Authors Note:
Song sung by Santana is Nina Simone's "Feeling Good"- watch?v=OfJRX-8SXOs
I've based her whole routine around that one song so it would be better if you listen to it, however it's not necessary. This is actually my first time writing from Rachel's P.O.V. so I apologize if she's not as in character as I'd like. Also, I am not decided on whether this should just be a oneshot or I should create a relationship between Santana and Rachel. If you have an opinion on the subject, it would mean the world to me if you could leave me a review.
The Orchid Lounge
Ever since you first moved to New York with Kurt, he'd been begging you to go to a burlesque club with him. Personally, you didn't really see what all the fuss was about. It all seemed too unsanitary and the whole idea was utterly degrading towards the remainder of the female population who decided to keep their clothes on. You are a strong believer in women's rights, and the idea of paying money to see a woman, like yourself, taking her clothes off in a grotty bar didn't support these beliefs.
However, a few months into your first semester at NYADA, you receive an invitation to the "freshman initiation night out". The process involves older students choosing a select few freshmen whom they personally believe hold the potential to become the next big stars. And when an invitation is delivered to you, you simply do not turn it down.
And that is why, on the evening of 5th of December, you could be found standing outside the glowing lights of The Orchid Lounge, shivering in a dark blue satin dress, uncomfortably high shoes and a red fur shawl alongside some peers.
Despite your initial doubt, you find yourself to be suitably impressed. The crowd that queues outside wait patiently for entrance into the infamous burlesque club. They are well dressed, well mannered, and not at all what you'd expected.
And that is why, two hours later, you could be found seated around a beautifully elegant glass table with the other NYADA students, sipping on your sixth cocktail and cheering as a curvaceous red headed woman slowly eases off a sequined corset.
The space is lit in a way that it seemed the very air was glowing gently. Soft jazz music filters through the cheers and clapping from the audience as the woman finishes her act.
And then the next and final act is announced, the so-called 'star of the show'; "Please welcome... Santana Lopez!" Despite your former rigid beliefs, even you have heard of Santana. She's a renowned burlesque dancer, famous for her incredible beauty and platinum voice.
And that is why you find yourself sitting upright in your seat, the room spinning around you as you focus your attention on the stage. You hear her before you see her. The lights dim and the crowd hush as her voice fills the space, whispery at first. You feel the tiny hairs on the back of your neck standing on ends as the sound builds and expands. She has incredible control over her voice, allowing it to grow amazingly powerful with one note, and then shrink back to a murmur with the next.
A single spotlight suddenly shines down on her. She is alone, seated in a chair right in the center of the stage. All eyes are on her and she stares confidently back, fingers running through her glossy 40's style hair. As she sings, she slowly stands and walks purposefully around the chair, fingers trailing all over it. Her wide eyes never once leave the audience as she does so, and the spotlight follows her every move.
With a powerful "…And I'm feeling good!" the stage is flooded with red light and she smiles. She strides up and down the space, fingers running up her sides, a smirk upon her face as the instruments begin to play. The Latina is wearing a floor-length, tightly fitted black dress. A slit runs up one side so that one long tanned leg is visible to her audience. Her lips are painted deep red and she flutters her eyelashes innocently as the music plays.
It seemed then that her eyes find yours. A gasp escapes your lips as a flirty smile dances across her face and she throws her arms into the air; "fish in the sea, you know how I feel, river running free you know how I feel, blossom on the tree, you know how I feel…" As she sings, she slowly inches off her pair of long, silky gloves. The crowd cheers as she carelessly throws them over her head, and moves back to the chair.
Santana turns the chair around to face her, and leans forward, staring at her audience.
"…It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life for me..."
It was probably due to the effects of alcohol, but when she reaches behind her neck to undo the strap that keeps her dress on, your throat is suddenly dry.
"...And I'm feeling good…"
Suddenly her dress is on the floor and she is stood, grinning, in a tight lace-up corset. Your heart hammers ferociously in your chest and you swallow as your vision is filled with images of bronzed long legs, smoothly rounded cleavage and that wicked smirk. The room is filled with cheers and clapping as she sits sensuously in her backwards-facing chair. Her legs are spread out impossibly far and she flicks her hair over her shoulder as the song continues.
"Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know…"
She runs a hand delicately up one leg, long fingers teasingly trailing up her tanned skin.
"Butterflies all having fun you know what I mean…" She stares directly at you with an expression that says she knows exactly the effect she holds on you. Your cheeks colour and you cough.
"…Sleep in peace when day is done. That's what I mean!" Her hands move behind her back and she begins to undo the ribbon that keeps her corset on.
As she sings the next few lines, you swear her eyes still linger on you. You down your current drink and stare back, unable to break the eye contact as she continues to undo her corset with such an ease that said she's done it a million times before. Your heart's beating so fast and you don't know what's going on because she's a girl and you're suddenly so hot and part of you just wants to run out of the room. But you stay.
The very blood that runs through your veins seems to respond to this woman. The room is spinning. Your heart is racing. Even your palms are sweating in anticipation for her. The pounding in your chest moves south and throbs at it's strongest between your legs as she teasingly drops the corset to the ground. Before you catch a glimpse of her body however, she bends down and retrieves two red fans, using them strategically to cover the places that every inch of you so wants to see. Your head is telling you it's just the alcohol. You love Finn. Finn loves you. But some part of you knows that Finn has never made you feel like this, not even on those occasionswhen you made love.
Santana stands up and purposefully knocked the chair to the ground. All thoughts of Finn are gone from your mind. Her voice is filled with a new passion as she sings the last few lines of the song; "…Stars when you shine you know how I feel! Scent of the pine you know how I feel…"
She moves one fan a little downwards so you can just make out the top of one dark red nipple. A waiter offers you a drink and you accept, but you're shaking so much that the liquid almost sloshes over the side and the ice cubes are rattling. You quickly down it and place it down onto the table.
"…Oh freedom is mine!"
Heat pools in between your legs and you find yourself shifting your position so that the chair presses right against your core.
"And I know how I feel…"
Her second fan brushes the top of her thighs and she flutters her eyelashes closed.
"It's a new dawn, it's a new day…"
You rock backwards and forwards in your seat, trying to be as discreet as possible as a low wine escapes from the back of your throat.
"It's a new life for me…"
Santana holds the whole place under a spell as she brings the fans into the middle of her body and smiles. She knows how much the audience want to see her.
And then, unbearably slowly, inch by inch, she moves the fans away, revealing pert breasts, dark red stiffened nipples, a sequined covered core, long tanned legs. Pleasure pools in your lower stomach and then in between your legs. Your underwear is soaked and your pulse is racing widely.
"And I'm feeling good!"
She hits her final notes perfectly, and your whole body seems to shudder and then stiffen as she licks her lips and grins.