Deny It

The locker clanged shut, the metallic echo amplifying the frantic pounding in Callista's chest. Denial shattered. This wasn't attraction; it was a terrifying storm of desire. With a trembling hand, she ripped off her sweat-soaked shirt, the clammy fabric clinging uncomfortably to her chilled skin. 

Years of indoctrination, the nuns' harsh pronouncements, still echoed in her mind, yet a forbidden hunger gnawed at her gut, a primal yearning she couldn't suppress. Life, she realised, wasn't a world of black and white, but a swirling vortex of grays, a spectrum she'd never dared explore.

A woman. A damned vampire princess, no less.

Creatures she would have dusted on sight without so much as a second thought. Monsters who'd snatched loved ones away. But a glimpse into their depths hinted at a complexity she hadn't considered - a struggle mirroring her own, a war between primal instincts and a flicker of something… human?

Clenching her fists, the white knuckles betrayed the simmering tempest within. A distraction, she needed it, a heady plunge into the city's neon abyss to drown the truth clawing at her chest. Fleeting flings with strangers, adrenaline-fueled nights - anything but this. This foreign, yet undeniable feeling that threatened to consume her whole.

Fate, however, or perhaps her darkest desire, had other plans. 

Callista gasped as a searing heat, like a branding iron, pressed against her bare back. A feverish blush burned across her cheeks as a voice, a whisper of breath, sparked a tingling sensation that raced through her.

"Playing with fire, Astra?" Athena purred, her words a caress against Callista's ear, "naughty, naughty." 

Athena's touch was a paradox. The cold metal of the locker pressed against her burning front, a stark contrast to the heat radiating from the vampire. A scorching kiss trailed down the nape of her neck. An involuntary moan escaped Callista's lips, a betrayal of the fight raging inside her – a desperate attempt to resist the seductive pull of the forbidden.

The silence that followed stretched, thick and suffocating. Athena pulled back, a flicker of surprise crossing her golden gaze. Callista, chest heaving, fought to catch her breath.

"What... what was that?" she finally managed, her voice a hoarse whisper.

The world tilted on its axis as Athena spun Callista around. Their bodies collided, the harsh scrape of lockers silenced by the frantic thudding of Callista's heart. Hope, a traitor disguised as a flicker of warmth, ignited in her chest as she met Athena's gaze. A glimpse of something raw and entirely unexpected flashed in the ever-enigmatic princess's golden eyes, before morphing into a mask of cold fury.

Athena's voice, laced with self-loathing, broke the silence. "You can't bear me," she murmured. "Not the beast I am, but the truth of who I am." The fury melted away, replaced by a tremor that shook her hand clasping Callista's. A flicker of vulnerability? Callista grappled with the confusing revelation.

Before Callista could form a question, a chilling chuckle escaped Athena's lips. "Granting your affections so freely," Athena rasped, "like swatting away a fly. And yet, towards me, you're..."

Anger ignited within Callista, a blazing inferno fueled by the sting of Athena's words. "What are you even talking about?" she growled. 

Callista's mind scrambled for answers. A meaningless kiss at a bar, fueled by confusion and the whirlwind of emotions Athena always triggered. And Amelia. A sharp pang of guilt sliced through Callista's anger. Had Athena seen her with the vampire?

"Let's test it, Astra," Athena continued, her lips hovering a tantalising breath away. "Like you've tested my patience with your… provocative attire. Is this just a cruel game, teasing me while pushing me away?"

Lavender, Athena's signature scent, flooded Callista's senses, intoxicating and disorienting. Her heart hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribs, a war raging within her. Maybe, just one kiss. It could silence the maddening questions, the yawning emptiness that had taken root. A voice, slick with desire, whispered a seductive lie in her mind: 'It won't hurt.'

"Deny this, Astra," Athena murmured, her fingers trailing a scorching path down Callista's waist. The audacity, the forbidden allure, ignited a primal gasp that tore from Callista's throat. Words tangled in her chest, overpowered by a raw desperation.

The princess's facade crumbled entirely as a guttural growl ripped from her throat. "One chance," she rasped, each syllable a command, yet laced with a hint of vulnerability. "Deny this, and I vanish."

Callista's crimson eyes, betraying her resolve, darted to Athena's inviting lips. A final dam crumbled within her. The princess surged forward, their lips meeting in a collision that sent a jolt of electricity coursing through Callista. It was soft, yet all-consuming, a hunger that resonated deep within her.

It wasn't enough.

Athena's tongue trailed a seductive line across the seam of her lips. It was a silent question, an invitation. A low moan rumbled from deep within Callista, a surrender before she even realised it.

The kiss was a storm, a clash of tongues and unspoken hunger. The world dissolved, leaving only the press of heated flesh, the frantic rise and fall of their chests. A primal heat, a brand new awakening, spread through Callista, tingling in every nerve ending. 

Fuck.

It wasn't enough. Nowhere near enough.

As Athena's hand traced a sinuous path up her spine, arousal flared hotter. Emboldened, Callista mirrored the touch, her fingers trailing up the cool silk, then dipping beneath with newfound urgency.

A soft moan escaped Athena's lips, a sound raw and vulnerable, stripping away her usual facade and laying bare a depth of emotion that both terrified and thrilled Callista. It was a sound so unexpected, a glimpse into a part of Athena she'd never seen, that it shook Callista to her core. Her hand, trembling slightly, found purchase in the princess's soft, blonde waves, a grounding touch amidst the earth-shattering kiss that threatened to devour her whole. 

A sliver of reason, cold and unwelcome, pierced Callista's euphoria. This couldn't last. Shouldn't last. 

"We shouldn't," Callista breathed against Athena's lips, yet, her traitorous hips swayed against the vampire's thigh, chasing a spark against the firm muscle. A gasp, a shared surrender, escaped them both as Athena trailed kisses down her throat, each touch igniting a spark against Callista's chilled conscience.

"Define 'shouldn't,'" Athena purred, a knowing smile playing on her lips. Her cool touch, a stark contrast to Callista's rising heat, slid beneath her skirt to cup her hips, grounding her against the firm press of leather.

"This…," Callista whimpered, a sound foreign to her own ears as she arched into the touch, a desperate need for release. When did these rigid walls guarding her heart crumble so easily?

A playful glint ignited Athena's golden eyes as she retreated a tantalising inch, a challenge dancing on her lips. "Then we shall stop," she murmured, the words laced with a hint of amusement. But a gasp, raw and unexpected, tore from her own lips as Callista surged forward, the predator awakened within her.

"Don't…," Callista choked out, a strangled protest against the loss of contact. Her breath hitched as Athena's thigh brushed against hers again, igniting a wildfire in her core. It was a thrillingly alien sensation, a world away from anything she'd ever known.

"Now you're speaking your body's language, Astra," Athena growled. The raw honesty in her voice, the way her own facade seemed to crumble, was as intoxicating as the unfamiliar pleasure coursing through Callista.

Just as Callista teetered on the edge, a wave of unfamiliar ecstasy threatening to engulf her, Athena ripped herself away with a ragged gasp. Frustration flickered in her golden eyes, but beneath that, a deeper emotion Callista couldn't decipher. A guttural curse escaped Callista's lips, a mix of frustration and a strange sense of loss. She stared, bewildered, at the abrupt shift.

"Gods," Athena whispered, her voice a mere tremor, a stark contrast to her usual icy control. "They're early."

The sound of raised voices cut through the air, sharp and unwelcome. Callista flinched, a primal snarl erupting from her throat, echoing Athena's frustration.

They both knew. This stolen moment, this taste of delicious desire, was ripped away before it could truly blossom. Yet, as Callista met Athena's gaze, a storm of emotions flickered in the golden depths – a yearning that mirrored her own. With a slow deliberateness, she pulled away, bending to retrieve the shirt that lay forgotten on the floor. As she straightened, the corner of her mouth lifted in a ghost of a smile, more a challenge than amusement.

Athena's gaze, darkened to smouldering amber, devoured every exposed inch of Callista's skin, barely concealed by her lingerie, a flicker of something akin to frustration warring with a simmering heat.

Languidly, the hunter pulled on the shirt, the fabric whispering against her flushed skin, a tremor in her hand gave away the frantic rhythm of her pulse beneath. Leaving the room, she threw a final glance over her shoulder, well aware of the conflicting emotions igniting in Athena's mind.

This wasn't over. Not by a long shot. The ache in her heart, a counterpoint to the electric thrill that still coursed through her, was a constant reminder of the forbidden dance they had just begun.

They both knew it wouldn't be their last.