Cynthia Fic

        Cynthia pushed open the door of the bar wearily, aching for anything that could help her forget about today’s debacle.  The bar itself wasn’t that impressive, it was a bit of a dive to be honest, and she was pretty sure that the décor hadn’t been updated since the 70’s or 80’s.  Still, she thought with a rueful smile, any port in a storm.  She walked to the bar and settled down on a stool far from the other patrons and pondered for a few seconds over what poison she was going to use to abuse her liver tonight, before settling on a Long Island Iced Tea.  That should help put her on her ass nicely, she thought as she placed an order with the bartender, and it didn’t sound as desperate as straight whiskey or vodka.

        Her mind drifted back to the events of the past few hours as she watched the bartender go about his work.  The date with Rena had been nothing short of a disaster.  It had started off decently enough, she had managed to get the girl in something other than jeans and a t-shirt, and the hero had actually been flirting back with her for once, but her dear sister had ruined all of her plotting and plans.  As usual.   She glanced up as a tall glass was set before her and thanked the barkeep before slipping her card across the counter.  Open tab of course, this was going to be a long night.

        She took a deep gulp of the drink, reveling in the warm burn of the alcohol that promised to dull her emotions and keep her memories at bay, before reluctantly setting the glass down.  No matter how badly she needed it, she at least had to maintain some façade of classiness.  That decision lasted for all of a handful of seconds before the glass was back in her hands, though she was limiting herself to sipping.  No matter how hard she tried to focus on enjoying the drink though, her mind kept wanting to replay the dinner, almost like the urge to scratch at a scab until it bled.

        It had all been going so perfectly.  Rena was keeping Bridgette from pushing the relationship forward, which gave Cynthia plenty of room to win the girl’s heart for herself.  Why, the hero had been actively seeking her out over the past few weeks, like she actually enjoyed their time together, and had even initiated some of their trysts.  Then Bridgette had stormed into one of their dates, attacked her, and Rena threw a rock at –her- instead of her traitorous kin.

        Cynthia winced as she recalled the worst part of all, and killed the rest of the drink.  Rena had said that she loved Bridgette.  Not only that, but it seemed that she only ‘liked’ the villain who had been actually treating her to dates and teaching her the wonders of shape shifting abilities.  She sucked on her straw, desperate for something to kill the shame, before realizing that her glass was empty.  A glance at the rest of the patrons of the bar, a bare handful of old lushes who were too busy drowning their own sorrows to bother with judging her drinking habits, finally decided it.  She sighed and ordered another Iced Tea.  Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes, she was going to keep drinking until she fell off this stool.

        The drink in her hand suffered a quick and messy death as she took stock on her love life, which led to the startling revelation that she really was worried about how things with Rena were going to turn out.  As much as she hated being tied down by relationships, she was…fond of the girl, and was now very much in danger of losing her completely to Bridgette.  It wasn’t set in stone yet, and she didn’t mind the polyamorous relationship they had agreed upon in the slightest, but she could see the writing on the wall after watching the hero moon over Bridgette when they talked things out after the dinner date.

        Maybe she should have been a bit more honest with her feelings, she thought wearily as she ordered an amaretto sour.  She had pushed Rena away every time the girl had tried to kiss her or make things serious.  It was a massive mistake, looking back on it, but taking a relationship this seriously was fairly rare for her.  She was much more used to one night stands or friends with benefits.  No intimacy unless she wanted it, no obligations, no need to explain why letting anybody past her defenses was so hard.

        She didn’t bother looking up from her drink as someone brushed by and settled in the stool next to her, too intent on her thoughts to really care.  “Gin and tonic,” the person said, her voice a bizarre blend of high pitched teenager, monotone, and the effects of twenty years of cigarettes and booze.

        The strange voice dragged Cynthia from her moping, the cadence and timbre oddly familiar, and it took a few seconds for the information to work its way through the comfortable buzz that she had been working on.  A chill passed down her spine as everything clicked, and she looked up into the eyes of her most bitter enemy.  “Fancy meeting you here, Monster Master,” Sparkle said, raising her glass in greeting before bringing it to her lips.

        “What are you doing here, hero,” the villain hissed, her eyes going slitted as she began to shift into her vampire form.

        To her surprise and irritation, the magical girl only shrugged before resting her elbows on the bar.  “I should really be the one asking you that.  This is where I usually drown my sorrows in terrible liquor,” Sparkle said, draining the rest of her drink before resting her head on her hands, “You here because of the row at that restaurant earlier?  The news stations won’t shut up about it.”

        The urge to fight drained out of Cynthia, and she turned back to her drink with a pout.  “I’ll keep that to myself, thank you very much.  What’s with acting like you care anyway,” she said with as much venom as she could muster, trying to maintain some dignity in front of her arch nemesis.

        Sparkle quietly asked for a refill on her drink before looking back to Cynthia with a wry smile, “You looked pretty put out, and I thought I would come over and see if I could help.  That and I visited and old friend today, so I guess I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to see how one of my old enemies was doing.”

        Cynthia’s eyes narrowed in distrust as Sparkle spoke, and she decided that it was probably just best not respond to the woman’s lies and half truths.  Maybe the hero would get the message and just leave her be.  Sparkle continued to watch her a few seconds before reaching for her drink, which was in the process of turning a brilliant pink as it sat on the bar, and draining it in one go.  The magical girl played with the glass, watching the ice clink and shift, before murmuring, “Well, that and I realized that you’ve done some growing up after all these years.  You look a lot better without the braces.”

        The seemingly kind words sounded like nothing more than the lead up to some joke at the villain’s expense, and Cynthia snapped upright, the full vampire transformation rippling through her body. “What is your game, Sparkle?  Are you trying to gloat or something, or maybe trying to lure me into trusting you?  You forget that I’ve sworn to kill you for what you’ve-” she snarled

        Her rant skidded to a stop as Sparkle placed a finger on her lips.  Cynthia’s eyes widened in disbelief, the sheer ballsiness of the magical girl only stoking the flames of her hatred.  “A shame that we couldn’t just sit and chat.  If you want a fight though, let’s take it outside,” Sparkle said calmly, nodding to the waiter before wandering towards the door, “This is my favorite bar, and I’m not going to ruin it while kicking your ass as usual.”

        Cynthia stormed after her, years of humiliating defeats at the hands of the magical girl and her frustration from the day’s events driving her forward in a rage.  She ignored the barkeep as he tentatively held up her credit card, slamming the door open instead, already itching to get her claws into the hero.  To her confusion, though, she caught sight Sparkle hovering in the air.  The woman smiled at her, then turned and began to fly away.  

        It took a few seconds for her mind to register the fact that her nemesis was simply running from the fight before it had even began.  The insult was obvious, and Cynthia wasn’t too proud to admit that it had the desired effect.  Pure, unmitigated hatred coursed through her, and the monster instincts that she had worked so hard on suppressing burst from their bonds and ran rampant.  With barely any conscious thought, her fangs receded and her lower half shifted into that of a horse.  There was no way that -bitch- was getting away.

        The centaur form was her fastest, and she had to push it to her hardest to keep up with the magical girl.  Her lungs heaved and her flanks were soon dripping sweat from the unrelenting pace, but her single-minded fury drove her on for miles as the hero flitted between buildings.  The pain was rewarded as she saw Sparkle slow and begin to drift to the ground in an abandoned lot, and she pushed her screaming body into a sprint, intent on trampling the woman into a fine paste.

        Her charge was cut short as a flurry of hearts exploded to life in front of her.  She was only barely able to pull to the side in time to avoid the attack, and cautiously cantered around her enemy, looking for an opening.  “Why are you being so coy, hero,” she said, voice practically dripping with bloodlust, “Running away and then keeping me at a distance?  Stop being a tease~”

        Sparkle didn’t bother to answer, intent instead to track Cynthia’s circling, which irritated the villain to no end.  She tried lunging forward again, hoping her speed would be enough, but she was cut off by another explosion.  Mastering her rage somewhat, Cynthia decided to try a more nuanced approach rather than headlong attacks.  A snake’s tail quickly replaced her previous form, and Cynthia smiled as she began to slide closer to Sparkle.

        The magical girl seemed to understand the danger she was in and was slowly backing away as she threw a few magical bursts.  Cynthia’s smile grew feral as she weaved through the attacks, and the delicious panic on Sparkle’s face was more than enough to make her forget about the day’s failures and troubles.  All that mattered now was sinking her fangs into that damned woman’s neck.  

        Her eagerness proved to be premature though.  Just as she lunged through a gap between two explosions not three foot from her prey, a massive thicket of thorns erupted into life below her.  Thorns gouged into her as she struggled to escape, the pain only making her struggles wilder, until her writhing coils finally managed to smash enough of the branches for her to pull free.  “Bringing me roses now, Sparkle,” she snarled, her pain and the scent of her own blood driving the monster instincts inside of her into a frenzy, “How sweet.”

        Cynthia glared at her enemy, who was floating just out of the range of a good charge.  The woman knew just how to get her going, running first and then playing a sick game of keep away, she thought furiously as the snake tail began to shift into hard black carapace.  Well no more.  Her smile could be mistaken as kind, maybe even caring in any other context, as she shifted the spider’s abdomen that had replaced her lower half.  “I’ve got a gift for you too,” she said happily, before firing a stream of web at her foe.

        To Sparkle’s credit, she managed to get out of the way of the attack for the most part.  The stream clipped her leg, which only threw her off balance for a fraction of a second as she destroyed the webbing with a small burst of her powers.  It was all the time that Cynthia needed.  She rushed forward the moment that she fired, her eight legs churning madly, and slammed the magical girl into the ground.

        They both stared at each other for a moment, shock evident on both of their faces, before Cynthia began to giggle, almost drunk on the unexpected victory. “Finally, you bitch, after all of these years.  I finally have you,” she said giddily, shifting her limbs to ensure that the woman wouldn’t be able to escape as she drained the magical girl dry.

        And then her enemy smiled and simply disappeared.  Cynthia stared at the spot Sparkle had occupied in utter bafflement, struggling to control her bloodlust long enough to figure out what had just happened.  She straightened from her crouched position, ready to hunt the magical girl down, but jerked back in surprise as she nearly ran straight into her prey.

        “Did you forget that I can teleport,” Sparkle asked gently, floating only a few inches in front of the villain, her lips tantalizingly close.

        The emotions from the first time this had happened all of those years ago immediately surged into Cynthia’s mind, seemingly eager to torment her again.  The fear and confusion as the magical girl flirted and drew close, which had blossomed into giddy excitement, which had in turn been crushed by sudden betrayal.  Betrayal made only worse by how the hero had become completely frigid after their first fight, ignoring every attempt Cynthia made to catch her attention.

        Cynthia desperately tried to back away, the memories too much for her to handle, but her foe wrapped her arms around her waist and drew closer.  All thoughts of murder and bloodlust were gone, and she was shaking in fear as she stared into the woman’s eyes.  “Y-you’re trying to trick me again,” she whispered, trying to force her frozen limbs into motion.

        Sparkle solemnly shook her head before leaning forward and pressing her lips into Cynthia’s with heartbreaking tenderness.  The villain couldn’t stop the tears that streamed down her cheeks, and her shaking only grew worse as her enemy pulled away and looked at her with a melancholy smile.  “Don’t try to run away this time, okay?  Now if you hadn’t interrupted me in the bar, you would have heard what I wanted to say.  You look a lot better without the braces.  I’d say beautiful, even.”

        In all of her years of fighting, causing havoc, and seducing as many cute women as she could find, Cynthia had never been so lost.  She had fantasized about this moment for years of course, but it had always been her stealing a kiss from the magical girl after defeating her once and for all.  The worst part though, and the most shameful, was that she wanted nothing more than to believe every word that Sparkle had said.

        “Now, I managed to lure you pretty close to my apartment, do you want to come with?” the hero said nonchalantly.

        “You…you did all of that to get into my pants,” Cynthia said after a few seconds of shocked silence, any dreams of romance or love that had begun to bloom crushed without pity.

        Sparkle shrugged and said, “I was hoping to do it back in the bar with just the compliment, but yeah, kinda.”

        With that, the hero turned and began to saunter to a nearby apartment block, leaving Cynthia standing like an idiot in the middle of the abandoned lot.  She was so shocked that by the time that she came up with a scathing retort to help her save face, the damned woman was already walking up to the door of her building.  The rage from earlier came back like a sledgehammer blow, and she felt her mouth pull into an involuntary snarl.  For the first betrayal, Sparkle deserved to die, but playing with her like this, giving her hope for her dreams to come true?  That necessitated more extreme measures.

        The burning need for vengeance sent her storming after the magical girl, and she caught up to her just as she reached the second flight of stairs.  Cynthia almost hesitated as Sparkle turned to look at her, a question just about to leave her lips, but she forced herself to slam the woman against the wall.  She had wanted this for years, and she wouldn’t be denied.  Cynthia smashed her lips into her enemy’s, exulting as the hero writhed against the hands pinning her to the wall, then immediately dug her teeth into the girl’s lower lip.  

        She was rewarded with a sharp gasp from Sparkle, which also allowed her to slip her tongue past the hero’s bruised lips.  To her surprise though, the woman’s struggles ceased, even opening her mouth wider in an unmistakable invitation.  Cynthia didn’t hesitate, exploring Sparkle’s mouth however she pleased and savoring the woman’s unbearably sweet flavor.  After a fevered eternity of her tongue dancing with Sparkle’s, her foe bucked against her with a shaky moan that was only barely muffled by their kiss.

        Cynthia’s body moved almost instantaneously, all thinking having been erased by the desperate pounding of her heart, and pressed a leg between Sparkle’s while her hand roughly kneaded her enemy’s breast.  The magical girl broke their kiss by turning her head to the side, and gasped for a few seconds before managing to get out, “Wait.  Let’s get out of the stairwell before we traumatize my neighbors or something.”

        Her usual wit and banter utterly failed her, and Cynthia could only nod dumbly and allow herself to be led along as Sparkle grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs.  What remained of her rational mind was almost horrified at how easily she was being strung along, especially since she was so used to being in such careful control of romantic encounters, but one look at Sparkle’s flushed cheeks and heavy breathing washed away all of her objections in a crimson haze of lust.  She could barely contain herself as the magical girl fumbled for her keys and unlocked the door with shaking hands.

        The moment the door was open and they rushed through, Cynthia ripped Sparkle’s dress off her, the claws that had grown without conscious thought shearing through the fabric with ease.  A few ragged strips clung to her enemy, but before she could rip them off, Sparkle reached up and grabbed a handful of Cynthia’s hair, dragging her down into a searing kiss.  They stumbled through the cluttered apartment, both of them trying to simultaneously walk, kiss, and tear the clothing off one another as they made their way to the bedroom.

        The moment that the back of Sparkle’s knees touched her bed, Cynthia gave her a firm shove.  The comforter and profusion of pillows cushioned her nude body, and the look of utter desire in her eyes made Cynthia stop in shock, and not a little fear if she was honest with herself.  She couldn’t even begin to count the times that the very scene in front of her played out in her fantasies over the past twenty years, and now without warning it was really happening.  Fears, inadequacies, excuses, all of them bubbled up her throat, the rational part of her mind screaming at her to run before it was too late.

        Sparkle, seemingly noticing her hesitation, looked into her eyes, then slowly dipped a hand between her legs and spread herself.  “So are you just going to look, or are you going to do something about it,” she said, voice hoarse with need.

        Cynthia finally broke.  Guided only by lust and the instincts from her monster heritage, she mounted Sparkle and kissed her with wild abandon, letting her hands wander across the woman’s scarred body while her tongue did its best to put the hero in her place.  Sparkle responded in kind, her nails raking across Cynthia’s back and hips.  Cynthia pulled back with a hiss, though she was surprised the stinging pain was almost more pleasurable than the kiss.  “Another thing I’m going to pay you back for,” she growled, drawing gasps and squeaks out of the girl as she left a string of hard nips down her throat.

        Her lips pressed against the delicate skin of Sparkle’s collarbones, and she had to resist the urge to break the pressure by smiling as she suckled at the spot.  Just try to let her explain –these- bruises and marks tomorrow, she thought fiercely.  She glanced up in surprise as she felt Sparkle’s hands tangle in her hair and gently press downward.  “My my, getting eager are we?  What’s doing it for you, the forbidden desire for you arch nemesis, or is it just that your frigid ass is finally getting some action for the first time in a decade or so?” she purred, mouth twisting into a nasty smirk.

        “Quit fucking talking and just fuck me,” Sparkle growled, though her attempt at sounding threatening was marred by a moan as Cynthia’s lips brushed against the stiff peak of her breast.

         Obscenely pleased with that result, Cynthia lavished attention on the two mounds of flesh, switching between bites and licks at random to make sure the hero could never be sure what to expect next.  She purposely avoided Sparkle’s nipples though, drawing close enough to make the woman arch beneath her before moving away, or lingering so that her breath would play over the delicate skin.  It was only when the magical girl was squirming and gasping with each lick or nip that she finally relented, sinking her teeth into Sparkle’s breast and mercilessly teasing her nipple with rapid licks.

        The nails digging into her hair and hiss of pain from her enemy was ample reward for her patience, but Cynthia wasn’t about to let up on the bitch now that she was practically putty in her hands.  She lightly dragged her fingers down the woman’s stomach, across her hips, before lingering for a second at her shaking thighs.  Then, with all of the confidence of a queen ascending her throne, she firmly cupped the magical girl’s sex.

        She wasn’t sure if it was the strangled gasp or the wet heat that she found between Sparkle’s thighs that was more satisfying.  The hero shuddered against her as she carefully closed her teeth on a nipple, the attacks from multiple angles seemingly too much for her.  The overwhelming urge for vengeance, for ownership over the woman pushed Cynthia to go further though, and she shifted her fingers slightly before lifting her head and watching Sparkle’s rapturous expressions with a predatory smile.

        With barely any resistance, she slid two fingers inside the woman she had hated for so long.  Sparkle’s eyes shot open, and she tried to say something over her gasping for breath, but Cynthia simply drew her fingers back before pressing in deeper.  Whatever Sparkle had to say was washed away by the small moans that followed every languid thrust of the villain’s fingers.   Sparkle’s hips began to buck in tandem with Cynthia’s tempo, practically begging for more as the magical girl’s head lolled back onto the comforter.

        This left her neck, which was already showing bruises and hickeys, completely exposed.  Without any conscious thought, the long fangs of her vampire form sprouted from her gums, and Cynthia was powerless to resist the siren call of the woman’s pounding blood as she sank her teeth into the hero’s neck.  The warm rush of blood, almost sickening in its sweetness, drove Cynthia’s instincts wild.  Her world narrowed to just her fangs drawing as much blood from Sparkle as possible and keeping the tempo of her fingers to the beating of the woman’s heart.  The heady rush lasted for a few terrifying seconds before Cynthia managed to regain some semblance of control over herself, and she pulled her fangs free with a shaky gasp.  

        To her surprise, the attack hadn’t seemed to phase Sparkle, who was all but grinding against her in her desperation for release.   Thankful for that small mercy, Cynthia decided to punish the girl in a way that would keep her dangerous instincts at bay.  She curled her hand so that her fingers would continue their steady pace while her thumb, which had laid idle until this point, could come into play.  With firm and deliberate pressure, she ground the pad of her thumb against Sparkle’s stiff clit.

        The effect was instantaneous.  The magical girl’s hips began to buck wildly, and the steady moans devolved into tight gasps as Cynthia rolled her thumb in tight circles.   Sparkle’s climax came within seconds, but Cynthia did not ease her pace, even as the hero spasmed against her and her face twisted in a strange mix of pain and pleasure.  It was only when the gasps began to almost sound like sobs that Cynthia relented, her heart beating almost as hard as her victim’s.

        The villain came out of the furious trance that had guided her actions slowly, each shaky breath taking a bit more of the temporary madness out of her body.  She finally noticed how small Sparkle really was, how frail she looked without her costume and gruff demeanor.  Her nemesis lay still, trying to drag air into her lungs as aftershocks of her orgasm still rocked her body, and Cynthia noted with horror that there might very well be tears in the corners of the hero’s eyes.  Sudden fear that she had gone too far blossomed in Cynthia’s heart, along with a deep shame at losing control that badly.  “A-are you okay, Sparkle?” she asked hesitantly, reaching her hand to the hero before jerking it back, almost afraid that it would cause more harm.

        To her surprise, Sparkle turned to her with a weary smile and simply said, “God, that was just what I needed.”

        She could only gape in confusion at such a blasé answer, though she didn’t deny that her knees went weak with relief.  Still, Cynthia wanted to apologize, losing control of herself like that was completely unseemly after all, but her words died in her throat as the leg that she had been straddling lifted and pressed against her.  Instinct born of Sparkle’s betrayal made her try to pull away, but Sparkle rested her hands on the villain’s hips and pressed down gently.  “Keep going, take whatever you want,” Sparkle murmured, pulling Cynthia down a bit harder.

        The blatant attempt at trying to comfort her almost brought a smile to Cynthia’s face.  Well, it would have if the delicious friction of her body against Sparkle’s hadn’t made her bit her lip to suppress a moan.  Cynthia instead nodded her head and tried to keep herself from panicking and pulling away as the magical girl began to rock the villain’s hips for her.  It had been years since she had let anyone touch her like that, and she was desperately thankful that Sparkle was at least giving her the illusion of control.

        She decided to just believe the lie as she grew more comfortable with Sparkle’s gentle ministrations, and began to grind against the woman’s thigh of her own will.  It was just easier to pretend that she was the one in control, rather than the deceptive bitch that was lying beneath her, and she was just so damned tired of running away the moment that anyone tried to draw close.  What did it matter if she had been led along like a fool for this entire night?  Sparkle was finally returning at least some of her feelings.

        Her body began to tighten after only a few minutes of Sparkle’s attentions, and Cynthia let the boiling wave of her climax wash away all of her fears and worries.  She collapsed against the hero, who pulled her into a tight hug as she struggled to regain her breath.  It was strange, she thought dazedly, how nice it was to be the one being comforted for once.  Cynthia fought against the urge to sleep as she basked in Sparkle’s embrace, but very nearly lost the battle until the hero roused her with a gentle prod.  “That had better not be all,” Sparkle said huskily, before rolling Cynthia onto her back and leaning in for a kiss.

 

        Cynthia mumbled and tried to shield her face with the comforter as a beam of sunlight battered against her eyelids.  While the garishly pink comforter did its job in defending her from the evil sun, any hope of sleep had been ruined by the filthy ball of plasma’s attack.  She reluctantly emerged from her cloth cocoon, blinking in the harsh daylight for a few seconds before raising her arms in an enormous stretch.  Sudden pain shot through her back as she felt the tender scratches on her back pull taut, and her muscles joined in a chorus of aches and pain as they let her know that they didn’t appreciate what she had done yesterday.

        Wait, yesterday…Her eyes widened as her weary mind finally remembered what had happened.  Oh god, that had actually happened, she though with a heady mix of giddiness and utter fear.  A piece of the puzzle was missing though, and it took a few seconds for the rather obvious fact to click.  Sparkle wasn’t there in the bed with her.

She slid out of bed, grimacing as the cold of the outside world reached her naked body, before carefully padding around the piles of clutter as she made her way to the kitchen.  Cynthia hated herself for it, but she had to admit that she had begun to grow worried when she couldn’t find the girl there, or anywhere else in the apartment.  Had she really just been a one night stand?  Did she do something wrong last night?  The questions were all pitifully weak and needy, but they came like an avalanche as her fruitless search continued.

        Just as she was about to give into her fears though, she caught sight of a brilliant flash of color near the front door.  She drew closer, smiling in utter relief as she saw that it was a vase of flowers with a note attached to it.  The fact that she was so weak that –flowers- of all things had her squealing like a schoolgirl was shameful in the extreme, but she was so relieved that she decided to not think about that too hard.  She focused instead on the flowers, taking a few seconds to hesitantly decide that the bright orange one in the middle was a lily, while the tiny purple ones were…lavender maybe?

        She pulled out the note next, desperate for some reassurance after the worry of her morning, and skimmed through it quickly:

 

Sorry for ducking out on you like this, but some ‘horrifying monstrosity from beyond the stars’ was about to launch an attack, and no other S-Rank could be bothered with saving the city.  If you’d be interested, I’d like to make it up to you later.  I’ll be at the same bar tomorrow, and I think I’d like someone to relax with.  –Sparkle

 

        Cynthia wanted to sneer at herself for how hopeful the note made her, and she tried to fight as hard as she could against the fantasies of dating Sparkle, but she was actually –blushing- at the invitation.  She staggered over to the one clutter-free chair in the kitchen and settled down heavily, her eyes coming to rest on the flowers again almost of their own volition.  It was all just so disgustingly sweet, she thought helplessly, all of this hope and desire.  She wanted to be pissed, she wanted to turn the offer down and hurt Sparkle just as much as she had hurt her all of those years ago, but she just couldn’t.

         Cynthia gently stroked the paper in front of her with a wry smile.  Like she’d ever be able to resist seeing Sparkle now that she had a taste of what she had always wanted.  She was addicted.  The bittersweet poison of love burned in her veins, and she couldn’t escape, even if she tried.