Tom brushed her silky, black hair out of her face. “Can I get a kiss?”
Valerie smiled, tilting her head slightly downward. “I don’t kiss on the first date. I told you that.”
“I know.” He rubbed the nape of her neck with adept fingers. If this didn’t convince her, nothing would.
She peered at him through her long eyelashes. Coy. Teasing. “That feels good.”
He grinned. She was putty in his hands.
Internet dating was usually hit-or-miss, and Tom had his experiences with the nightmare dates. When he found Valerie’s profile, he thought she sounded too good to be true. Tall, curvy, educated, artsy, and a whole list of adjectives that coincided with what Tom thought was the perfect girl.
The chats had been nice, and the phone conversations were even better. Even then, Tom prepared himself for disappointment. She could be 40 pounds heavier than her picture. She could have a psycho ex waiting in the wings. She could have a mountain of credit card debt that needed to be paid off by some sucker.
So they met. She looked even hotter in real life. It was the typical line he used for the first time, but this time he really meant it. The date had been close to perfect. She was on the demure side, but she seemed like she was having a good time. She laughed at his jokes and made solid eye contact. He knew that sex on the first date was out of the question. She had made it clear that she liked to take things slow.
After dessert and a few glasses of wine, Tom decided that he wouldn’t say good night without a single kiss.
He continued to rub her neck. He leaned close and brushed her cheek with his nose. His lips hovered above her earlobe. “Just one kiss.”
Another sweet smile. She didn’t say no, and he took that as the first step towards yes.
He grazed her cheek with his lips. His arm went around her waist so he could pull her close. “I just want a little kiss. Is that too much to ask?”
“Just one?”
He grinned. “One’s a good start. Let’s make it a good one.”
She closed her eyes and lifted her face. Tom cupped her chin with his hand. He knew she’d come around. They always did.
He tasted softly, slowly, taking his time with her warm lips. He thought she moaned a little when he sucked her lower lip into his mouth. Most chicks loved that. After a few moments, he parted her lips and slipped the tip of his tongue inside her mouth. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck.
He felt her hot, slick tongue moving in his mouth. For a split second, he thought she tasted bad. Something about the texture of her tongue made him think of snail slime. He dismissed the thought as nervousness and concentrated on her warm mouth.
He jumped when something sharp pricked the underside of his tongue. He tried to pull back, but he was trapped. Her long tongue snaked around his, blocking his airway. When he gasped, something thick moved towards the back of his throat. He saw black spots in front of his eyes and thought he was going to pass out.
The black spots changed into a flash of white light. The thing protruding from her mouth wrapped around his tongue and tore it out in one clean motion. He blinked and almost missed watching his tongue disappear between her red lips.
She took her time chewing the flesh and swallowed with an audible gulp. She dabbed her mouth with a napkin and smiled at him. “So was that as good for you as it was for me?” She laughed, showing off her second row of teeth.
As she walked towards him, Tom discovered that he didn’t need a tongue to scream. He could scream as loudly as he wanted.
Hana K. Lee is a writer of genre short fiction and has been published in thuglit.com and rumble: the micro-fiction ezine. She is also one of the contributors of the anthology “Hell’s Hangmen: Horror in the Old West.”
You can find Hana at myspace.com/little_eyes.
[...] Another chilling tale from Hana Lee over at Flashes of Speculation. I don’t think I’ll ever look at first dates quite the same way again. Good thing that’s not something I’ll ever have to worry about, eh? Related Articles: [...]