by Ellie Norton
Emma shifted so she was also sitting up, leaning against the headboard. "Yes," she said simply.
"Why?"
Emma sighed, "Because, love. You and I are both incredibly possessive when it comes to each other. I knew if you changed your mind about letting Kristen join us, that you would never be able to tolerate her touching me in any intimate way. And I knew that I would have a hard time not destroying my friendship with her if she were to touch you."
"Oh, alright," I said, thinking through what she had said and coming to the realization that she was right.
"If I'm being honest, I knew your jealousies would get the best of you last night. That's why I gagged you and tied you the way I did," Emma said, giving me a small sheepish smile.
My eyes narrowed briefly as I remembered my frantic attempts to free myself, but then I remembered the look she had used to make me submit and I shuddered. Emma's eyes immediately darkened and turned hungry. "What were you just thinking about?" she asked huskily.
Heat raced through me at the sound of her voice, making my nipples harden in anticipation. "The look you gave me to make me submit to you, Mistress," I panted out.
In an instant, Emma had me pinned to the bed, her hands capturing my wrists and pulling them above my head. She lowered her mouth to bite and suck the exposed skin on my neck. I turned my head away, giving her more access to my skin. "Mine," she purred into my ear. I moaned, arching into her.
Before either of us could say or do anything else, Kristen spoke from the doorway. "God, again? You guys are like two little energizer bunnies."
Emma and I froze, turning to meet each other's gazes before we both burst out laughing. Emma sat back, letting me sit up. "Energizer bunnies?" She asked Kristen.
Kristen rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you know, you keep going, and going, and going."
I smirked, "You're just jealous."
"Be nice, my pet," Emma said, lightly gripping my collar.
"Yes, Mistress," I said, not looking away from Kristen who just watched us affectionately.
After a moment, Kristen said, "So can we go out and get some breakfast? No offense, but I kinda need a day out."
Emma's eyes were full of understanding as she said, "Of course, Kristen."
I hesitated then asked, "Do you want some time, just the two of you, Kristen?"
Her eyes widened, and she said, "No, that's not necessary. But can it just be a day with my two friends, not Emma and her pet?"
"Of course," Emma said immediately, getting up and moving over to Kristen. "Just give us a few minutes to shower and get dressed."
"Alright, but no shower sex," Kristen said, teasingly.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Fine, but you're buying me coffee."
Kristen giggled and as I got up to head for the guest shower, Emma reached out and gave me a nice hard slap on my ass. I yelped as the slap reawakened the ache of my fresh bruises. "Behave, Rachel," she said in warning.
"Yes, Mistress. I'm sorry," I said, rubbing the tender skin. Emma gave me a pleased smile and turned to go into the bathroom.
Kristen gave me a sympathetic smile and said, "Sorry."
I shrugged, "It's cool. It'll just make today more interesting."
"What do you mean?" Kristen asked, obviously forgetting the welts she'd seen last night.
I turned around, lifting my robe to show her the bruises that had replaced the welts. "Emma just reminded me about these."
"Ouch. Do you really like that?"
I immediately grinned, "Yeah, it's a great reminder that I'm Emma's."
Kristen just smirked, "If you say so, but you better hurry up, I think Em is about done in the shower."
"Oh, shit," I said, rushing down the hall to take my own shower with Kristen's laughter following me.
I was driving us to Emma's favorite brunch place when her phone rang. She looked down at the readout and said, "It's Ava." I tensed, glancing up in the rearview mirror to glance at Kristen in the backseat. But she didn't seem worried as Emma answered the call. "Hello…Hi, Ava…Kristen's alright…Yeah, she really is…Ok, let me ask, hang on." She turned to face Kristen and ask, "Ava wants to meet us for brunch to make sure you're ok. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, that'd be great. I want to apologize to her for freaking out," Kristen said with an eager smile.
Emma lifted the phone back to her ear and said, "That's fine, Ava. She wants to see you too…Yeah, Maggie's on fifth…We're headed there now…Ok, see you then." When she hung up the phone, Emma turned back to Kristen, "Are you sure about this?"
Kristen rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, Em. I'm ok. And I'm sure I'll see her again next time I visit. I don't want things to get weird between us."
"Alright," Emma said turning back around in her seat. I reached out to squeeze her thigh and she smiled at me.
Twenty minutes later, we were seated at a shaded table on the patio of Maggie's diner. Kristen and Emma were bickering over our plans for the afternoon, and I stayed out of it, preferring to drink my coffee in peace. I didn't care what we did, so long as we got to hang out and didn't go to a movie. As the good-natured argument went on, I started noticing some of the other customers glancing my way. It was weird, but before I got the chance to mention it, Ava arrived.
She made a beeline for Kristen and crouched down next to her chair. "Kristen, I'm so sorry."
Kristen smiled and reached out to squeeze Ava’s arm affectionately. "Ava, it's alright. I'm fine now. I'm sorry I freaked out."
"No, Kristen it's totally my fault. I pushed you too hard and too fast. I'm sorry."
Kristen looked like she was about to argue again, but she gave in. "It's ok. Let's just put it behind us and enjoy a nice meal on this beautiful day."
Ava seemed to sag in relief as she said, "Ok, thanks, Red."
Kristen just rolled her eyes and Ava moved to take the last empty seat at the table. "So, where's Harold?" Kristen asked when Ava had taken her seat.
"I took him home shortly after you left yesterday. I just didn't have the heart to continue. But we're going to get together again later this week," Ava said.
"I'm sorry, Ava. I didn't mean to ruin your fun," Kristen said softly.
"Honey, it's not your fault. It's mine. Besides, I think Harold had had just about as much as he could deal with," Ava said matter-of-factly. Then she turned to me and said, "Rachel, does it bother you that Harold and I are hanging out?"
"No, why would it?" I asked confused.
Ava laughed, "Because you used to date him."
"So? I'm with Emma now. Why would I care who he dates? I broke up with him sophomore year if you remember." I said, still completely at odds with what she was asking.
"I know. I just wanted to make sure. I don't want to jeopardize our friendship," Ava said with a smile.
I returned the smile and said, "But what about that kid you had on a leash at the fundraiser?"
"Oh, I dumped him weeks ago," Ava said, waving him away.
"Why?" Kristen asked.
She chuckled, "Because he was a jealous idiot. He kept getting jealous of anyone I'd even look at, even the other dommes."
I remembered the looks he had given me that night and had to admit I wasn't surprised. I was about to mention it when I felt another pair of eyes gazing at me. I looked over and saw a teenage guy watching me. When he saw me notice, he quickly turned away, blushing. I stared at him for a minute, trying to figure out what was going on.
Emma noticed and asked, "What's wrong, Rachel?"
"It's weird, but people keep looking at me. Do I have something on my face or anything?"
Ava started laughing, and said, "No, Rach. You look great; they're staring at you because of this." She pulled out her phone and quickly messed around with it before handing it to me.
She's opened the E! network's website and opened an article about the club opening. Right at the top was a picture of me from Friday night, singing with Brian. The headline read "Genius New DJ Martel Rocks with Bri
an Zane". I groaned handing Emma the phone. "Why did they have to focus on that? The whole point was the club's opening and Brian's new album," I whined.
Ava chuckled, "They do talk about that later, if you'd taken the time to read the article, but you're the more interesting story. There is a lot of speculation about you, especially after your dinner with Brian last weekend."
"How do you know about that?" I asked.
"Seriously? There are photos. Including a great one of you and Emma holding hands. I hope you weren't trying to stay in the closet," Ava said smugly.
"No, we weren't, Ava," Emma said handing the phone to Kristen, who was bouncing in excitement by this point. Emma reached over to take my hand and give it a squeeze. "We'd already talked about it. But I think Rachel might not have expected this kind of publicity so quickly."
I smiled weakly, and admitted, "Yeah, I figured maybe I'd get a little blurb about DJing or something, not this."
Kristen giggled and said, "Well, Rach, you better get used to it. Look, you're not just on the E! network." She held out the phone to me. She's done a google search and there was a huge list of articles.
"Oh my God!" I gasped. "This is real, isn't it?"
Emma smiled gently and said, "Yes, love. It is."
I returned her smile and pulled out my phone, which I hadn't even looked at since Friday night. I was surprised to see how many missed calls and texts I had. I glanced through the call log first and saw a few from my parents, several from my manager and one from Darrin. I switched to the texts before returning the calls. My parents had both texted with the expected requests for me to call them when I had a chance. The rest of the texts were from old friends. They all wanted to congratulate me.
"I'm really sorry guys, but I have to make a few calls. Em, when our waiter comes back will you order for me?" I said.
"Sure, love," Emma said smiling at me. I grinned back at her and moved away from the table, already putting the phone to my ear. As the phone rang, I moved over to the side of the patio, away from the other customers.
As soon as Katie picked up she said, "Finally, I've been trying to reach you all weekend."
"I'm sorry, Katie. I didn't get a chance to check my phone yesterday," I said apologetically.
She sighed, "That's ok. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you all weekend. Have you seen the press?"
I chuckled, "Yeah, I just did. It's unbelievable."
She laughed, "Rachel, you better get used to it. This is just the beginning."
"So you say. It could just be a novelty. Brian's album could bomb and then everyone would forget about me," I said, patiently, trying not to let my excitement get the better of me.
"You know it's going to go platinum. You did an amazing job, just accept it."
"Thanks, Katie." I said, unable to keep the grin off my face.
"Ok, enough ego stroking. I emailed you your schedule for this week. It's a little busier than we anticipated, but Darrin got a lot of requests to work with you after Friday," Katie said.
I chuckled again and said, "I had a feeling he might. When I got to mingle, a few people mentioned wanting to work with me. It was surreal."
Katie laughed, "I completely understand. Just so you know, you're meeting with Bruno Mars on Thursday. I guess you really impressed him, he wants to work with you on his next album."
"Seriously?" I said, almost dropping the phone.
"Yeah, so, be nice and get used to the publicity. This isn't going away, Rachel."
My mind was reeling, but I managed to say, "Ok."
Katie laughed again. "You'll be just fine Rachel."
"Thanks, Katie. Is there anything else you needed to tell me?" I asked.
"Nope, I'll call you later this week."
"Ok, thanks again. Talk to you later."
"Bye, Rachel," she said and hung up.
I immediately called Darrin. He picked up before the second ring. "Rachel! How's my new favorite employee?"
I laughed, "I'm alright, a little blown away, but otherwise good."
"I'm so glad to hear that. You're going to be a very busy girl for a while," He said, chuckling.
"So, I hear. But what can I do for you?" I asked, hoping he'd get to the point.
"Just keep doing what you're doing. I was just calling to congratulate you. Friday was a huge success, thanks to you," he said.
"I just played the music," I replied.
"That's not true and you know it. You've got a lot of talent and I plan to do everything I can to showcase that," he said honestly.
"Thank you, Darrin," I said, thrilled at his confidence.
"You're welcome. I'll let you get back to your weekend. Tell Ms. Parker I said hello."
"I will. Thanks again," I replied.
After I hung up, I went back to the table grinning. "What's up?" Kristen asked when I had sat back down.
"I'm meeting with Bruno Mars on Thursday!" I said unable to hold back my excitement any longer.
"Oh, Rachel. That's amazing. I'm so proud of you!" Emma said, leaning in to kiss me.
"Oh, my God!" Kristen and Ava said at the same time and we all laughed.
"Oh, and Darrin says 'hi', Em," I said, not wanting to forget.
Emma smiled, "Thanks."
I filled them in on the rest of my phone conversations, and we talked about music the rest of the meal, before deciding to take Kristen down to the Santa Monica Pier. Ava decided to join us and we all had a great time. By the time we'd gotten back to Emma's house that night, I'd realized how much had changed between all of us. Emma and Ava had formed a bond in their dominance that neither Kristen nor I could touch. It was subtle, but I realized as I watched my girlfriend relax in a way I had never seen before, that it was something she needed and had been missing. A similar bond had formed between Kristen and me due to what we had shared the previous night in Emma's playroom. Kristen had always been open and affectionate, but now there was another layer of openness between us and I'd never felt so close or connected to one of my friends. Even Kristen and Emma's friendship had changed. Throughout the day, I noticed Emma acting more protective of Kristen, and she was more open with her affection towards Kristen. Two days prior, it would have made me really jealous to see the way Emma acted towards Kristen, but now it just made me love her more.
On Monday, I went back to my own apartment for a while to work on some mixes for my shift at Tusk that week. It was Kristen's last day in town and I figured that I would give her and Emma some time alone before she went back to New York. It was the only day I didn't have any meetings scheduled, so I needed to get as much work done on the mixes as possible. At 6pm, Emma and Kristen picked me up for dinner. When they walked in, Emma was grinning and Kristen was bouncing with excitement.
"What's up?" I asked, quickly saving the mix I was working on.
"Janice called. They accepted our bid. We're buying a house!" Emma said, moving over to pull me into her arms.
"Oh my God! That's—that's amazing," I said, grinning.
"Yeah, we close right after the Campman party," Emma said excitedly.
"Congrats!" Kristen said, wrapping her arms around both of us. "I can't believe you guys are really buying a house together."
I laughed, "Me either. It doesn't seem real."
Emma tensed up. "Are you having second thoughts, Rachel?" she asked, worry evident in every line of her body.
I squeezed her tighter, trying to reassure her. "No, not at all. It just makes me feel like a grown up, that's all."
She relaxed. "Alright, I just don't want you to feel pressured or anything," She said softly.
I smiled and said, "Em, it was my idea, remember?"
She returned my smile. "I know. I just want to make sure you're ready."
"I am. I love you."
"I love you too."
Kristen laughed, "I love you both. Now let's go eat and you guys can tell me all about your new house." We both laughed and followed Kristen out to Emma's car.
Tuesday was one of the worst days of my life. I had to go into work to meet with one of the new bands Darrin had just signed, so I couldn't go with Emma to take Kristen to the airport. Before I left for work, Emma removed my collar and Kristen wrapped me into a bear hug.
"Thanks so much, Rach. I'm really going to miss you," Kristen said softly.
I pulled her in tighter, "Me too, Kristen. I'm really glad you came out to visit. Come back soon, ok?"
She nodded, "I will, I promise. Take care of Em. She needs you."
I smiled and said, "I will. I need her too."
She smiled, "I know."
I hesitated then said, "You take care of yourself. If you need anything, or want someone to talk to, you can call me."
Her eyes shone with pleasure. "I will." Then she hesitated before leaning forward to whisper into my ear, "If I meet someone I trust and have questions, can I call you?"
Surprised, I pulled back to look into her crystal blue eyes. After studying her for a moment, I leaned back to whisper, "Are you sure you're still interested?"
"A little," she admitted. "I'd like to try it with a guy sometime."
I nodded, "Ok, just be safe, and if you want to wait until you come back, Emma can introduce you to someone we know you can trust."
"Ok, thanks," she said.
"But you can always call me, Kristen. I'm still figuring this all out myself, but I'll help you if I can."
She smiled, and said, "Thanks."
Kristen lightly kissed my cheek which made Emma growl out a quiet, "Kristen…"
Kristen chuckled releasing me so I could go wrap my arms around my girlfriend. "It was just a friendly kiss, Em. I'm not trying to take your girl."
Emma relaxed into my hug and I smiled up at her. "I love you. Em."
She smiled down at me, "I love you, too. But you better get moving if you don't want to be late for work. I groaned, but gave her a kiss said my good-byes and went to work.
The meeting was horrible. The lead singer for the band was a complete ass-hat. He had no interest in any of my suggestions and kept spouting off misogynistic rants that forced me to clench my jaw against the angry words that wanted to explode out of my mouth. When they finally left, I called Kira, Darrin’s assistant and requested a meeting with him for the following day. I knew that if I spoke to him that afternoon, then I would put myself in danger of losing my job. Then I packed up and headed for my car. I was stopped in the lobby of the studio by the receptionist.