and used me as target practice. “Seeing you like this is already such a treat.”

She smiled at me, her eyes soft and glowing with affection. “Everything,” she said, pulling something small and bright pink from the bag. “You mean so much to me, Seph. And I wanted to make sure that you know it.”

Fuck, she was gonna have me bawling if she kept talking like that. I held my arm out, waving my hand at her. “Come here, babygirl.”

She did, settling against my body and cupping my face to kiss me. I threaded my fingers through her hair, gently fisting it to keep her locked right where I wanted her. 

I’d forgotten all about the fact that she was holding something, that she still had something in store for me, until I heard a buzzing start up and felt something humming against my skin. I broke the kiss, my brow furrowing in confusion so that my third eye pulled lower, and then Eva’s surprise teased at the rim of my sleeve, and I just about jumped off the bed.

She’d used her vibrators on me there before, so it wasn’t an entirely new sensation, but there was something about the intensity and the cadence this time that was different, that felt fuller and more satisfying. I pulled away to look down my body, and saw that this was, in fact, a new toy, shaped differently from what I was expecting. It almost looked like–

Eva eased the toy into my sleeve, sending sensation barreling through me that was more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. I swore, my back bowing as I canted my hips up towards the sensation, chasing more of it, hungry for it like I’d only ever been hungry for the woman wielding it.

“Veldar’s tits, what did you get, gorgeous?” I groaned, pleasure mounting so fast and hard I was worried I was going to finish far too soon. “Eva–that’s–that’s enough, I think. I’m gonna–”

But she just hummed, throwing her leg over my hips and straddling me in a smooth, practiced motion. Then her perfect pussy was lowering onto my cock, so slick and hot and ready for me that I shouted, my hands latching onto her hips hard enough that my claws probably dug into her soft skin. 

“Eva,” I panted, seconds away from whining. “I need a minute. Please.”

She pouted, looking so disappointed I wanted to laugh, but she sat still in my lap and took the toy out of my sleeve. “Alright. But only because you asked so nice,” she smirked, using the toy on herself instead, her arousal joining mine to glaze the little pink toy so thoroughly it was downright obscene. 

What a woman. 

Her gasps and moans began to fill the air again, her cunt fluttering and throbbing around my cock as she worked her clit, her chest–still covered in delicate pale purple lace that made my teeth ache to bite her–jutting out as her head fell back. 

“That’s my good girl,” I purred, grinning at her as the flush on her chest and throat deepened, her cries of pleasure pitching higher and higher as she neared her peak. “Come on my cock. I want to feel you, gorgeous.” I sat up, pulling her close so I could kiss and nibble at her neck and shoulder like I knew she liked.

Eva froze, not even breathing for a moment, before keening her release, her body bowing towards mine as her cunt clamped down around me like a vise. 

“There it is,” I breathed, trailing kisses along the curve of her jaw, “There’s my good girl. My gorgeous, sexy, perfect mate.” 

Her orgasm went on for long seconds, sobs wrenching from her throat from just how intense the pleasure was, and I couldn’t stop my hips from twitching up into her. Once it was over she was beet-red and dazed, her breasts quivering with her heaving breaths and little aftershocks. 

“You alright, Eva?”

She nodded, smiling at me. “Oh yeah.” She started to ride me again, her cum pooling into my lap. “Now I think it’s your turn.” She slipped the toy back inside me, pumping it loosely in time with her hips. “I insist.”

I dropped back onto my back, my three eyes locked on her face as she worked me, my brain short-circuiting as love and ecstasy flooded me, sweeping me into a kind of trance. 

“Does that feel good, baby?” she asked me, one hand sliding up my belly until she reached my pierced nipple and played with it, tugging it gently until I was groaning from how good she was making me feel. All I could do to answer her was nod, my chest heaving with panting breaths as she rode me hard, my sac yanking up tight as my own orgasm threatened.

Hot pleasure rolled up my spine, my body tightening up so hard my feet and calves cramped, Eva an ethereal goddess hovering over me. She lowered herself to kiss me, her breasts pressing into my chest and her fingers carding through the wild ginger curls of my hair. And then I was there, the pleasure so high and sharp that it was almost too much, my hands tight on my mate’s body as I whimpered softly and emptied into her. She wedged a hand between us to wrench the vibrator out of my sleeve, tossing it carelessly onto the bed beside me as she kissed me in between gentle praise. 

Eventually my brains un-scrambled, and I pressed my forehead to hers, content to share breaths for a few moments. 

“Holy gods, I love you so damn much,” I rasped, kissing her again. It didn’t feel like enough–it never did–but it was all that I had to express how wonderful and precious she was to me, so it would have to do.

“I love you too, Seph,” she murmured back, nuzzling my nose with hers. “With everything I am.” She began kissing along the side of my neck, making me shiver, then leaned in to whisper into my sensitive ear: “Wait ‘til you see what other toys I got to use on you.”

Her voice was dark and velvety, so sexy my sleeve throbbed and my spent cock twitched inside her, where we were still connected. “Pra’ja, are you trying to kill me?”

She just giggled, pecking a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Happy anniversary, love.”

“Happy anniversary,” I smiled back, confident that Veldar had thoroughly blessed our union. 

I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with this incredible female.