But I did. She loved me. The realization made tears roll out of my eyes. I had to assure her there was nothing wrong, even as my mind was reeling, trying to comprehend how I could be worthy of the goddess embracing me. But she said I was worthy. She chose me. A month ago I had no idea she existed. Now she was the center of my world.
– Taylor –
My hand shot out, grabbing the safety rail in my shower, thanking whatever foresighted soul had decided they needed to be there. My head was thrown back, the warm water sluicing down my body as the gorgeous young woman who’d shared my bed last night knelt in front of me, her talented tongue dancing around my clit and soft, perfect brown eyes stared up at me.
I pulled in a long shuddering breath. My hand rested on Aly’s wet hair, and as my orgasm approached I fantasized about what it would be like to have her every morning with me, every night warm against my body. I slept better when she was here, I woke up smiling and happy, a rarity for me, I assure you. A few moments later the first strong pulse of my orgasm wiped all conscious thought away while I moaned lustily into the spray of the shower. When I’d finished Aly stood, kissing her way up my body before grabbing the shower sponge and beginning to wash me. I let my already tingling skin enjoy every touch of my lover.
I stirred the eggs in the pan while the whir of the hair dryer sounded from the bathroom. I caught myself humming as I did, making myself stop. I hadn’t done that in years. I remember mornings at my grandmother’s house, how she would sing as she made breakfast, or do her knitting. I loved listening to her sing. My father would stop me cold if I tried to imitate her.
“You are a girl, not a canary.” He rarely stood for anything that brought us joy, to his daughters in particular. Joy in my house was scarce growing up, but I felt it now. When Aly came into the kitchen I couldn’t help the smile that it caused, and I felt the kiss we shared right down into my toes. But all too soon it was time for her to head back to school again. I waved as she drove away.
The darkness threatened to close in, but I just remembered Aly’s face, the way she’d looked at me when she’d woken up in my arms, or how it had felt to dominate her last night. I shuddered at the thought of it; how I’d had her cuffed to the bed, blindfolded, totally mine.
I laughed out loud, long and from the diaphragm. I needed to create. I suddenly wanted to get to the warehouse so badly I almost didn’t make it back up the stairs. But I really should take a lunch. Aly would scold me if I went without eating all afternoon again. I may be Her Lady in bed, but I don’t think she’d stand for anything she felt wasn’t healthy for me. It was weird to be cared about like that again.
I stored a sandwich, chips and a few pieces of fruit into my side compartments and headed off through the Southern California sunshine. When I arrived I glanced down at my phone, where there was a text from Aly
Aly — I miss you
A kissing emoji and several hearts followed it. If anyone had told me two months ago that I’d be playing kissy face over text with a college girl I would have laughed at them. Or maybe punched them in the mouth, depending on who it was. Now I was blushing at just the thought of her. I never thought I’d feel like this again. Oh, what the hell.
Me – Miss you too. Remember, no pleasuring yourself without my permission. I’ll know. I added a stern emoji.
Aly — Yes, My Lady.
She added a submissive emoji, one with downcast eyes, which made me chuckle.
“What are you grinning at, Knox?”
“None of your damn business, Bishop.”
“It’s that girl, isn’t it? The one you’re sculpting inside. You going soft?”
“It’s called dating. You should try it sometime, if there’s a woman on the planet that’d put up with your arrogant ass for a few hours. Without monetary compensation, that is.”
“No really, it’s not a bad idea for you. Getting your heart broke. It’s good for your art.”
I gave him my best dirty look and went into the warehouse, heading straight for my work area. I started fusing with the things on my workbench, trying to ignore what Bishop had said. Aly wasn’t going to break my heart. She loved me. I pulled the tarp off from Aly’s sculpture.
I heard a dry laugh behind me. “Still working on that, huh. Too bad you weren’t around yesterday when Beville was here. Hope your roll in the hay was worth it. He even asked about you.”
I turned around slowly. “He was here asking about me?”
“Yep, but I told him you’d been slacking, not working as hard. Got some new tart in your life, off living it up instead of working.” He gave a sidelong grin. “He was impressed with my stuff though. Toodles.” Bishop walked away, still wearing that self-satisfied smirk.
I briefly considered going over and breaking his nose him for calling Aly a tart, but I decided that it wasn’t worth losing my workspace over his stupid mouth. I went over to the little lounge area and put my lunch in the fridge, before heading over to my workbench. Maximillian Beville had come out to see me. Well, I’m sure he looked at a lot of the worked being done here, but still.
Had he really asked about me? Or was Bishop just pulling my leg to get a rise? Ah, who cares? I needed to finish my pieces. I sat down heavily, pulling one of my sculptures over to me. I glanced down the line of them, noticing a small, light green piece of paper sticking out from under ‘Pacifica,’ the one of a woman floating on an unseen breeze.
I pushed my wheeled stool down to that end and pulled it out from under the sculpture. It was personalized stationery from one Maximillian Beville with a handwritten note.
Miss. Knox,
I’m sorry I missed you today; your work here is very impressive. It is far superior to much of what I’ve seen from you in the past. As tempted as I was, I did not look under your tarp, but given what I did see, I’m excited to see it revealed. If you will allow a suggestion, please enter this piece into the competition at the October Fair. It is sublime.
Sincerely,
M. Beville.
My mouth was hanging open by the time I’d finished reading it. I looked at the peace. The faceless woman seemed to be flying, arms thrown back, completely supported by the wind, robe rippling behind her. But when I saw her, she wasn’t faceless. It was Aly flying, her countenance one of serene surrender, the same look that was developing on the large sculpture under the tarp.
I grabbed out my phone and hit Aly’s icon almost without thinking. I was just realizing that she was probably in class when she answered.
“Hey, sweetheart. What’s up?”
“You’re not in class?”
“Starts in five minutes, so talk fast.”
I could hear that she was grinning. How was that possible? I quickly told her what I’d found and read her the note. She told me how proud she was of me, which made my insides swell up with pride. Unfortunately we could only talk for a moment, and soon I was just staring at the piece. It needed a face. I reached under to my refuse bin and pulled out a scrap of ultra thin copper, fixing it with some clips. I grabbed my finest shaping tools and set to work.
I worked for over six hours, going through 5 different attempts before I was happy with what I had done, but there it was. Aly, flying through the air, riding on a current of wind. Her eyes were closed, mouth slightly opened as she drew in a breath of sea air, chin lifted in pleasure.
It’s what has been missing from my work, from my life. Aly. I pulled over a second sculpture. This one was a rock face, being violently struck by an ocean wave. It needed a figure on it, to give it perspective. That was going to be tricky. I never did remember to eat my lunch.
– Aly –
Several weeks later it was Tuesday morning again, and I took care to put on some lacy undies and a matching bra that Taylor would like, along with a pair of nice, tight jeans and a semi translucent top. I twirled in the mirror. Yeah, very good.
I heard the door open and Sadie walked into the room in her bathrobe, setting her toiletries down on the dresser. “So, I won’t see you again until tomorrow, huh?” It had quickly become my pattern to disappear immediately after my Tuesday morning class. It hadn’t gone unnoticed and everyone, especially Macie and Evelyn, were highly curious as to where I was going.
I was excited that this was the finally the second week of October, and Rush and initiation were over, which meant I wasn’t beholden to any official weekend functions until the Christmas Ball, which meant I might get to see Taylor more often than just Tuesdays.
I was really looking forward to next week, which was our fall break. It corresponded with the art fair that Taylor had been looking forward to, and I was going to get to help with Taylor’s booth. I hadn’t been back out to the warehouse, but I knew that Taylor was pretty happy about how things were coming, and she’d been out there every night for the last several weeks, except for my Tuesday afternoons
Sadie sat down on her bed. “You know, all the girls are speculating on your paramour. It’s driving Macie absolutely batty.”
“Well they can just keep guessing. I think I’ll be keeping it to myself.” Sadie opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her. “I know I shouldn’t have to. Is it that bad?”
“Are you ashamed of it?”
I grimaced a little. “No, but I’m a little scared. I mean you saw how Macie reacted. I think I’d get a lot of fake smiles and behind the scenes distancing.”
Sadie nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“The sad thing is, I’m not any different. I always knew that in my head, y’know, that gay people weren’t any different, but now I really understand it. The only thing different about me is that I’m in a great relationship and I’m really happy.” I sat down on my bed. “But I’m also nervous all the time and I have to walk on eggshells around here or when I talk to my family. That’s the part that really sucks.”
“You know, there’s only one way to fix it.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I’d start with your parents. If you don’t want to come out here, you don’t have to, and after we graduate you probably won’t see most of these people ever again. But your family’s different. I think you’d feel so much better if they knew. And they’re cool; they’re not going to give you a hard time about this. And there is that trump card, y’know? About Taylor being the person who saved Kelsey’s life?”
I grinned. “That’s true.” Glancing at my phone told me I needed to head out. I had a hard time concentrating on my professor, but I think I got the gist of what she was talking about in my notes.