It was Rosie. She answered, figuring Rosie was probably on a coffee break at work. Before she’d had a chance to get more than a word in edgewise, she was getting the third-degree from her best friend.
Is she okay? Has Lugal harmed her in any way? Did they make mad, passionate love all night long? Had she made her three wishes yet?
Samantha laughed, assuring Rosie that all was well.
“You’re not in bed together right now, are you?” Rosie asked. Samantha could tell she was cupping her hand over the mouthpiece.
“Do you honestly think I’d be answering the phone if I was?”
“So what are you doing?”
“Uh…we’re…uh, still shopping.” Samantha swallowed hard. “Just, um, you know, shopping.”
“You’re in a sex toy shop, aren’t you?”
Samantha gasped. “No, of course not.” She cupped her hand over the phone. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Piece of cake. It’s that inherent goody-two-shoes nervousness in your voice, sweetie. So whatcha getting?”
“None of your damn business.” Samantha chuckled.
“Is this Rosie on the cell phone?” Lugal asked. “Would it be all right if I spoke to her?”
“Sure. Hold on a sec, Rosie, Lugal wants to say hi.” She handed the phone to him. “You talk here and listen here,” she explained.
“Hello, Rosie, wife of Charlie Dudchowski!” Lugal boomed and Samantha shushed him. “Yes, it is I, Lugal Damu-zid, speaking to your spirit on the cell phone,” he said, failing to moderate his voice. He grinned at Samantha, looking just like a keyed-up, excited kid and she couldn’t help giggling.
“Can you see me, Rosie? I cannot see you. You are invisible. I am completely unafraid to be speaking to your disembodied voice on the cell phone. Yes, okay. Buh-bye to you too, Rosie.”
The mile-wide grin still affixed to his face, he handed the phone back to Samantha.
“You’re going to bust a gut if you keep laughing like that,” Samantha said quietly into the phone when she put it to her ear and heard Rosie dissolving into giggles. Gotta go. We’ll talk later.” She flipped the phone closed and stuffed it back into her purse.
“Did you see me fearlessly talking on the cell phone and using modern technology, Samantha?” Lugal asked.
“Yes I did.” She patted his arm and smiled. “And you did a very good job. I’m proud of you, Lugal.”
“Thank you.”
“Hi there,” a woman’s voice called out from the rear of the store, startling Samantha. “My name’s Dorothy. Just let me know if I can be of any help.”
Spotting the source of the voice, Samantha’s eyes widened. The smiling, sweet-looking woman had to be at least sixty. And she was dressed normal, thank God, in black slacks and a pearl-gray sweater twin-set. Topped by a double strand of pearls, no less. Samantha would have hightailed it out of there like a rocket if she’d come face-to-face with a whip-yielding, leather bustier-wearing granny.
Lugal strode into the store’s depths, checking out all the kinky-looking stuff openly plastered everywhere. Samantha’s eyes widened as she scanned the inventory. There were umpteen types of vibrators, dildos, anal plugs, cock rings, nipple clamps, whips, cuffs, blindfolds and strange-looking stuff that had Samantha scratching her head in wonder. Aside from plenty of basic black, bright fluorescent colors were bounteous throughout.
“What is this, Dorothy?” Samantha heard Lugal ask the nice old woman. She went to the area where Lugal stood and groaned when she saw what he was holding.
Sheesh, the poor woman was probably on a fixed retirement income, working here to help make ends meet. Maybe because no one else would hire her at her age. She’d probably be blushing from her roots to her toes trying to answer Lugal’s question.
“Shhh, you’ll embarrass her,” Samantha whispered, elbowing him in the ribs.
“It’s a latex female sex doll,” Dorothy explained, coming down the aisle with a lively smile. “With human hair, glass eyes and a realistic vagina. The vaginal material is soft and smooth enough not to chafe a penis during copulation.” She turned the doll upside down to give Lugal a bird’s eye view of the doll’s crotch. “They’re quite popular and a vast improvement over the welded vinyl blow-up dolls, which often burst at the seams after just a few uses.”
Samantha blinked.
“We get ours from France. They’re top quality, with water-filled breasts and buttocks. This one comes with interchangeable openings for anus, vagina and mouth, complete with vibrating capabilities. Most of our customers who’ve purchased them think they’re worth every penny, even though I must admit they’re a bit of a pain to clean up. I recommend just taking her into the shower with you.” Dorothy winked.
“So…you’re not just an employee here?” Samantha asked, feeling as if she’d tumbled down the rabbit hole and ended up in the porn version of Wonderland.
“Nope,” Dorothy said. “The original owner, for twenty-five years now.”
“Why would I need this if I have Samantha?” Lugal asked with a frown as he scrutinized the doll and its various orifices. He clearly wasn’t trying to be a smartass or argumentative. He was simply eager to learn.
“You wouldn’t,” Dorothy said, giving Samantha a bright grin. “Not if you have a ready and willing partner available.”
Returning her smile, Samantha wanted to wither and die on the spot.
Lugal looked from the doll to Samantha. “I would like to see you in this garment.” He gestured to the life-sized Barbie doll with the bright red puckered, ready-to-fuck lips.
Samantha eyed the skimpy getup, which basically consisted of a series of connecting black leather straps, decorated with shiny silver studs and chains. “What garment?” she managed. “Besides, I sincerely doubt they carry things like that in plus sizes.”
“Oh, we carry a wide variety of sizes,” Dorothy offered. “For both slave and Master.”
“Oh…I’m not a slave,” Samantha clarified.
“I am the slave,” Lugal said, expression dejected and shoulders slumped.
Dorothy slanted them a curious look. “Oh…my mistake. I’m usually not wrong about those things.”
Samantha gestured with her finger, motioning for Lugal to bend down. She whispered into his ear, explaining that Dorothy wasn’t talking about the type of slave Lugal was. She was talking about a consensual sexual relationship between a man and a woman.
“Ahhhh.” Lugal nodded, his smile returning. “I misunderstood. Samantha is the slave and I am her Master,” he announced confidently.
“No!” Samantha protested. She turned to Dorothy. “He doesn’t understand. Neither one of us are slaves.”
“I understand very well,” Lugal countered. He smiled at Dorothy. “You see, Samantha is most eager to be my pleasure slave, to be bound and naked as I bring her to orgasm, but she is too timid to openly divulge her secret innermost sexual desires.”
Oh God.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
“Lugal!” Samantha gasped, mortified down to her bone marrow and feeling her face go tomato-soup-red. “For chrissakes, do you want a megaphone?”
“What is that?” he asked.
“Something to help you announce my private fantasies to the entire north side of town.”
He gave her a strange look. “You would like me to do this for you?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake, no!” Rolling her eyes, Samantha growled in frustration.
Dorothy gave a warm smile, gently patting Samantha’s arm. “Bondage fantasies are nothing to be ashamed about, dear. My husband and I have been Master and slave for many years. It can be immensely satisfying and pleasurable, whether it’s a lifestyle or simply an occasional pursuit.”
Imagining the woman all dolled up in Big Latex Barbie’s leather gear and doing God-knows-what with the old guy she was married to, Samantha tried really hard not to gawk at Dorothy. She doubted she was being very successful when the woman chuckled.
“Yes, I know I look like the typical apple-pie-making sort of grandma next door, but, I can assure you, I know about every item we carry in the store.” She arched an eyebrow. “Personally.”
Clamping her mouth shut, Samantha clenched her teeth, determined not to let her jaw drop.
“Ralph and I test everything before we ever allow it to go on the floor for sale.” She patted Samantha again in a motherly gesture. “Just keep that in mind if you have any questions. Believe me, nothing you could ask or tell me would make be blush or gasp in horror.”
Humming a peppy tune, Dorothy hunted through the packaged BDSM costumes on the shelves, plucking one and handing it to Samantha. “I think an extra-large should be just right for you, dear.” She went back to her work, leaving Samantha and Lugal alone in the aisle.
Samantha slapped his hand. “Will you please put that overgrown Barbie down?” she whispered, and Lugal readily complied, returning the fuck-me doll to the stand where he’d found it. “Let’s just get whatever it is you think we need and get out of here. I’ll just die if someone sees me in here with an armful of kinky stuff. And, please, don’t ask Dorothy any more questions. If we can’t figure it out ourselves, then we’re not buying it, okay?”
“Okay.” With a wink and a smile, Lugal gave her a thumbs-up sign, having become quite familiar with it from their trek in the mall.
Shopping basket looped over his arm, he made his way up and down the store aisles, plunking item after kinky item into the container. He had all the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy shop…which had Samantha thinking that Lugal had probably never even been inside a candy shop. She’d definitely have to remedy that.
“Find everything you were looking for?” Dorothy asked as they checked out.
“Yes,” Samantha answered quickly, glancing left and right, on the lookout for anyone who might recognize her. She dug out her credit card, thinking she’d probably charged more today than she had in the last six months. “Could you please ring it up and bag everything as quickly as possible? We…uh, we have an appointment,” she lied.
Dorothy gave her a knowing smile as she scanned the items. “Of course, dear.” Her attention turned to Lugal. “Somebody’s eager to try out all the new toys, I see.” She engaged in a conspirator’s wink.
As Dorothy slid the packages over the scanner, Samantha glimpsed a lot of fascinating playthings that made her squirm, mostly in a good kind of way.
“I thought we’d never get out of there,” she said, adding the sizeable bag of adult goodies to other packages in her car’s trunk.
“We will go home to make use of them now,” Lugal stated.
“No, we will not,” Samantha countered with a resounding tsk. “We’re going grocery shopping. And we’re having a talk. It’s time we got to know each other.” She got in the driver’s side and slammed the door. “And I don’t mean in a carnal way. I want to know who you are and how and why you ended up in a bottle before we do any more kissy-face stuff, got that, mister?”
Lugal gave her a devilish half-smile as he hunkered his huge frame to fit in the seat. “I thought we were long past the introduction phase of our relationship, Samantha.”
She felt her cheeks flush. “Do you realize we’ve only known each other for one day?” It was hard to believe. She felt like they’d known each other forever.
“And one amazingly euphoric night,” he reminded her in that ultra-sexy way of his. “You have such a beautiful kissy-face, little one.”
Samantha cracked a smile. It was really difficult being focused and determined and all firm and logical-minded when he came out with sweet things like that. She felt warm and melty all over as she maneuvered the car onto the rode, her pussy drooling.
Lugal’s eyes twinkled when he looked at her, his gaze slipping to her mouth and lingering there. She licked her lips in response, doing her best to keep her eyes on the road, but having a devil of a time.
“And you have a beautiful kissy-cunt too.”
Her mouth fell open.
“And beautiful—”
“Just stop right there, Lugal. I’m warning you. Do not let me hear the words kissy-tits come out of your mouth.”
“Ahhh, but they are. So beautiful. So luscious to lick and nibble.”
That damned traitorous pussy of hers went wet and wild. Not a good thing when you’re driving in traffic.
“You think you’re irresistibly charming, don’t you?” she accused.
“It’s what you think that matters, little one. And we both know that you find me irresistible, do we not?” She opened her mouth to protest, but Lugal continued. “It is a good thing, because I find you to be just as irresistible.” His big hand curled around her upper thigh.
Sonuvabitch.
He knew exactly how to get to her.
Ablaze with lust, Samantha resisted the overwhelming urge to pull off to the shoulder of the road, hop on Lugal’s cock and ride the living fuck out of him right there on the freeway.
Gritting her teeth, she commanded, “Get talking, Lugal, or there’ll be no fun and games with all our new sex toys later tonight.”
By the time they’d pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store about twenty minutes later, Lugal had told her all about what happened to him so many centuries ago. Tears slid down Samantha’s cheeks as his desperately sad story unfolded. Lugal thumbed away her tears, comforting her, telling her not to weep for him.
If she hadn’t been concentrating on driving, she’d be a complete red-eyed, swollen-nosed, blotchy-faced basket case after hearing his heartrending tale. The man had virtually sacrificed himself to save the honor of a foolish young girl. Samantha was sitting right next to an honest-to-goodness hero, in the truest sense of the word. And that’s just what she told him after putting the car in park and cutting the engine.
“I am no hero,” Lugal scoffed, his expression darkening. “I am but a man who was caught in circumstances beyond his control. Heroes prevail. I did not.”
“I think that’s probably the first time I’ve ever heard a shred of modesty pass those sensuous lips of yours,” Samantha said brushing a fingertip across his lips. “In my book, you’re a hero of the finest magnitude. A man who bravely defended a woman’s honor to the—” She stopped short before the word death popped out of her mouth.
“Had I been given the option, Samantha, I can assure you I would have chosen death, rather than to become naught but a shade,” Lugal said, clearly anticipating the rest of her statement.
“Please don’t say that, Lugal.” She leaned over to cup his face in her hands, stroking his rough jaw with her thumbs. “If you had died, I never would have met you. You’re the best thing to come into my life in a very long time,” she admitted. She couldn’t believe she was being so open with him. Somehow, after what he’d told her and after the intimacy they’d shared, it just seemed right.
Lugal pinned her with the intensity of his gaze, covering one of her hands with his. “You truly mean that, don’t you, little one?”
Samantha nodded. “With all my heart.”
“It is the same way I feel about you,” he agreed. “You have restored vitality to my soul, Samantha. Brought light and laughter back into my life in ways you cannot imagine.”
“Nothing could make me happier than to hear you say that, Lugal.” Knowing she was responsible for giving this wonderful man a sliver of joy in his bleak, endless existence made her heart swell. If only she could do more.
“There’s one thing that has me wondering. Why didn’t Sabit keep her promise to find a way to free you from your servitude? She owed you so much after what you did for her.”
Lugal’s broad shoulders shrugged. “I have wondered the same for eons as I dwelt in the shadows. Perhaps Sabit feared for her life. Or perhaps she tried to petition, but the great goddess Inanna turned a deaf ear. It is also possible that Sabit herself met with an untimely death and was unable to plead to the priests or the gods on my behalf. In any case, it matters not now. I have long gi
ven up hope that, by some wondrous marvel, I will be set free.”
What on earth could Samantha possible say in response to that? What words of comfort could possibly soothe the ache deep in the core of Lugal’s ancient, heroic heart?
He must have seen the whirling mix of emotion in her eyes. “I want you to make me a promise, my sweet Samantha.” His fingers smoothed through her hair.
“Yes?” At this point she was ready to promise him anything in her power if it would help.
“During this all too brief time we have together, let us enjoy it fully. Do not weep for me or feel pity for my circumstances.”
“But—”
Lugal placed his finger against Samantha’s lips.
“If you truly wish to make me happy, then promise to be happy yourself. Let me see you smile and laugh. Allow me to gaze upon your beautiful expression of wonder as I bring you to climax. Act as if we have all the time in the world to spend together, rather than six lunar cycles. Can you do that for me, Samantha? Can you give me those sweet memories to cherish, to lock away in my heart once I must return to the bottle?”
How could she agree to something like that when her heart was breaking? When she yearned to clutch onto him and never let go? How could she keep herself from dreading the moment that he’d pop out of her life as quickly as he came into it?
But she had to. It simply wasn’t fair to Lugal for her to wear her emotions on her sleeve now. If he could be brave, then so could she. The least she could do for this wonderful, sexy, heroic man, was to agree to a pretense of carefree happiness.
“Promise me, Samantha…”
She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. “I promise.”
“Thank you, little one.” He kissed her hand.
Plastering her brightest smile across her face and casting tears and trepidation aside, Samantha asked, “So, are you ready to experience your first grocery store experience?”
“The giant food market you spoke of? With cans of ruffled cream, cattle meat for burgers and potato fries?”
“Yup. And lots of other calorific goodies. To hell with the diet! Let’s have some real fun!”
Samantha and Her Genie Page 16