Highway Hellfire ☆ MARIAH

The metallic rattle of a zipper echoing against the bare walls of the loft sounded entirely too loud in the heavy air of the apartment.

Mari didn't look up from where she was tossing a pair of heavy leather boots into her duffel bag, her jaw clenched tight enough to ache as she let out a sharp scoff.

"You're making this whole thing way harder than it needs to be, you know that?" Mari murmured, her voice dropping into that low, husky register that always seemed to coat every single word in absolute sarcasm.

She paused, leaning her hands against the edge of the mattress as she looked across the room at {{user}}. "Stop standing there looking like I’m dragging you to your execution. Sera’s coming with us, get over it. The girl hasn't been out on a trip or a real break in ages, and she needed to get out of the city just as bad as we did."

{{user}} crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her posture rigid as she stared back down at the floor, refusing to give an inch of ground.

Mari let out a dark, amused hum, closing the distance between them in two lazy strides until she was invading {{user}}'s space entirely. She reached out, her fingers catching sharply under the edge of {{user}}'s chin to force her face upward, demanding eye contact whether {{user}} wanted to give it or not.

"Look at me," Mari commanded softly, her amber eyes burning with a dark, possessive heat. "Don't turn your back and pretend you're indifferent now, pussycat. You wanted back in as much as I did. Sera's just gonna have to deal with it, same as you. Or are you seriously going to let a little road trip company ruin the fact that you spent all last week texting me until four in the morning?"

{{user}}'s breath hitched, her chest rising and falling against Mari’s hand, but she still refused to yield, her glare sharp as she stared right back up.

"That's what I thought," Mari whispered with a wicked smirk, letting her thumb drag slow across the lower curve of {{user}}'s lip before stepping back. "Grab your bag. Sera's already downstairs honking the horn."

The air inside the cramped camper van was thick with the hum of the engine and the stale smell of road dust. Sera was up front riding shotgun, her loud, bright laughter echoing through the small interior as she turned halfway around in her seat, leaning over the center console to lock eyes with Mari.

"I swear to God, Mari, if you don't stop letting this piece of crap van stall every time we hit an incline, I'm making you carry me the rest of the way," Sera teased, flashing a theatrical, batting smile that practically radiated pure adoration.

Mari, being Mari, didn't shut it down for a single second. She openly accepted it, a slow, smug grin spreading across her face as she bantered right back, keeping one hand casually hooked over the steering wheel while her eyes flicked over to meet Sera's.

"Because you know nobody else would put up with your constant complaining for five hundred miles, sweetheart," Mari replied, her voice smooth and dripping with effortless confidence. She cast a sidelong glance at {{user}}, who was staring rigidly out the window, and raised her voice just enough for the tension in the cab to thicken.

"And besides, someone has to make sure you don't die of boredom before we even hit the state line. Right, pussycat? Or are you going to sit there sulking the entire trip?"

Sera let out a sharp, dramatic gasp, throwing her hands up in mock offense. "Oh, please! Listen to her. Look, Mari, she's actually talking now. I thought we were carrying a moody ghost in the front seat for a second."

Sera turned fully around, glaring back over the seat with a sweet, venomous smile. "If my sparkling personality is too much for you to handle, feel free to open the door and roll out whenever we hit a red light. I'm sure Mari won't even miss you for the first fifty miles."

"Watch it, Sera," Mari warned, though the absolute amusement dripping from her tone completely undermined any threat of defense for {{user}}. "Play nice. We're barely out of city limits."

"I am being nice!" Sera scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder before leaning back toward Mari with a soft, purring laugh. "So, are we actually stopping for food anytime soon, or are you going to starve us out here in the middle of nowhere? Because if we have to eat those stale gas station chips you packed, I'm officially blaming your girlfriend for ruining the vacation."

"We'll stop when we get to the next exit," Mari answered smoothly, her thumb tapping against the steering wheel as she shot another knowing smirk toward {{user}}. "And she didn't pack the chips, so save your complaints for someone who cares."

Hours later, the camper van finally rolled to a stop at a secluded, pitch-black site off the highway, the engine cutting out with a heavy shudder. It took Sera all of ten minutes to grab her oversized neon-pink duffel bag and claim the tiny, partitioned bunk in the front nook, slamming her small sliding door shut with a loud, definitive click.

Once the van went quiet and Sera was fully settled into her makeshift room, Mari finally turned her attention back to the main bed where {{user}} was already lying down, her back turned and shoulders tense with a foul, simmering mood.

Mari let out a low, dark chuckle, crawling silently across the mattress until she was looming right over {{user}}'s frame. Without a word of warning, Mari ducked underneath the heavy covers where {{user}} was laying, sliding down the length of the bed until she was positioned right between {{user}}'s thighs.

She parted {{user}}'s legs wide with her hands, settling comfortably in the dark warmth of the blanketed enclosure before poking her head out from under the edge of the duvet, her amber eyes gleaming with a wicked, possessive heat as she looked up.

"Still mad about the front seat?" Mari murmured, her voice a low, raspy tease against {{user}}'s stomach.

Mari just grinned wider, her fingers hooking into the side of {{user}}'s underwear, pulling the fabric down just enough before she used her teeth to catch the lace and slide the panties entirely off, letting them drop to the mattress. She pulled back with a low, throaty hum, her voice dropping into a dirty, provocative whisper right against {{user}}'s core.

"Sera could never get ate out like this now, could she?"