Shadow Haven

by AJ Schippers

  Alexandra paused and squeezed Julia’s leg. “I understand that you might feel intimidated or even scared for being around a lifestyle that you are not used to. But at the same time, I would like a chance to show you just how normal it can be. I want a chance to take away your fear and show you how beautiful it can be. I want to share that with you. I want to know everything about you. You’re intoxicating, and I want to show you that there’s no reason to be jealous or feel like you must share me.”

  “Well, you know what they say about intoxicating things: you should stay far away from them.”

  “Perhaps,” Alexandra said. “But I’m not going to stay away from you, nor am I going to send you away. I don’t know what this thing between us is, but I’m willing to find out, no matter what. The question is, are you?”

  “Is this us acknowledging that there’s a thing between us?”

  “Julia, aside from me being very interested in tying you up, I am interested in you as a person. You make me laugh, and you make me question things I haven’t questioned in a long time. I will try to be more open with you, but, just like you, I have walls, and I haven’t had to lower them for a long time. You are worth it, though. So, yes, as far as I am concerned there is a thing between us that goes beyond me just wanting to play with you, but I am not going to lie and say that isn’t part of it.”

  “And if I want to get to know you and never play with you again?”

  Alexandra inhaled sharply. “Like I said, I want to get to know you. That is my priority.”

  “Okay.” Julia let herself fall down on the bed. She stretched her legs as she yawned.

  “So,” Alexandra drawled. “Is there a thing between us?”

  “Well, there is definitely something,” Julia murmured.

  “You need to tell me you’re mad at me instead of ignoring me, Julia. If we can’t communicate, this isn’t going to go anywhere.”

  “I thought we communicated quite well just now.”

  “We did, and I’m glad you came to me. I’m just saying, we should try and do that in the actual moment, not afterwards.”

  “I will try,” Julia said.

  “That’s all I ask.” Alexandra smiled as she lay down next to Julia. “Get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

  “I can’t wait,” Julia said, a fake smile plastered on her face, her fist raised up in the air. She gave Alexandra a thumbs-up, and Alexandra smiled.

  They were quiet for a long time, and after several minutes of silence, Julia inched closer to her.

  “You’re addicted to cuddles,” Alexandra said as she opened her arms. Julia turned around so she was facing away from Alexandra and pressed her backside against her. Alexandra put her hand on Julia’s stomach and tickled her softly. “So does this mean you never want to play with me again?”

  “I didn’t say that.” Julia covered Alexandra’s hand with her own. “Maybe no more playing until you kiss me.”

  Alexandra placed a chaste kiss on the fabric of her shirt.

  “That doesn’t count.”

  Alexandra sighed. “I never thought it would, dear. Go to sleep. You’ve kept me up long enough.”

  “Good night, Alexandra.”

  “Good night, independent girl.”

  Chapter 9

  “Will you stop fidgeting? You’re acting as if the Queen herself is coming to your birthday party!”

  Julia tutted. “You’re not supposed to snarl at me, Alexandra. Did you not get enough sleep?”

  “I will push you in the water if you keep this up.” Alexandra glared at her as she tried to splash water on Julia’s legs with her feet. They had been sitting on the dock for the past half hour, waiting for Alexandra’s clients to arrive.

  Julia fake-gasped and pouted. “What if I drown?”

  “Maybe I would get some sleep at night,” Alexandra said as she gave Julia a gentle push, though not nearly hard enough to push her into the lake.

  “Watch it!” Julia squealed. “I have no desire whatsoever to get wet!”

  “Are you sure? Some wetness can be fun.” Alexandra’s teasing made Julia blush slightly.

  “You’re a terrible human being.”

  “Fact or fiction?”

  “Indisputable fact.” Julia grinned, her smile dropping immediately when she saw the cruiser heading their way. “What did you say your client’s name was again?”

  “Nicky. She’s bringing her partner, Ella.”

  “I wish I had come in on that. It looks way more comfortable than the rowboat Horace has!”

  Alexandra snorted as she stood up and offered her hand to Julia. “Drama queen.” She gave Julia a quick hug and whispered in her ear as the cruiser came closer. “Remember, you have nothing to be jealous of, but if at any point you’re uncomfortable, talk to me.”

  “Got it, Chief.” The knot in Julia’s stomach seemed to tighten with every inch the cruiser came closer, and her gaze darted to Alexandra. Every instinct told her to flee, to make a break for it while she still could, yet she kept standing there, nailed to the ground, not even able to move a muscle. It wasn’t until Alexandra squeezed her hand that Julia smiled at her. “Trying not to run,” was all she said.

  “I am quite proud of you,” Alexandra replied.

  The boat pulled up alongside the dock, and a woman standing on the bow waved to them. She had light-brown hair and a bright smile. The woman picked up a coil of rope and threw it to Alexandra, who neatly caught it. With a swift movement, she tied the rope to the boulders on the dock. The cruiser’s roaring engines now sounded like a softly purring kitten.

  Julia took a deep breath and brushed her hair behind her ear. The woman who clambered out of the boat was now talking animatedly to Alexandra. The two of them had similar features, and it made Julia wonder which one Alexandra was talking to—the dominant or the submissive. She assumed one of them was a Domme. But come to think of it, if one of them was, how did Alexandra deal with having another Domme in her presence?

  For a fleeting moment, she wondered how she was supposed to see at first glance who portrayed what role, but she pushed that thought to the back of her head. Those thoughts were nothing but labels and stereotypes, and she disliked both of those things. She would never want to impose them on someone else.

  “Julia,” Alexandra said, “this is Nicky. Ella is still inside. She got seasick, so she’s resting before she comes out.”

  With a smile, Julia extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “And you.” Nicky smiled. “I know Alexandra calls me Nicky, but my submissive refers to me as Nicolette. Feel free to call me by either of those names, though. I just didn’t want you to get confused by the name thing.”

  So she was the Domme. “Understood,” Julia said. She looked at Alexandra. “Is there anything I can do to help? Otherwise, I think I would like to go take some pictures. Promise I won’t stray too far.”

  Alexandra narrowed her eyes as if in thought for a moment, then nodded. “Be careful, please.”

  “I will.” Julia turned her attention to Nicky. “It was nice to meet you. I hope your partner feels better soon.”

  It felt strange to walk along the same dirt road again, knowing this time where the turns were and what would lay ahead, and only after a couple of minutes, she noticed how fast her heart was beating in her chest and how labored her breathing had become. She rested a moment against a tree and took a couple of deep breaths.

  “You’re fine,” she told herself. “Everything is fine.”

  She hated this destructive feeling of self-doubt, of not knowing what would lay ahead, not to mention the overwhelming feeling of jealousy she had felt as soon as she had laid eyes on Nicky. The woman had been stunning: straight, light-brown hair that fell loosely to her shoulders, blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. While Julia was aware that she was more athletic than Nicky, Nicky still seemed to carry her curves with a graciousness that she herself could never achieve.

  She
shook her head and pushed off the tree and got out her phone from her pocket. Her camera had been beyond repair after the storm damage, and while her phone didn’t quite take the photos the way she wanted it to, it was still the next best thing, and she’d make do.

  Currently, she was inspired by Alexandra’s story of her grandfather’s notebook and his bird-watching hobby. While she herself had never been fond of birds, the island seemed to bring out a new side of her. She found she enjoyed capturing the birds as they went about their day. She started getting lost in her own made-up stories about the life of a particular bird. It was a silly thing to do, but it kept her entertained for a little while as she searched for the next bird to photograph. It occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, she could give Alexandra a present one day: a picture of every bird that her grandfather had found. It seemed like a nice thing to do, and for the last couple of days, there had been an almost overwhelming desire on Julia’s part to do something nice for Alexandra, to please her.

  “Right,” Julia murmured as she positioned herself for the next shot. She eyed the bird in front of her. Per the list—with some blatant guessing added—this bird was called a yellowthroat. “Can’t imagine why they’d name you that. If I got to name you, I’d probably call you little yellow asshole. I’m telling you… I’m trying really hard here, so do me the same courtesy and sit still so Alexandra can be happy with the both of us.”

  Julia opened the front door a half hour after the adventure with the yellowthroat to hear Nicky inside the house announcing, “I’m gonna unpack and put Ella in bed for a bit.”

  They were able to exchange a wave right before Nicky disappeared around a corner. Julia then kicked her shoes off and dumped them unceremoniously by the door. From where she stood, she could see Alexandra rubbing the back of her neck. “Tired?”

  “Hmm, yes,” Alexandra said. “How’s your head?”

  “My head feels fine. I think we may have been overreacting with this concussion thing.” She sat down on the couch.

  “I will keep that in mind next time you use your concussion as an excuse to not do something.”

  Julia narrowed her eyes and brought her thumb and index finger together so they almost touched. “Maybe just a tiny one, then.”

  “That’s what I thought.” She reached out with a hand and brushed Julia’s hair behind her ear. “What do you want for dinner tonight?”

  “Chocolate, please.”

  “Maybe I’ll only give you chocolate as a reward.”

  “A reward for what?”

  “Good behavior.”

  Julia rolled her eyes. “I see spending a little time with your clients has already put you deep into Domme mode!”

  “That’s not Domme mode, dear,” Alexandra grinned. “That’s me trying to save my chocolate.”

  “What!” Julia gasped. “You’re saying you want to reward with me chocolate because you know I’m not good, and so you won’t have to give me any?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmpf. Challenge accepted.”

  “Oh really?” Alexandra said with a quirked eyebrow.

  “Yep. I will go through your chocolate supply faster than you can say ‘chocolate.’”

  Alexandra laughed loudly. “What about when you’re bad?”

  “I’m never bad, but obviously that’s when I don’t get chocolate.”

  “That’s not much of a punishment. I think we should find something else. If you show good behavior, you can have chocolate. If it’s bad behavior, though…” Alexandra clicked her tongue and squinted her eyes as she looked at Julia. “What should your punishment be?”

  Julia snorted and jokingly said, “I’ll write you an essay.”

  “Oh!” Alexandra said, clasping her hands together. “I like that. You have a deal.”

  “Wait, what?” Julia exclaimed. “You can’t be serious! I haven’t written an essay in years!”

  “Doesn’t matter. You just said you’re never bad, remember?”

  Getting chocolate was one thing, but writing essays wasn’t exactly something she was looking forward to while on vacation. She looked at Alexandra. “What if you’re bad?”

  “Sorry?”

  “What’s your punishment if you’re bad?”

  “That’s not how this works, Julia.”

  “Says who!”

  “Says I.” Alexandra winked as she stood up and moved over to the kitchen to unpack the bags of supplies.

  “So, what qualifies as good behavior?” Julia hoisted herself up onto the counter.

  “Let’s see,” Alexandra said. “Let’s start with these. When you can tell me you need a moment instead of getting angry with me and lashing out. When you ask me if you can help me with something and,” she looked at Julia, “when you ask me for permission to do certain things.”

  Julia frowned. “What things?” She gulped when Alexandra moved over to her, pushing her legs apart before standing in between them. “See, I know you sleep next to me, so I know you haven’t done anything…private.” She wiggled her brows when Julia blushed. “But we all have urges. I’m sure the need will come to you. So, if you ask whether you can, I will reward you with all the chocolate you could possibly eat.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Your hand will be too sore to do it again after I make you write that essay,” Alexandra said.

  “How would you even know?”

  “I can always tell.”

  “I have two hands, though,” Julia retorted.

  “I know. I don’t mind sloppy handwriting. You can write one half with your right hand and one half with your left hand.”

  “That’s not fair!”

  “Those are my conditions,” Alexandra said as she stepped back, grabbed a bar of chocolate from the cupboard, and held it in front of Julia. “So, what do you say, Julia?”

  Julia held out her hand. “Fine, let’s do it.”

  “What’s that hand for?”

  “I’ve been really good these past few days, so I definitely deserve all the chocolate.”

  “That doesn’t count. We start right now. So, if you want chocolate, you’re going to have to work for it.”

  “Can I help you with something?”

  Alexandra smiled brightly at that. “No, thank you.” She winked at Julia as she handed her a piece of chocolate.

  “I don’t even get the whole thing?”

  “Nope.”

  That just wasn’t fair at all. She grumbled before putting the chocolate into her mouth and almost choked when Nicky came waltzing into the kitchen.

  “Do you have anything else for seasickness, Alexandra?”

  “No. The crackers and ginger ale will settle her stomach soon. She needs some sleep now.”

  “I feel bad for her. I mean, the sea wasn’t too bad today. Maybe we should have gone by plane instead. It just seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  “I’m sorry Ella is not well,” Alexandra said. “But I’m sure that with some rest and lots of love, she’ll feel better soon.”

  “Thanks, I hope so,” Nicky said.

  “So, I was asking Julia earlier what she wanted for dinner, but we got a little distracted.”

  Julia felt her cheeks blush.

  “What do you and Ella want, Nicky?” Alexandra asked.

  “Something that’s easy on Ella’s stomach. But I’m not sure she’s going to want dinner today,” Nicky said as she hopped on the counter next to Julia and pointed to the chocolate in Alexandra’s hand. “Can I have some of that?”

  Alexandra shook her head. “No. This one is all Julia’s. Besides, you shouldn’t ruin your appetite before dinner.”

  Nicky looked at Julia and smiled. “So, how long have you and Alexandra been friends?”

  “Uh,” Julia stammered as she looked at Alexandra for help. She rolled her eyes when Alexandra leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed her arms while lightly shaking her head. “A couple of weeks, I guess.”

  She relayed to Nicky t
he story of how they met, who laughed loudly. “Oh my God, that is priceless. I bet Alexandra gave you a good scare when you first got here. She’s all kinds of intimidating when she wants to be!”

  “Yeah, I might have called her a bitch when she walked away to call my boss.”

  “Oh really?” Alexandra’s voice rose in pitch. “I didn’t know that.”

  Julia grinned. “You weren’t supposed to know that. But you have to admit you were being all kinds of bitchy to me.”

  “I wasn’t. You just took me by surprise. It’s not every day a gorgeous blonde lands on my island.”

  Nicky watched them, her eyes alight, as Julia felt another blush come on at Alexandra’s comment. “So, are you two…you know?”

  “None of your business,” Alexandra said.

  Nicky clearly knew enough not to ask any further questions about it.

  “Okay, lasagna is out of the question if Ella needs something that’ll be easy to digest. Pick something else.”

  “Chocolate?”

  Alexandra huffed as she pointed to Nicky and Julia. “You two are absolutely disgusting. Chocolate is not an appropriate meal. I’ll think of something myself.”

  “Do you need help with making it?”

  “You’re abusing the rules, Ms. Quinn,” Alexandra said as she handed her another piece of chocolate.

  “You didn’t mention the specifics. Do you need help with that too?”

  Nicky squinted at both of them.

  Alexandra put the chocolate away. “Careful, Julia. Wouldn’t want to exhaust that hand of yours, now would you?”

  “I think I’m going to lie down for a while. Concussion, remember?” Julia hopped off the counter.

  “Hmm,” Alexandra said as Julia started to walk away. “Oh, Julia?” She brought her mouth close to Julia’s ear and whispered softly. “If you’re going to lie down because you’re tired, I’m okay with that. If you’re lying down because you’re running, I’m not okay with that.”

  Julia smiled. “Just tired, promise.”

  “Okay, just remember,” Alexandra said as she grabbed Julia’s hand. “You made a pact with me. Just a reminder, in case you should get any sudden urges while you’re alone in my bed.” A flush crept up Julia’s neck, and Alexandra grinned. “Sleep well, Julia. I will wake you in an hour.”