by Nova Black
“Which you never answered. Big cheater.”
She smiled softly. “I answered it Meghan.”
We pulled into a long gated driveway, a guard stood at the front of a huge building with brick and marble columns. Some kind of posh country club or something?
“Lia Onyx and guest.” She handed identification over.
“Ms. Onyx, right on time! The guests were starting to talk.” He looked at me, very handsome with bright white teeth. “May I have your name, ma’am?”
“Meghan Ch… uh, Meghan Wallace.” Did I just forget and try to use my real name? Lia made a suppressed snorting noise and I glared at her.
“He is very handsome,” she said judiciously.
It took a while to drive up the long, winding entry road. I took the moment to do some actual, you know, investigative work.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a semi-private club house. I know one of the founder’s. She’s a friend of the family.”
“And what are we doing here today?”
“An awards ceremony for POC who are bringing valuable services or goods into the community.”
I eyed her sidelong. She glanced at me, grinning. “Yes, I am. I’m surprised you never asked. Most do.”
I shrugged. I figured she was black. It was the “bringing services and goods” into the community that got my antenna rising. Maybe I could still salvage the investigation if I paid attention to my surroundings and less attention on the feeling of Lia’s lips. The way she used her hands on me… Her fucking tongue.
I shuddered, trying to focus on what she was saying.
“My mother was half-black and half-native American, my father is both black and Irish. Twice a year we have very large and very loud family gatherings.”
I chuckled. “That sounds like fun.” My family was small, a brother, a few aunts on my father’s side was all that was left.
“Maybe I’ll take you to one.” She pulled into a parking spot, putting on the brake. “Come here, Meghan.”
I slid over to her before the words left her mouth, her face looming in my tunnel vision. She kissed me like she had all the time of eternity, lips speaking of promises and apologies and tasting of cinnamon.
I pulled away, breathing hard. She looked at me fondly, caressing my ear, pushing back an errant strand of hair. I made a motion to open my door but she grabbed my ear, pulling me back to her, the kiss going straight to my toes. Jesus. She held me in that iron grip, her tongue and teeth and lips coaxing the pleasures from my mouth until my moans filled the car.
When she had revved all my engines she pulled away, eyes dancing.
“Excellent pep talk Meghan. Ready?”
At the podium, she was a study in eloquence and poise, speaking in front of over 200 people, many movers and shakers in the state, entertainers, some congressmen and women. I even saw a few secret service agents hovering in the back.
Her speech was enthralling, grabbing the crowd with tales of some of the accomplishments of the attendees, people clapping enthusiastically at the end: I cannot remember a word she said, my brain trying to wrap around that this was the same person that kissed me in the car, the same person who shove my head underwater and pushed me in between her legs, gave me air and shove me back in again.
She was not a speaker – she was the speaker for the night. She was the organizer of the event, giving out awards to beaming small business men and women, along with significant checks or products, (one elderly guy almost breaking down when she awarded him a new walk-in freezer for his butcher shop), all earned by the money collected from gatherings like these,( which I learned later started at $1000/plate. Yikes).
When the awards were given out it was time for schmoozing. Lia was adept at breaking the ice between some of the wide-eyed recipients and their more famous attendees. She weaved in and out the circles, bringing people who needed contacts together.
It was an amazing skill and I shook my head in wonder.
“She’s something, isn’t she?”
“Brenda!”
She smiled, looking stunning in a flowing patterned dress, her skin glowing with vibrancy.
Her polished finger brushed the sleeve of my blue dress. “I see Lia got you out of those 80’s pant suits.”
I flushed, shaking my head. “I wore that one time and still, I’m getting shit about it.”
Brenda laughed. “As you should.”
“So, what are you doing here?”
She raised her brows, “I have been known to give back to my community from time to time.”
“Oh, yeah… sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She tilted her head. “How are you?”
My smile must’ve been shakier than I thought because she moved closer, touching my arm. “Stings a bit, huh?”
“What does?”
“Sharing her.”
I looked away. It's not a fucking picnic, no.
“Meghan, you are not the first. You will not be the last.” She touched my arm again. “Now, I’m not saying there’s malice in her. She won’t dump you or tire of you, or otherwise mistreat you.”
I fingered a glass in my hand. “Then, what?”
“It will be you who leaves. You will be a woman on a raft in the ocean, thinking the sun shines only for you. And though you’ll know it isn’t true, you will try to convince yourself it is.”
“She said that perhaps…”, I sighed, taking a glass of water from a server passing by, “that she may love me.”
Brenda looked at me, almost pityingly. “Did she say she would love only you? Did she say she would stop dating others?”
She leaned closer. “Do you think you could stand the intensity she invests in you for more than, say, a few weeks, a month?”
I thought of all the various escapades I had with Lia, in less than a week. More orgasms with another person than I’ve had in a year. Maybe five years if I’m totally honest.
“Sunburn.” I murmured wryly, taking a sip.
“Exactly.” Brenda said approvingly, “I’m not saying you can’t handle the occasional tan or two, but don’t scorch yourself girl. The sun will always be there.”
“She said I could hurt her.”
Brenda looked at me, surprised. “Well, what do you think I’ve been saying, Meghan? She cares for you and I care for her. I want you to know exactly who you’re dealing with before you go frolicking in the land of La-La love, thinking there’s marriage and picket fences and cute little bi-racial babies in the future.”
I turned around, finding Lia in a crowd of laughing people, all eyes drawn to her presence, her vibrancy a warm glow to bask in.
“What about Azina? They’re together.”
Brenda sighed, taking her own glass. “Azina and I have our…issues. But, Lia and Zi are together the way packs of Lionesses are together. They are hunters. You dear, are a baby gazelle.”
I raised my eyebrows, laughing a bit at the image. “A baby gazelle, though? Not even one of those somewhat clumsy but still spry juvenile ones?”
“Sweetheart, I took one look at you and I practically saw the cord still attached. Don’t tell me, but I bet the first, ahem… tryst happened within one day of meeting Lia.”
Twenty fucking minutes. Tops.
I reddened and she laughed, putting her arm through mine, leading me towards an ornate chocolate fountain. She leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, “Lia has one of these at every event, but never eats it. I think shoving fruit into melted chocolate just turns her on.”
“Everything turns me on, Brenda.” Lia said, coming from behind us.
Brenda straightened. “Don’t I know it?”
"Brenda."
“Lia.” Brenda crossed her arms, head tilted up.
They watched each other for a while, unspoken signals passing between them.
“Are you still angry with me?”
“A little, yes,” Brenda said.
“Even after the flowers? And the tickets to that sold out concert you wan
ted to go to? And that reference to my personal tailor, (you look ravishing by the way), and the keys to my place on the beach?”
She had a place on the beach? My mind went immediately dirty. Lia must have sensed a change because her eyes focused on me in that way I was beginning to recognize as the “I’m going to fuck you until you beg me to stop” look.
Brenda pretended not to notice. “I can buy my own flowers, concert tickets and thank you for the compliment but I can also buy and tailor my own clothes.”
Lia looked so doubtful at the last statement I had trouble holding back a snicker.
Brenda cut her eyes to me. “You have something to say, shoulder pads?”
Nope. I shook my head, drinking more – wine? When did wine get poured into my water glass?
Lia tilted her head at Brenda, lips twitching. “What can I do?”
“I want a grand gesture, a show of overwhelming remorse from one who made a pass at her best friend, the only person in the world who stands between her and the abyss of eternal heartbreak and sorrow.”
Lia raised her brow. “Done.”
“But also, yes I will be keeping the spare keys to the beach house. Thanks for that.”
I wandered away as they continued to banter, mind on how I was going to approach having a relationship with Lia. It was totally unrealistic, of course. Not only because I was investigating her for committing highly illegal acts, but the whole sharing thing.
What would that even be called with Zi and me? A one way threesome? What about Pam, would she be a regular in our bed, too?
Would I be able to sit at home knowing the person I loved was out intensely screwing other people. Getting them to fall in love? Bringing them home and fucking them in the shower?
“Meghan.”
Goddamn! How does she get my body to react like that? I cleared my throat, willing the pulsing throbs to die down a bit.
“I enjoyed your speech, Lia.”
“Thank you.” She regarded me somberly. “So. Did Brenda successfully persuade you from my bed?”
I looked at her and sighed. “Fuck, no.”
She laughed freely, head tilting back, every eye within earshot turning her way. Then she leaned closer, smiling that sexy smile of hers, hand warm on my arm.
“Excellent, Meghan. Because I feel like celebrating.”
~
She led me from the main hall, arm in mine, pass the kitchens, (she grabbed a covered tray and I looked at her sidewise), and up a rather abandoned looking staircase.
Down the hall and a couple of left turns were closed dark oak double doors.
She leaned against it, assessing me.
“What?”
“Here.” She handed the tray to me; I took it in both hands, bewildered.
“Hold still.” She moved behind me, unzipping my dress, wiggling my arms out of the holes one at a time. The dress fell to the floor in a soft wave, as did my underwear.
“I love it when you wear red panties.”
“You picked it, Lia.”
She grinned, taking the tray back from me. “I did say I loved it.”
Her eyes traveled the length of me.
I was naked in a strange place and I really didn’t care. My body was screaming, shouting, begging for Lia to touch me. I took a deep breath and restrained myself, trying very hard not to be a gazelle.
“What’s behind the door?”
She searched my face, came to some sort of conclusion. (Was it the mystery of her that drew me? Is that why I was allowing her to led me to such places?)
“In this tray is something for me. Behind this door... is something for you.”
I flicked my eyes to the door, curious.
“Meghan,” she smiled enjoying my trepidation, “by the end of this, you will have thanked me many times. You will have thanked me copiously and enthusiastically.”
What do I say to that? “Okay, Lia,” I answered.
She smiled wider, knocking on the door with her heel. It opened slowly.
“In this room my name is Ms. Onyx.”
I half expected some sort of mass vampire orgy, but it was a tastefully, if somewhat overly ornate, decorated room. A few sitting areas with plush chaise lounges, a crackling fire, a tall, handsome man with a gorgeous smile and no shirt.
Oh. Oh my.
“My name is Kevin.”
“Oh. Okay, um. Hi Kevin.” His voice was melodic and deep. Exotic. I could bask in that voice.
“Let me retrieve your dress, we do not want it to get smudged.”
That’s right. I’m completely naked right now. I shifted, looking for a flower arrangement to slide behind.
“Keep the shoes on, Meghan. I like it.” Lia was over by a long table, fiddling with something that clang of metal. “Ah, here it is.”
I heard a flame catch and craned my neck to see what the hell she was doing.
“Your name is Meghan?”
Shit! I jumped. “Didn’t see you behind me, Kevin.”
“Do you work with Ms. Onyx?”
“Um, no. Not really. It’s complicated.” He had taken my hand and was leading me to the chaise. I passed Lia, who was efficiently undressing, her back turned to us.
Kevin nodded understandingly and motioned to the chaise chair. “Please, lie down.”
“Um, no.” I shook my head. “You seem very nice but that’s not going to happen.”
He looked confused, and then laughed. “Oh. You misunderstand, this is not for me.”
“It’s for me, Meghan.” Lia said completely naked and shining gold in the firelight. “Lie down.”
Weirder and weirder. I lay back, feeling I had entered Alice’s Wonderland and sipped one too many potions.
Staring at the ceiling I heard a tray uncover. I lifted my head but was admonished by Kevin.
“No peeking, Meghan.” Lia murmured.
Was this turning me on? The weirdness, the uncertainty – the bizarre clanging metal in in the background?
… a little.
Lia came over looking down on me. “Spread your legs, dear.”
“Lia.”
She looked at me sharply.
A streak of stubbornness hit me. Baby gazelle, my ass.
“Tell me what you’re doing first.”
She raised her brow. “No.”
“Well, then I believe we are at an impasse,” I said with bravado.
Her mouth curved. “Indeed.”