Steps to Submission Volume 3: Virgin Lesbian Erotic Romance (Steps to Submission Bundles)

by Lexie X

  Narrowing her eyes, Piper couldn’t help but grin. "How do you turn everything into an amazing game between us?"

  Her girlfriend tilted her head. "I'm just awesome like that."

  ***

  Chapter 11

  Trying to hide her nervousness, Piper looked out her window at the brightly lit suburban street passing by. "Such a nice neighborhood."

  "Yeah, I like it here. Nice people," Laura commented.

  Piper wondered if the older brunette had any idea that her very own sister had just given permission for the thing that she'd wanted so badly all those months ago.

  Isabella had been right, though. Just having sex with Laura felt wrong somehow, and it would be copout from their latest twisted little game. Still, it didn't stop her from taking surreptitious glances at the brunette's killer attire. Her tight little black dress left very little to the imagination both above and below; Piper found her eyes catching on those long athletic legs more than was appropriate.

  Luckily, her admiration went unnoticed. Laura seemed just as nervous. "Am I crazy?"

  "Sorry?"

  "All this seems normal from one perspective. I'm just going out with a friend to hit up the bars. But I haven't done this since I got married. I wonder if I've still got it."

  Piper laughed. "I'm pretty sure you do. You were very hard to resist."

  "Oh god, that's right," Laura replied with a frown. "I've apologized to Izzie a ton, but I don't think I've ever told you directly how sorry I am about all that."

  "It's fine."

  "Good, I guess…"

  "Seriously," Piper insisted. "I think you and her are both better off for finally facing some of your issues. I'm glad it happened."

  The older brunette glanced at her briefly with a surprised expression. "You're very mature for your age."

  "You're only a few years older than me!"

  "I didn't say I was mature," Laura teased. "I'll joke about it, sure, but I'm in my late twenties and I'm already a divorced single mom. I can put on a great act like I'm all elegant and graceful, but I don't actually have a single clue what I'm doing."

  "Just do what you did to me," Piper responded, grinning sheepishly. "That'll work. Trust me."

  "Yeah, but you wanted to be…" She trailed off, probably thinking better of it.

  "Wanted to what? You can be totally honest with me."

  Laura looked at her meaningfully. "Since we're family now?"

  Blushing, Piper curled her toes. "We are?"

  "Are you intending to break up with my sister anytime soon?"

  Her heated blush intensified. "No…"

  "Then we're going to be in each other's lives. I've learned that family isn't the people you're stuck with, it's the people who choose to be around—who want to be around."

  Fighting for control over her flustered and happy expression, Piper nodded. "You know, Isabella said something like that recently. She really likes this new thing where you two actually talk."

  "See?" Laura continued. "You have such a good presence here. Such a good effect on her. You're probably the best thing that's ever happened to her."

  Piper gripped the edges of her own dress, caught off guard by the ease with which Laura had just legitimized everything that she'd been through with her girlfriend. "You are seriously going to make me cry."

  "Well, don't. Izzie spent forever on your makeup."

  After a tense beat, they both began laughing.

  By the time they reached the bar Laura had chosen, whatever strangeness and tension existed between them from prior drama had completely evaporated. Piper found herself in a good mood, excited for the night's adventure, and surprised by the open and honest bond that she still had with her girlfriend's sister. It had formed months ago and certainly been de-railed once, but had now easily returned now that life was getting better.

  By the end of her first beer, sequestered at a comfortable table in the corner from which they could see the entire bar, Piper felt comfortable enough to start asking questions she'd been afraid to voice. "So, why are we here, exactly?"

  Laura sipped on the last of her cranberry vodka. "This bar? I've only been here once, so I don't think anyone will recognize me."

  She gave a teasing smirk. "No, silly. Why are we out—" She searched for a tactful description. "—looking for girls for you to talk to?"

  "Oh." The older brunette set down her finished drink. "Remember how I have no idea what I'm doing?" She eyed the availability of the bartenders. "Hold that thought." A minute or two later, she returned with three drinks—a light green liquor drink and two beers. "Two for you, so we don't have to go straight back up to the bar again in two minutes. I imagine this conversation will be rather important."

  "Thanks!" She took a gulp from the first and set the second a little ways apart on the table. "So?"

  Laura sighed. "I guess… does it make sense that after the cheating, the divorce, and everything else, I'm just done with men for awhile?"

  "I guess so." She looked around the bar, studying the various patrons. "Are you attracted to girls?"

  "I can tell when a girl is pretty," the older girl replied, speaking more quietly as she, too, studied the other people in the bar. "But it doesn't really feel like…" She gulped. "Like I felt about Rick."

  Piper turned back to her. "Isabella would probably tell you not to talk about your ex—especially if you're trying to pick someone up."

  "I'm sure she would."

  After another swig of her beer, Piper leaned forward. "So you're not attracted to girls, but you want to sleep with one?"

  "Is that crazy? I just want companionship, and I don't want to confuse my girls with a potential new father, and I don't want the inevitable relationship drama from some guy."

  "Not crazy at all," she was forced to admit. "It actually sounds pretty logical. With that reasoning, trying to take a girl home makes sense. Though, um, it's certainly possible to get swept up in that sort of thing."

  Laura took a long sip of her drink and then gave her a knowing smile. "Is that what happened with you and Izzie?"

  Wondering just how frank she could be with her girlfriend's sister, Piper thought back on the beginnings of their relationship. For all the endless self-conscious analysis she'd done back then, she still wasn't sure about the exact tone of her feelings—or Isabella's—at any given stage. The confusion had been part of the fun.

  "It's ok, you don't have to tell me," Laura said after a moment of silence.

  Piper took a large gulp of her beer. "No, it's just… I'm not even sure, really, how I got here. Every step made sense, but if I were to meet who I was a year ago and tell her about my life now, she wouldn't even believe it was possible. I—"

  "Hey, girls," a well-muscled guy with a grin greeted them as he approached the table.

  Laura gave him a withering look.

  "Christ, fine," he said, holding up his hands in surrender and moving on.

  The interrupting moment past, the older girl's curious smile returned. "Well, Izzie told me about a little about your relationship, and how she fell in love with your personality and mind first, and how she's only now learning to be attracted to… er, your body… but she doesn't know if you…" She narrowed her eyes for a moment, thinking. "If you had the same… sequence of emotions."

  Very aware of what she was really being asked, Piper gulped the last of her first beer down and then gripped the second. Thinking back, she could still recall her first week of freshman year. "We didn't get along at first. I immediately hated her for being so gorgeous and so in my space all the time in our small dorm room. Her presence made me feel uncomfortable."

  "Really?" Laura asked, intrigued. "Do you think you disliked her as a defense mechanism?"

  Her skin tingling with apprehension, she stared down at her beer. "Maybe."

  "If you and her were to break up, would you date a girl or a guy next?"

  Frowning, she shook her head. "I don't want anyone else. Ever."

  Se
nsing that she was pushing too far, Laura backed off. "Sorry. I'm just really curious, since none of this stuff was ever on my radar before the last few months. I guess I'm sort of concerned that if I sleep with women I might start liking it."

  Happy to be out of the spotlight, Piper laughed nervously. "Of course you'll like it. Sex is sex. It feels good, and it's fun. You're not going to hate it just because you're straight."

  "I guess that makes sense."

  "Yep. A tongue's a tongue."

  They both froze, and then began laughing as the random vulgarity and hilarity of that sudden statement hit them.

  "Sorry for grilling you," Laura told her, still grinning. "I guess I'm just nervous."

  "It's fine." She sighed. "I don't really have the answers to those questions, but I don't think we need them."

  The older girl nodded. "She's head over heels for you."

  Piper raised her eyebrows.

  "She's never had anything but long-term flings," Laura explained. "Kept everyone she dated at arm's length." She looked down at her freshly empty drink. "Somehow I justified hitting on them with that fact. I don't know. I wasn't a very good sister to her. But I do know what I saw this morning, the way she watched you playing with Tanzy and Zoe, and how centered, calm, and happy she is now dating you. This might sound weird, but I know from experience because I didn't have it. I only got married because we were pregnant, young, and stupid—how you two feel is how two people should feel about each other when they decide to get married." She got up and left the table to get another drink.

  Paralyzed by a surge of electricity hitting every fiber of her being, Piper just stared down at the table, her heart racing. She'd certainly thought about the future in terms of where to spend the summer and where to live next year at school, but the suggestion of marriage would have just been a distant concept at any earlier moment if she'd heard it at any time before the deep, sweet, caring experience she and Isabella had just shared earlier that night. That feeling—that unbreakable amazing bond—seemed to somehow make the concept of freaking marriage an actual possibility and an actual future.

  "Feeling alright?" Laura asked, returning with a dark black liquor drink.

  Shaking out of her trance, she nodded. Part of her returned to the bar, but part of her remained in her own mind thinking about the possibility of being with Isabella forever.

  Wordlessly, without justification, what-ifs, or excuses, she wanted that very badly.

  That realization filled her with an uncomfortable and enjoyable surge of energy. Raising her beer, she downed the rest in a single gulp, then slammed it on the table. "Life is awesome! Enough stalling! Let's have some fun!"

  Laura laughed out loud. "What's gotten into you?"

  "You wanna get laid or what?" Piper countered, unable to sit still any longer. "I know how to do this shit! I'm dating the goddamn master!" She tilted her head. "Or is it mistress?"

  "Different connotations," the older girl teased, buying into her energy. "Alright, screw it, what do we do first?"

  "We gotta go dancing."

  "Where to?" Laura asked while they waited for the cab.

  As she stood there examining all the pieces she had at hand—the redhead Laura had taken home and failed to seduce, the unfamiliar town they were in, and anyone or anything she might know—Piper had a stroke of genius. Quickly getting out her phone, she checked something online and then smiled. "I just happen to know a redhead here who likes to go dancing, and I know where she's heading right now."

  "Who?"

  "It's a surprise," she replied, her incredible energy only soaring further. The idea was so out of left field, but so natural—and so twisted and evil—that Isabella would certainly be proud of her if she could pull it off. The cab arrived, and the two girls piled in. Piper gave the driver the club name, and off they went.

  "You ever been there before?" Laura asked, swaying as they turned.

  "Nope. Have you?"

  The brunette shook her head. "Heard of it, though. College kid hell during the summer."

  Piper just smiled. That description made sense given who they were going to try to meet there.

  In just a few minutes, they stopped, Laura paid, and then they found themselves on a crowded downtown sidewalk outside a very loud club.

  "Surprisingly busy for this town," Piper commented.

  "Summer hell. Look at that huge line."

  Still surging with energy, Piper summoned her inner Isabella and tugged her companion forward by the arm. "Don't be ridiculous. There's no line when you look like us." She waved politely to the bouncer and walked right in with a smile.

  Amazed that her move had actually worked, she moved straight to the bar within. She peered back at the front door; nobody seemed to be coming to kick them out. The whole maneuver had taken only a few seconds, but she couldn't quite believe how easy it was to be confident when she was so filled with energy and happiness.

  She ordered two beers in bottles—the better to avoid spilling while out on the floor—and handed one to Laura. "Shall we dance?"

  The older brunette watched her with bemused green eyes. "Lead the way, hot stuff."

  "You're teasing, but I'll take it," Piper shot back, leaning close to be heard over the pounding music. Leading the way through the intensely thick crowd, she picked a spot by the edge where they were sure to be seen eventually. Clearly caught off guard by all the positive energy and handsiness, Laura danced with her hesitantly at first.

  "Drink!" Piper shouted, pushing the older girl's beer up.

  Laura shrugged and chugged it.

  "Nice!"

  She laughed. "Haven't chugged a beer in years!"

  "Number two?" Piper offered her own.

  Laura took the other beer and chugged it just as quickly as the first. Ditching both empty bottles on a nearby table, she returned with more willingness. After a song or two of close dancing and grinding, she even started to look like she was enjoying herself. "You're crazy!" she shouted in her companion's ear as they gyrated against one another.

  Piper wanted to tell her, somehow, about the yes-very-crazy energy that had taken her over, but they were interrupted.

  "Piper?!" someone asked to their right.

  Laura quickly disengaged from their dance and faced the newcomer.

  Slowing her dancing, Piper looked over. "Hey, Julie, what's up?"

  "What are you doing here?" the redhead asked, still surprised.

  "Visiting Isabella," she replied.

  Julie looked at her companion. "Holy crap, Laura! How's it been?"

  Immediately on guard, Piper glanced between them.

  "Julie!" Laura greeted her. "Piper, I used to babysit her all the time."

  "Oh. Great," she said, trying not to sound too worried. This was certainly not what she'd had in mind, but she should have guessed that complications might happen. Julie had been Isabella's best friend for years and they'd even gone to the same college, so there had to be plenty of loose ends she wasn't aware of.

  Laura looked over at her, tilted her head, and gave her a subtle glare. The brunette had obviously realized that this was the redhead they'd come to the club to run into, and she did not seem happy about the prospect of hitting on someone she'd babysat.

  "This is my boyfriend," Julie continued, pulling a guy closer. "Jake!"

  "Oh." Piper processed this double-whammy, wondering if her plan had just imploded. There still had to be a way to salvage this. What would Isabella do?

  Jake seemed a good match for Julie, in that he carried himself with an obvious confidence and a subtle hint of smugness. Clad in a sleeveless shirt to show off his decent arms and sporting spiky black hair held in place by copious gel, he regarded both of the two new girls with a half-interested grin. "Hey."

  Laura introduced both of them, and seemed to be about to let Julie and Jake move on.

  "Wanna sit out on the patio for a bit?" Piper interjected. "Catch up?"

  Julie hesitated, but Jake and Laura cle
arly had no idea there was any latent negativity between them. "Sure."

  The back patio of the club had half as many people and they could actually hear themselves talk. Another smaller bar was also present, and Piper managed to convince Laura and Julie to go get another round of drinks after they sat down.

  Feeling rather hopeless about the night's hijinks, but feeling even more dark and hungry due to the obstacles, she eyed her lone companion at the table. If this was going to happen, she needed allies.

  "Jake."

  He turned his attention away from a passing shapely butt and met her intent gaze. "What's up?"

  Putting her inner hunger to work, Piper pushed far more daringly than she would have otherwise. "Do you want to have the best night of your life?"

  His focus sharpened and his slight buzz seemed to vanish instantly. "What do you mean?"

  "I want the four of us to go to a hotel room after this. Convince Julie to come with us, and I'll work on getting Laura to go."

  He paused to absorb her words. His gaze jumped to the brunette and redhead at the bar, then back to her. "You fuckin' with me?"

  She kept eye contact. "Nope."

  "Has Julie done things like this before?" he asked, suddenly suspicious.

  "Nope. That's why I need you to convince her."

  His tension dropped somewhat, but he sat straighter in his chair. "So you just go around looking for random foursomes, or what?"

  Running out of willpower for the tense negotiation, Piper made a shot in the dark. "So Julie hasn't mentioned me?"

  He glanced aside momentarily to think before his mouth opened slightly. He looked back at her with wide eyes. "You're that Piper, the freaky bitch? She hates you!"

  She laughed. "Yeah, guess that's me."

  Laura and Julie returned, descending on the table with a delivery of drinks.

  Jake met her questioning gaze with a surprised shrug, wordlessly agreeing to support her plan if it turned out to be real enough. When it was safe, he checked out Laura's athletic body and killer black dress with a new intent.

  Relaxing, Piper took her drink and held onto it for dear life. Overt deviousness wasn't really her thing, but it seemed she'd managed to pull off the first step. She had no doubt that if Isabella had been there everyone would already be naked and doing kinky things, but this was a start.