Free Cherry Stem by Sotia Lazu Page A

I was with you.”
    I tried to speak, but nothing came out of my mouth. Unless you want to count that mewling sound I wished I could take back. He sounded sincere, which was unsettling. What was more unsettling was that I cared.
    When I finally spoke, my voice lacked conviction. “This is serious, Constantine.”
    “This is serious too.” He moved between my legs and guided my hand down his front to his cock.
    I pulled away like I’d been burned. “No. That ”—I pointed to his groin—“is stupid . You don’t want me. You just hate having lost me.”
    “I hate having lost you because I want you.”
    “To complete your collection?” Why was I letting him pull me into that talk? We’d had it a million times over the phone.
    “Because I can’t live without you.”
    “You’re already dead. It doesn’t matter.”
    “I made a mistake, Cherry. I’ve apologized a million times and will apologize a million more. It meant nothing.”
    Yeah, sure. It had meant nothing. According to him, that was why it had happened often, because it had meant nothing. “ Vampires are overly sexual beings ,” he’d kept telling me when we were together. “ We are driven by our passions and our lust .” When I’d said that made us animals, he’d countered that it made us superhuman; the way we let our wants dictate our actions held us above society’s rules and conventions. I’d said that was bullshit, and he’d said I was too young to know better. I’d wanted him to be monogamous, something rare in our kind. He’d made an effort just for me, which was why he’d only been fucking Ádísa. Because it had meant nothing.
    Well, it had meant a lot to me , and I said so now, like I had back then.
    He grabbed my wrist and, when I moved to slap him with my free hand, managed to somehow trap that too. “I love that you’re so stubborn.”
    Then the asshole kissed me.
    It was nothing like the kisses Alex and I had been exchanging for the last two days, although it did have the same bone-jellifying effect. It was dominant and possessive, and I didn’t want it.
    For four years, I’d avoided meeting him, despite calls and letters that begged me to do so, because I’d been afraid I’d give in to the passion he’d always ignited in me. And before Alex, I probably would have. After Alex, however, hot and irresistible as Constantine might be, it was only my body that wanted him. The body has its own memory. It remembers how a touch made it shiver once, remembers how it felt to be taken by an experienced lover.
    Sadly for my former lover, those memories weren’t enough to overcome the memory of his betrayal, or the memory of another lover, a considerate one, waiting for me.
    I freed my hands and shoved him back so hard he’d have flown across the room if he were human. As it was, he barely saved himself the embarrassment of falling on his ass.
    “You don’t get to kiss me.” I stabbed the air with my index finger. “You don’t get to touch me and make me want you. We’ve been over this.”
    “I love—”
    “You don’t get to do that , either. You’d convinced me I was nothing without you, and you just hate that I know better now.”
    His face hardened, and I had the niggling suspicion I was not entirely right on that account—not that I cared. I didn’t. Wouldn’t . Even if part of me wanted to hug him and hold him close.
    “You’re not getting me back, Constantine. Ever.” I hated that his eyes squeezed shut with something akin to pain at my words. I hated that I cared.
    He finally tightened his robe around him. “I’ll let you know when I’ve spoken to the council.”
    I nodded. “Thank you.”
    “They may ask what it’s about.” He turned his back to me and walked to the door. I reassessed my earlier reflection on similarities between him and Alex and added one. They both swaggered with a feline grace that made me feel like a klutz.
    I followed, happy my legs were steady. “I think there is a rogue out