Page 35 of Reptile Dysfunction

“Mason,” she moans. “Please fuck me, oh, my… Mason!”

I can feel her gripping me tighter. She must be so close. I dip my left hand down between her thighs and find her clit again. Her moans turn to screams of pleasure as she writhes against my fingers and hips.

Charlotte is beautiful like this, chasing her own pleasure and gripping the bed sheets like she’s holding on for her life. Her walls tighten around my cock and she throws her head back, screaming my name.

“Mason!”

And that sweet call sends me over the edge with her.

We stay connected like this for a short while, just catching our breath. Charlotte sighs and sits up, leaning back and resting her face against mine. I turn, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek. I can feel her mouth turn up in a smile. Then she dissolves into a series of giggles and pulls away, slapping her hands over her face.

My snakes were investigating the situation, sniffing her with their tongues.

“My apologies, they can be… curious,” I say with embarrassment.

Charlotte stands up and retrieves her clothing from the floor, all the while with a bright smile and blush on full display. “One day you’re going to have to tell me all about how that works. Like, do you share a brain with them? I’m so intrigued.”

I truly hadn’t thought of that before, and as I’m trying to come up with a rational answer, I notice she’s getting dressed already.

“Heading out?” I ask, barely masking my disappointment.

“Yeah,” she says. Charlotte looks back at me with wide eyes like she wasn’t expecting to end this encounter any other way. “My editor is probably blowing up my phone, wondering where my draft about the new exhibit at the Cryptozoology Museum is.” She pauses, making sure she has all of her possessions and walks back to give me a very chaste peck on the cheek. “I’ll call you,” she says with a wink.

And before I even have a chance to get my pants back on, she’s out the door and gone.

Oh.

Well, I am certainly a fool, aren’t I? I can’t deny how right everything feels. How amazing that moment between us just felt. But it’s obvious Charlotte doesn’t feel the same way.

All of this relationship building, the budding intimacy, the sex, this is most likely all a ruse to repair her image as a reporter. To get on my good side, to make me adore her and forget everything she did.

I sit on the bed where I’d hoped we could stay, enjoying each other’s company, maybe even getting a bite for dinner later tonight. But her mind is only on one thing, her career.

And that’s fine if that’s what she wants. I get the game, of course. I’m not an idiot, and I’m not about to let her walk all over me like that. No hard feelings or anything, but I need to watch myself. She’s a beautiful girl, but I’m not going to become a fool over a pretty face.

As I finish getting dressed, I hear my phone’s text notification. It’s a message from Charlotte. She wants to know if I’m available for lunch tomorrow.

My first instinct is to say yes, but then I think better of it.

Sorry, I text back. Booked solid for the week.

Then I set my phone down and resolve to be more careful of a certain industrious reporter next time.

21

CHARLOTTE

SORRY. BOOKED SOLID FOR THE WEEK.

I frown at the message like it owes me money and a lot of it. Why am I so upset to hear this? So, so… flushed all of a sudden. I bring a slightly trembling hand up to my cheek, knowing without needing a mirror that my face is red.

I rack my brain for an appropriate response. Something witty and professional, sort of like our relationship.

Says the reporter who just let someone with snakes for hair take her to pound town.

“No, you did not just say that.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and try once again to muster a comeback that says ‘no big deal’ but with flavor.

“Not a problemo. Catch you on the flip side.” I wince and look around me. The closest pedestrian is a few paces behind and playing with their own cell. She didn’t hear me. I grit my teeth and speed-walk down the street, hoping to keep it that way.