When the thirty-first arrived, the apartment was packed again.
Everyone was in costume, walking around, sitting down, bending things and generally trying to discover what was going to break before they left. Beth, Ellen and Magnus moved between them doing last-minute fixes.
I found Rina and Leah having breakfast and sat down beside them.
“What’s the plan for today?”
Leah put down her fork.
“We drop everyone at the Hard Rock’s back entrance at five. They need two hours for makeup, briefing and positioning before the event starts.”
“And us?”
“We arrive at seven through the main entrance.”
“Fancy.”
“There’s a red carpet and everything.”
I looked at her.
“Are we doing the red carpet?”
“Technically, yes. But we’re not famous, Mia. The photographers are unlikely to care very much about us.”
“Like actual photographers?”
“Yes. I expect most of the fashion and entertainment press will be there. Photo agencies, magazines, television crews.”
“Oh.”
Fuck.
I had assumed red carpets were mostly decorative.
“Again, don’t worry about it. It’s mostly a celebrity hunt. See what famous people dress up as. We’re not famous, so nobody is going to give us the time of day.”
Leah took another bite of her breakfast.
“According to Mini, we should arrive around seven. There’ll be a few photography areas along the carpet, but we can most likely just walk straight through.”
“Who is Mini?”
“The Managing Director of Cornucopia Events. They’re handling the VIP side of this.”
Leah stopped mid-chew.
“I wonder if they knew who I was when they hired VV to provide a third of their monster cast.”
She smiled.
“My mother would find it hilarious if her daughter saved a Cornucopia event.”
I was already looking up the company when I found the event we were going to.
Heidi Klum’s Halloween Party 2026.
“Tickets are five thousand pounds per person!?”
Leah looked over at my phone.
“That’s the member rate. Look up the membership cost.”
I did.
“A hundred thousand for lifetime membership!?”
“I did say this was an exclusive party.”
Several cars came to pick up the talent at four thirty. Rina was in full costume, along with everyone else.
“Call me if anything goes wrong,” Leah told her.
“I’ll handle it. You are not working today.”
“But if I can fix it—”
“If you can fix it, I can fix it. I’ve got this, Leah. Relax.”
Leah looked like she wanted to argue.
She didn’t.
The elevator closed on Rina, Elias and Rowan.
Only me and Leah were left in the apartment.
“Feels like forever since it was just you and me in this place.”
“It has been a long two weeks.”
“Let’s try to avoid doing that again.”
“Yeah. I need a vacation before doing something like that again.”
Leah looked at her watch.
“Two hours until the car gets here. Let’s get into costume.”
We got into our costumes and tested the sword connectors.
The magnets snapped mine into place against my back.
Fucking magnets. How do they work?
“Miracles.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
It was a fairly light makeup job. Mostly just exaggerating things to make our faces look a little more like the characters.
Leah extended the corners of her lips slightly, giving her more of Satsuki’s permanent sour expression.
I got thicker eyebrows and sharper eyeliner that made my eyes look narrower.
“Is this racist?”
“No.”
“Is it because you’re doing the makeup?”
“Yes. This is officially Asian-approved cultural appropriation. As a member of the approved demographic, I’m authorized to grant exemptions.”
“For makeup?”
“Makeup, costumes, selected hairstyles. I’ll give you a stamp later.”
“Cool. Just wanted to make sure.”
The car arrived at six thirty, precise as always.
It had probably been sitting outside for ten minutes, waiting until exactly six thirty to send Leah the notification.
That was how they maintained the illusion.
When we came downstairs, the driver was already standing beside the car under a large black umbrella.
The moment we stepped out of the building, he hurried over and held it above us.
“Good evening, Ms. Takahashi.”
“Good evening.”
He walked us to the car under the umbrella, opened the rear door, and waited until we were both inside before closing it.
Very fancy.
More importantly, neither of us was wet.
The drive took roughly thirty minutes before our car joined a line of black SUVs.
The line moved slowly along Forty-Eighth.
A woman in a headset worked her way up the cars, stopping at each driver’s window.
Our driver lowered his.
“Takahashi and guest.”
She checked her tablet, glanced into the back seat, then nodded.
“You’re good. Follow the marshal.”
At around seven fifteen, we reached the red carpet.
Someone opened our door and offered Leah a hand.
She took it and stepped out.
A few flashes went off.
I followed her.
A couple more.
Then our car pulled away.
The SUV behind us immediately rolled forward.
Its doors opened and four women stepped out in coordinated black-and-gold demon costumes.
The photographers suddenly woke up.
“Fuck, take my arm. These heels don’t do well on wet carpet.”
I linked my arm through Leah’s.
The women behind us moved past quickly, their handlers guiding them toward one of the marked photography areas.
Cameras started firing properly.
Leah tightened her arm around mine as we kept walking.
“If I go down, make it dramatic. It would go so viral!”
I burst out laughing.
Once we got off the wet carpet and onto the tile, Leah was much more comfortable and let go of my arm.
“Okay, this is much better.”
The entrance opened into a dark blue and brass foyer, with what looked like actual cymbals covering parts of the walls.
There was another check-in desk ahead of us.
Apparently getting approved by the woman outside had only earned us the right to get this far.
Leah gave them her name, we showed our IDs, and then security wanted to inspect the swords.
“Can you remove the blade for me?”
“Yeah.”
I twisted it sideways and pulled.
The magnets released and I handed it over.
He ran a hand along the edge, checked the point and gave the shell a couple of taps.
“What’s inside?”
“Aluminum tube,” Leah said. “The shell is nylon. No exposed metal, no edge.”
He checked something on his tablet.
“You declared both props?”
“Yes.”
“You’re good.”
We reattached our swords to our backs like fucking anime protagonists, where you can just slap a sword against your spine and it will stick.
It looked so fucking cool, but nobody was filming us.
Apparently all the cameras that mattered were still outside.
Once cleared, we passed a coat check and followed the sound of music deeper inside.
Then we reached the stairs.
“Oh.”
The party was below us.
It was like somebody had taken a very expensive nightclub and cut the middle out of it.
The lower floor spread out beneath us, packed with costumes, tables and people moving between them. Bars ran along the edges, and an enormous screen covered most of the far wall.
One corner of the lower bar had been turned into some kind of fake blood bank. Red coolers were stacked behind it, and people were walking away carrying clear blood bags full of dark red wine, drinking from tubes like deeply committed vampires.
The upper level wrapped around part of the room, with people leaning against the rail and looking down.
There had to be hundreds of people in there already.
“Is that Gwen?” I said, pointing at a woman who was clearly more than a foot taller than almost everyone else on the bottom floor.
She was carrying a tray of champagne and canapés, lowering it for anyone who looked like they needed food or a drink.
Then I saw Imani.
She was rolling between the tables collecting empty glasses and plates, while people kept stopping her to examine the mechanical fish tail beneath her chair.
The whole room was darker than I had expected.
Most of the light came from candles and strips around the bars. The huge screen across the room mostly showed black shapes moving through dark red fog, but every few minutes it resolved into the Apothic logo before bleeding apart again.
The middle of the lower floor had been left mostly open. People stood in groups around tall tables or wandered between them, while leather couches and booths ran around the edges.
There was another bar downstairs, and I could see one up on our level too.
“Holy shit.”
Leah looked at me.
“What?”
“This is a nightclub.”
“Yeah.”
“I thought it was going to be, like, rich people standing in a ballroom.”
“No. That party is at the Metropolitan Club. This is the cool rich person party.”
“Well, we are cool, so we should be here.”
“Damn straight.”
She touched my shoulder.
“Let’s get down there.”
We headed down to the lower level, and I spotted Rina posing with a couple of celebrities.
She had one hand around each of their necks, staring grimly at the camera.
They were dressed as movie monsters themselves, but next to Rina they looked fucking tiny.
I walked over to a table, and Gwen saw me. She moved slowly through the crowd toward me, then bent down and offered the tray.
“What’s worth eating?”
She immediately glanced toward the other side of the room.
“Anything coming out on the east side. That’s where most of the fresh platters come in, so it gets replaced constantly.”
“Specific recommendations?”
“Wild salmon is really good. Avoid the shrimp.”
“Bad?”
“Not bad. Just been sitting longer than I’d like.”
I nodded seriously.
“Important intelligence.”
I looked down at her tray.
“And drinks?”
“Go to the bar.”
“Nothing good here?”
Gwen looked at the glasses she was carrying.
“Sangria. It’s fine. But they have Red Widows at the bar.”
“Better?”
“Much.”
“Nice, thank you.”
She straightened back up and continued through the crowd.
Leah joined me at the table.
“Don’t eat the shrimp. Salmon is good. East side has the freshest stuff, and the bar has the good stuff, and something called ‘Red Widow’ that I want to try. What they carry around is cheap sangria.”
Leah looked at me.
“You’re interrogating the staff for inside information? Wherever did you learn that dirty trick?”
“No idea. Seemed like the smart thing to do.”
She smiled at me, and I smiled back.
“I’ll get us drinks from the bar and food from the east side. Salmon, not shrimp. You want a blood bag?”
“Get me something blue. I want it to match my outfit,” I told her before she left.
I looked around at the people. The place was maybe a third full, so I expected it to get a lot busier.
There were a lot of monsters I didn’t know. Their costumes were decent, but not as good as ours.
I spotted one over in the corner getting grabbed by some YouTuber I recognized but couldn’t remember the name of. He was already drunk, wearing a Heated Rivalry hockey jersey over jeans and sneakers. Apparently that counted as a costume.
She had horns and those weird backward-bending satyr legs. She was trying to be nice and accommodating to the asshole, but he kept trying to yank one of her horns off.
I walked over briskly and kicked him in the shin.
“Seriously? I figured you’d have been told this enough times by now. Don’t touch the entertainment.”
He let go of her horn and rubbed his shin.
“Ow, fuck you, bitch.”
I grabbed the handle of my sword.
“What did you call me?”
He started backing away.
“Cheesus, chill the fuck out.”
He turned and limped away.
I looked at the tiefling. She was holding her horn.
“You okay?”
“The horn is a bit loose, he pulled hard.”
“Did he break it?”
“Not broken. He pulled the adhesive loose.”
Leah came up beside me with food and drinks.
“What happened?”
“Some asshole pulled her horn.”
Leah leaned closer and put down the drinks.
“Hold still.”
She reached inside her jacket and I heard Velcro rip.
I stared at it.
“You made a secret repair kit?”
“Secret Emergency Repair kit.”
“Rina specifically told you that you were not working tonight.”
“But what if our costumes broke? Also, this is an emergency.”
I grunted. We did not have any parts that could easily break, but this was not a hill worth fighting on.
“What did you use?” Leah asked the tiefling.
“Pros-Aide.”
Leah opened a tiny bottle.
“Good.”
Leah worked a little adhesive under the lifted edge and waited.
“Give it a second.”
Once it went tacky, she pressed the horn back into place.
The tiefling held still and let Leah work while looking over Leah’s outfit.
“Wait.”
Leah glanced up.
“You’re Vesper Velvet.”
Leah paused.
“Yes.”
“Holy shit. I follow you on Instagram.”
Leah smiled at that.
“Thank you.”
Leah guided her hand up to the horn.
“Hold that there.”
She checked her watch.
“Five minutes.”
She gave her costume a once-over.
“Who made this?”
“I did.” She did a twirl. “They gave us a design brief and color palette, but we supplied our own costumes.”
“All of it?”
“Mostly. I bought the boots.”
“Who are you working through?”
“Ascent Talent.”
Leah nodded.
“They supplied the costume materials?”
She laughed.
“No. They sent me the brief. I had to make it myself.”
“What’s their cut?”
“Twenty percent.”
“And they reimbursed you for the materials for fabrication?”
“No, the offer was twelve hundred for the night, provided we made the outfit.”
Leah shook her head.
“Twelve hundred total, and you have to build the costume yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“So effectively two hundred for the outfit, before their cut?”
Leah shook her head.
“Savages in this town.”
Leah reached into her pocket and handed her a card.
“Email me next week.”
She looked down at it.
Then back at Leah.
“You run an agency?”
Leah turned around and pointed at Rina, Imani, Gwen and Felix.
“And there are four more of my people here tonight. They’re getting a thousand for the event, and I provided the costumes.”
She looked back at the card.
“My commission is fifteen percent.”
“Fifteen?”
“Yeah.”
“And you provide the costume?”
“If the contract calls for one.”
She tucked the card into a pocket on her costume.
“I’ll email you tomorrow.”
She let go of her horn and gave Leah a small, satyr-like bow.
“It has been a pleasure, but there are many tasks to do.”
She walked away, grabbed a serving tray, and headed back onto the floor.
I picked up the blue drink Leah had brought me.
“What is this?”
“No idea. You asked for blue.”
I gave it a sniff and took a sip.
“It’s blue.”
Leah picked up the plate of salmon again.
I took a piece and pointed it at her.
“You realize Rina is going to count that as working.”
“I repaired one horn.”
“And recruited someone.”
“She recruited herself.”
“Pitching her on lower cuts and free outfits is not self-recruiting.”
“Poor girl was getting ripped off. I helped as much as you did.”
“I threatened Eww-the-Pie ’cause he was harassing her. Ryūko would do nothing less.”
“And Satsuki would exploit the situation to her own ends.”
“Touché.”
Leah spotted someone on the far side of the room.
“Okay, I need to see how that was made. I’ll be back.”
She took her drink but left me with the food.
Someone came up to my table and pointed at the sword. She was dressed as M3GAN, with pale contact lenses that kept the creepy doll look.
“Wait, how is that attached?”
I turned slightly.
“The blade? Magnets.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. There’s a harness underneath with a steel plate and small hinge.”
“So it comes off?”
I twisted the blade.
Click.
One magnet released, then the other.
I held the blade out, arm straight, like Ryūko pointing it at Satsuki.
“Holy shit. That is so cool.”
“Thank you.”
I snapped the blade back onto my back.
I pointed at Rina.
“That woman made it for me.”
Then I pointed at Magnus.
“And that guy designed the mount mechanism.”
“Are you working here tonight?”
“Nope. I’m the plus-one.”
“Who did you come with?”
I pointed at Leah.
“That woman.”
She followed my finger.
“Oh. Vesper Velvet.”
“You know her?”
“I was on the team that vetted VV for tonight.”
“Vetted?”
“I looked through her pitch, checked her background. Gave the thumbs up on the contract.”
She took another look at Leah.
“Then when production needed more people, I suggested they go back to her. Ascent had already exhausted most of the costume talent they had available, so Leah was the best option for filling the gap.”
She looked back at my sword.
“That also explains this.”
“You make costumes?”
“Mostly creature effects and specialty fabrication. Prosthetics, mechanisms, that kind of thing.”
I looked at her M3GAN outfit.
“And you went with this?”
She looked down at herself.
“Don’t underestimate a good simple outfit. It’s recognizable, it’s not warm or constricting, and it has iconic dance moves.”
“You have clearly given this a lot of thought.”
I looked toward the entrance.
“So what did you make for Heidi?”
“Not directly. Some parts.”
“Tell me what she’s dressed as.”
“Absolutely not. I want to be hired again next year.”
Leah arrived back at the table.
“Hello, Jenna. Is my girlfriend harassing you?”
“Hey, she came to me. Wanted to look at my awesome blade.”
Jenna laughed.
“I don’t think we ever properly met in person, Leah.”
She extended her hand, and Leah took it.
“What you delivered was impressive. I think you’ll get a similar contract next year.”
“Give me the full lot next year and I’ll throw in a discount.”
She gave Leah a smile.
“Maybe I will.”
Jenna picked up her drink and disappeared back into the crowd.
I looked at Leah.
“You’re really good at not working.”
“That was networking.”
“Rina is definitely going to appreciate the distinction.”
She gave me a look.
“What Rina does not know can’t hurt me.”
The night continued, and I had managed to grab myself one of those blood bags of wine I’d seen people drinking from.
Drinking from medical waste. Check that off my list.
The lights suddenly dimmed and flickered, and I noticed more organized movement around the room.
“What’s happening?” I asked Leah.
“I think the Queen has arrived.”
The upper level brightened, and I saw a group of people spread out as a single figure walked into the club.
It stopped at the railing and looked down at everyone.
The room erupted.
Everyone cheered, and the thing raised both arms, accepting the welcome.
It walked down the stairs, and I could see it more clearly now.
Tall. Bald. Skin so pale it looked almost grey under the club lights.
The body was all wiry muscle and sharp bones, like something starved but still dangerous.
Its chest was bare, streaked with dried blood that ran from the mouth down the throat and over the sternum in a dark, crusted line.
More blood was smeared across the collarbones and ribs, like it had fed messily and not bothered to clean up.
It wore tight black leather pants, low on the hips, with enough buckles and hardware to make it look halfway between clubwear and movie monster. Its hands hung slightly forward as it moved, the fingers ending in long dark claws that looked sharp enough to open someone up.
And the face…
At first I thought it was just some kind of ugly vampire makeup. Bald head. Sunken eyes. Mouth too wide. Ears pulled out wrong.
Then it got to the bottom of the stairs, turned toward the room, and its mouth opened.
Not opened.
Unfolded.
“What the fuck?”
Its jaw split apart into petals of flesh, peeling outward and exposing layers of teeth and wet red muscle underneath.
The whole room lost its mind.
“We should’ve watched Blade II.”
I heard Rina behind me.
She was standing there staring at Heidi’s costume.
“That mechanism is incredible,” Leah said.
“The actual mouth is buried in the gore in the center,” Magnus said. “Those upper teeth are fake. Looks like small actuators pulling the outer sections open and closed.”
I looked over at him. He was standing beside Leah now, completely focused on Heidi.
“The eyes are hers, but everything around them is built out. It’s basically like she’s sitting inside a vampire suit. Must be very warm.”
“Nah. Those blue veins are the cooling loop. Pump is in the lower back, and the coolant runs through a heat exchanger cooled by dry ice before going back around the body.”
Jenna had joined the conversation.
“You used glycol with blue dye?” Magnus asked.
“No. The tubing is blue. Coolant’s clear.”
“Dry ice?”
“Separate chamber. Closed liquid loop.”
Magnus nodded.
“That’s clever.”
“The cooling system keeps the human inside from cooking. It only seemed poetic to use the costume’s blood vessels for it.”
Heidi picked up one of the blood bags.
“Oh, check this out,” Jenna said.
Heidi pushed the drinking tube into the opening in the center of her mouth, and the face closed up to look almost human again.
A second later, we could see the wine moving up the tube.
“I had the idea when we saw the blood-bag design. Made sure she could actually drink from them through the costume. You know, for the optics.”
“Very cool,” Rina said.
“That’s disgusting,” I said.
Jenna smiled.
“Thank you.”
The music got loud again, and I recognized this one immediately.
The club scene music from Blade.
Cages descended from the ceiling, each one holding a dancer dressed as a vampire.
Around the room, other performers vaulted and backflipped onto the dance floor before joining in.
“I guess this is where we dance?” I said to Leah.
Leah smiled at me, took my hand, and led me toward the dance floor.
Once we were in the crowd, we let go.
The beat was fast and repetitive, the kind where nobody needed to know any actual dance moves.
I started moving with it.
Head bobbing. Shoulders. Hands up, then down again. Little repetitive motions that changed whenever the beat did.
Leah was doing the same a few feet away from me.
I caught her looking at me and grinned.
She grinned back.
Then we both went back to dancing.
I stopped thinking about what I looked like after maybe thirty seconds.
The sword stayed exactly where it was supposed to.
Rina had been right about that too.
We danced through several more ’90s rave songs before I tapped out. I went back to my medical wine and took a long drag.
Leah joined me.
“Much improved since we were out dancing last.”
“Yeah. Turns out I’m pretty good when I stop thinking about what everyone else is doing.”
“That way lies enlightenment, you know.”
Felix came up to Leah.
“Do you have any emergency sewing stuff? I tore something.”
I gave Leah a look.
She visibly restrained herself.
“Find Rina. She has a kit.”
Felix went hunting for Rina, and I smiled at Leah.
“See, was that so hard?”
“Yes, I could have fixed it right away.”
“Yeah, but you knew it was Rina’s job.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Guess we’re both getting used to our new roles.”
The night continued with more drinking and small talk, but nothing major. At around one, we decided we should head home.
Leah pulled out her phone.
“I’ll call the car.”
“Private Uber does late-night pickup?”
“Would not be an upgrade if they provided less service.”
She looked down at her phone.
“Okay, fifteen minutes. Let’s find Rina.”
We found Rina taking photos with some guests. We waited patiently for them to finish before she came over.
“What’s up?”
Leah replied before I could say anything.
“We’re leaving in ten. You good getting home? And getting Darius back to us?”
“I’ll make sure everyone is clear before I head home, and I’ll share an Uber with him so he gets past the doorman.”
“Anything else I need to worry about?”
“Nobody died, nothing major broke, and production is happy.”
“Excellent.”
“And you only tried to work how many times?”
I held up two fingers behind Leah’s back.
“Not even once.”
“You lie better when you’ve had a drink, Leah. Should remember this.”
The car was waiting when we came outside.
I sank into the leather seat and leaned my head against the window.
The city moved past outside, wet streets reflecting everything back at us.
Leah was beside me, still in the ridiculous boots, scrolling through something on her phone.
Probably work.
I looked down at the leather underneath me.
A few months ago I would have been wondering how much the car cost. How much the party cost. Whether I was sitting wrong on something this expensive.
Tonight it was just the car taking us home.
I looked back at Leah.
My girlfriend.
That used to feel like a status. Like I’d won something. Leah Takahashi was my girlfriend.
It didn’t feel like that anymore.
The apartment wasn’t Leah’s place I was staying at.
Rina wasn’t Leah’s friend.
Tonight hadn’t been Leah’s party that she brought me to.
Somewhere along the way, all that shit had stopped being hers.
It was just our life.
Leah looked up from her phone.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I moved closer and rested my head against her shoulder.
She leaned her head against mine, made a soft noise, then went back to her phone.
I closed my eyes and smiled.
Leah made it through the front door and started working on getting her boots off.
“No, no. The boots stay on.”
Leah looked at me.
“Oh?”
“I’ve been looking at a lot of Kill la Kill Rule 34.”
Leah’s expression changed.
“Have you now?”
She straightened up slowly, lifted her chin, and looked down at me like I had personally disappointed the student council.
“Student.”
My stomach did something stupid.
“Yeah?”
“On your knees.”
I dropped to my knees, doing my best to give her a bratty look.
Leah walked closer. The boots stopped right in front of my face. She planted one foot slightly forward so the toe of the boot pressed under my chin and tilted my head up.
“You spent the entire night staring at me in this uniform.”
“Did not.”
“You did. Every time I talked to someone. You looked like you wanted to bite through the fabric.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but she pressed the toe a little harder under my jaw.
“Don’t lie to your president.”
Fuck.
I swallowed.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled. Small. Mean. Perfect Satsuki smile.
“Good girl.”
She took a step back and walked over to the couch to sit on the armrest, legs crossed, one boot swinging. The cape pooled behind her.
“Come.”
I crawled. The skirt rode up. Cool air hit the backs of my thighs. I twisted my blade off and put it on the floor.
When I reached her, she uncrossed her legs and spread them just enough.
“You wanted the boots on. Prove you know what to do with them.”
I leaned in and kissed the side of the left boot. Leather. Warm from her foot. She watched me like she was grading the technique.
I worked my way up the leather, slow, open-mouthed. When I reached the top of the boot, she put two fingers under my chin again and forced my eyes up.
“Tongue out.”
I stuck it out. She pressed the tip of the boot against it and dragged it slowly across my tongue, smearing saliva.
“Disgusting,” she said, almost fond. “You really have been looking at that trash.”
“A lot of it.”
“Show me the part you liked most.”
She lifted her skirt.
I hesitated half a second too long. She tapped my cheek with two fingers.
“Now, Ryūko.”
I caught myself and leaned in. I moved her panties aside. Her skirt fell over my head, and I could not see her anymore.
She was so warm and wet, smelling just like my Leah.
I licked a slow stripe up the middle, tasting her, my president.
Leah’s hand landed on the back of my head and pushed me in harder.
“Properly.”
I opened my mouth and got to work. Tongue flat, then pointed. I slipped a finger into her and matched it to the rhythm of my tongue.
The skirt muffled everything. I could hear my own wet noises more than her breathing.
She spread her legs and put a boot on my shoulder. Heel digging in just enough to remind me it was still there.
“Slower.”
I slowed.
She tightened her hand in my hair and pulled me closer.
I pushed my tongue in as far as it would go and felt her clench around it.
“You’ve been practicing on that trash, haven’t you?”
I made a noise against her that was supposed to be a yes. It came out a murmur.
She laughed once, short and mean.
“Good. Keep going.”
I did. Lost track of time under there. Just the taste of her and the pressure of the boot and the way her hips started rolling against my face when I hit the right rhythm.
When she came, it was quiet. A sharp inhale, thighs locking hard around my head. She held me there through it, grinding against my mouth until she was done.
Then she lifted the skirt off my head.
I blinked up at her, face wet, lipstick probably smeared to shit.
Leah looked down at me like she was inspecting a finished assignment.
“Acceptable.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of the red glove.
“Just acceptable?”
She tapped my cheek again with two fingers, almost gentle.
“For a delinquent.”
She pointed at the arm of the couch.
“Underwear off. Bend over. Skirt up.”
I quickly stepped out of my underwear and bent over the couch. Elbows on the cushion, ass in the air, skirt flipped over my back.
Leah stepped in behind me. The boots clicked once on the floor, then went quiet.
One hand landed on the back of my neck and pressed down, keeping my face against the cushion. The other hand dragged slowly over the back of my thigh, then higher.
“All that attitude, and look where it got you.”
I opened my mouth to answer.
The first spank landed before I got a word out. Sharp. Open palm. Right across my left ass cheek.
I jerked.
She didn’t let me move. Hand on my neck stayed firm.
“Count.”
“One.”
Another. Harder.
“Two.”
By five, the sting wasn’t disappearing between hits anymore. My whole ass felt hot.
She slid a finger between my legs.
“Not enough. I think you need a few more.”
Fuck.
Five had only been an inspection.
She kept going until she decided I was acceptable, then went back between my legs and started stroking me.
I felt embarrassed and excited at the same time. A stupid little laugh escaped into the couch.
“So you think this is funny?”
“I think the student council has become dangerously authoritarian.”
“Oh, you’ve seen nothing yet.”
She pushed two fingers into me without warning. Deep. Right where she wanted them. My knees tried to buckle.
“Stay up.”
I locked my legs. The boots stayed planted on either side of my feet. I could feel the leather against my calves every time she shifted.
Her other hand stayed firm on the back of my neck while her fingers kept moving. Every time I pushed back, she clicked her tongue like I was being greedy.
“Ask properly.”
I swallowed.
“Please, President.”
She didn’t answer right away. Just kept going until my thighs were shaking and the only sound in the room was how wet I was.
Then she leaned over me, mouth close to my ear, still fully dressed, boots still on, cape brushing the backs of my thighs.
“Come for me.”
I did. Face mashed into the cushion, fingers clawing at nothing. She worked me through it until I was twitching and oversensitive and trying to squirm away.
Only then did she pull her fingers out, wipe them on the inside of my thigh, and give my ass one last light pat.
“Better.”
I stayed bent over for another few seconds, breathing hard, skirt still up, the sting fading into heat.
Behind me I heard her walking toward the stairs.
Still in the boots.