Ashe: I don't think I can write bdsm scene again until I've reached the point where they truly trust each other already. Alex would like that, but I don't think my beta would like it if I write Alex that way again. And I don't want to upset her, hehe.
Fortisavem: I hate you too! bleh
When Piper entered the house she was greeted by the sight of Miss Claudette coming towards her. She wanted to feel happy seeing the old lady back but after what had just happened, she didn't know if anything could lift up her spirits. The old lady must have seen her mistress before finding Piper because she immediately started trying to reassure the blonde. "Miss Alex must be having a bad day… I have not seen her in a temper like that in such a long time." Despite Miss Claudette's reassuring tone, her kindly old face was twisted with bewildered concern as she stared at the corridor leading to the brunette's room.
In silence, Piper turned her head and stared at her old confidant, her eyes alive with anger and painful confusion as the old lady continued. "I placed her on her first pony, and I've known her since she was a little girl, and there is no one braver, finer..."
"Please!" Piper burst out, unable to endure another of the glowing stories she used to enjoy so much. "No more lies! You can't make her fine and dashing to me when she's alive, and I can see perfectly well that she's... she's an evil-tempered, heartless monster!"
"No, Piper, she's not. I know her just as I knew her father and her mother-"
"I'm sure her father was a monster too!" Piper blurted, too hurt and angry to mind what she is saying. "I've no doubt they're exactly alike!"
"No, Piper! No. You're wrong. More wrong than anybody's ever been if you think a thing like that!"
Stunned by the intensity of that denial, Piper brought her temper under control and managed a weak, bitter smile and shrug. "My grandfather always said that if you want to know what a person will become, look at their parents."
"Well, he's wrong on Miss Alex's case."
Piper sighed deeply and realized that Miss Claudette must be a veritable source of information on Alex. If only she could only get the old lady to tell her everything about the brunette.
"Since I'm not allowed to go anywhere, would you care to walk with me to the garden?"
The old lady nodded, and they both walked the path leading to the garden near the shores and stood in front to study the beautiful buds that are newly blossoming.
Appearing to have just a mild interest, Piper casually inquired, "Speaking of Alex's father, what was he like?"
Miss Claudette shifted uneasily from one foot to another. "He never noticed anybody beneath him, nor cared for anybody but himself."
"What do you mean?"
"I have to get to work," Miss Claudette said miserably. "Let's just continue talking next time, okay? I have to finish preparing dinner."
Seeing that it would be useless to press the old lady further as she was already on her heels going back up to the house, Piper let Miss Claudette go. Still, she couldn't banish the feeling of curiosity over the source.
Wanting to pass the time, Piper decided an hour later to call on Maria, one of the maids, to show her where she could do her laundry. Maria insisted on doing it for the blonde, but Piper seriously needed to do something in this house. Maria was a devoted servant to Alex as was her family before her to Alex's family. Piper learned that her ailing father was someone who had worked closely with Alex's father before. But the moment Piper asked about her hostess' parents, Maria, like Miss Claudette, also suddenly recalled that she had an urgent work to do.
/
Dressed in a peach sundress, with her hair on a ponytail, Piper left her room at 8, which was usually the time they took their dinner, and walked slowly going to the dining area. She was to face Alex for the first time since their angry confrontation at the stable and wasn't at all certain about how their conversation was going to transpire.
John stepped forward when she was about to enter the dining room. Confused, Piper looked at him in confusion.
"Alex is outside the veranda taking a glass of champagne before supper, and she asks if you will join her there."
Alex glanced up when Piper entered the veranda and walked over to the table where she poured a glass for the blonde. Piper watched the brunette's skilful movements and gazed at the brunette's tall, lithe frame while she tried to ignore how incredibly gorgeous Alex looked in a black slacks and sleeveless silk blouse. Wordlessly, the brunette held the glass of wine toward her.
Uncertain of her mood, Piper walked forward and took the glass from Alex's outstretched hand.
Her first words made Piper long to pour the wine over the brunette's head. "In the future, please be at the dining room before eight, Piper."
Fire ignited in Piper's eyes, but she managed to keep her voice level. "You have already told me where I may sleep, where I may go, and when I must eat. Are you also planning to tell me when I can breathe?"
Alex's brows snapped together, then she leaned her head back and sighed heavily. "Piper," she said, sounding both apologetic and exasperated, "I meant to begin by apologizing for the way I treated you at the stable today. You returned late, and I was worried about you. I didn't intend to start our evening off now by reprimanding you or suffocating you with more rules. I'm not an ogre—" Alex broke off as John came in and told Alex about a recent visitor to the island. Slightly pacified by Alex's apology, Piper sat on one of the chairs as she listened.
John informed Alex that Larry had stopped at the dock earlier and left a message to Alex, asking if he could visit sometime and maybe take the ladies again for more sight-seeing.
Alex's eyes suddenly turned flinty and her jaw clenched so tight that the bones of her face stood out as she continued listening to John's report.
"It seems that he has decided not to travel back to his home and is now residing at their house just two miles from here."
The realization that a person who could be her friend now resided just near them delighted Piper who had been dealing with boredom and thinking of things to do and people to see. Sightseeing again would be very nice.
"I forbid you to go anywhere, Piper," Alex said coolly, choosing not to mention the impending danger that may be lurking. "Send Larry a note and tell him that we wish to have the few weeks entirely to ourselves." When Alex noticed that Piper's face had turned mutinous, Alex's voice became clipped. "Do you understand me, Piper? I forbid you to go anywhere."
Slowly Piper rose, and Alex stood too, towering over her. "I think," Piper breathed, staring up at the brunette in dazed, quiet anger, "You're paranoid and crazy."
Unexplainably, the brunette smiled a little at that. "I don't doubt that," Alex said, unable to tell Piper that anyone outside her property could be a suspect or an instrument to be used to harm them. "But I still expect you to obey that."
Piper opened her mouth to tell the brunette she didn't care at all for her silly rules, but Alex simply smiled rather seductively at her. "The bet, Piper... you promised to be an agreeable guest. You wouldn't want to forfeit this early in the game, would you?"
Piper gave her a hot look of disdain. "I'm in no danger of losing the bet, Miss. You've already lost it." Holding her glass, Piper walked over to the table and pretended to inspect the carvings on the wood.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex asked, coming up silently to her.
"Your part of the bet was to try to make yourself so agreeable to me so that I would want to stay with you."
"And?"
"And," She replied with an arch glance at Alex , "You're failing."
Piper expected the brunette to arrogantly dismiss that without concern. Instead, Alex placed her hands on Piper's shoulders and turned the blonde to face her. "In that case," Alex said in her deep sultry voice, gazing down at Piper with a solemn smile. "I should try harder..much harder, right?"
Caught unaware by the combination of gravity and the tenderness in the brunette's expression, Piper let Alex kiss her, clinging to her sanity while Alex's arms encircled her and drew her closer, as she bent her head and captured Piper's mouth in a hot kiss. Alex kissed her long and lingeringly, tasting the blonde's lips as if truly savoring each moment.
When Alex finally dropped her arms many minutes later, Piper stared at her in speechless amazement. How could she be so impossibly tender one moment and so cold, harsh and irrational the next, she wondered, staring up into the brunette's heavy-lidded, mesmerizing eyes. Piper's voice was quiet as she voiced the thought running inside her head.
"I truly wish I understood you."
"What is it you don't understand?" Alex asked.
"I'd like to know the real reason you ripped up at me at the stables today."
Piper expected Alex to dismiss the matter with a teasing remark or try to shrug it off, but the brunette surprised her by doing neither. "Actually, I gave you the real reason, but I left it for last," answered Alex with quiet honesty.
"What?'
"My pride was hurt that you'd left me in the middle of the night," The brunette admitted.
"Your pride was hurt," Piper repeated. "So you called me a bad name?"
It took a moment for the blonde to realize that Alex was ridiculing herself and not her. "Surely you don't expect me, with my stature and character to be humble and have the courage to look a woman in the eye and simply ask in a calm, reasonable voice why she didn't want to spend the night with me?"
"Why not?" Piper uttered, understanding what the brunette was trying to say but just found it a bit amusing that the very proud brunette was admitting something like this.
"My ego. I was hurt," Alex confessed.
"Thank you for telling me the truth," Piper said gently.
"That's the main reason why I tore into you. But I was also reminded of something about the house that got me into a foul mood."
"You grew up here. Right?"
"And that is probably why I don't like it," Alex said as she took Piper's hand and led her to the dining room.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not ready to bare my soul yet, but because I promised you that I'd honor my end of the bargain, maybe we can ease into that. Just not right now. "
Alex once again set out to try harder to make herself agreeable during their meal, and she accomplished that goal triumphantly in a way that devastated Piper's peace of mind.
The first time Alex tried to do this, Piper thought Alex had tried to be pleasing to her, but the brunette's efforts were nothing compared to this. For two hours while they were having dinner, Alex turned the full force of her charm on Piper, teasing the blonde with her flashing smile and amusing her with jokes and afterward, the brunette took Piper to bed and made love to her with a passionate intensity so hot it should have forged them into one body. Then when they finished in the wee hours of the morning, Alex held Piper into her arms against her heart throughout the night.
/
Nearly a month had passed since they'd laid down the terms of their bet, and Piper didn't even notice how the days went by so fast.
They had fallen into a unique pattern made them appear like they were a couple to an outsider's eye. Of course, the people in the house knew that there was something going between the two, everyone almost knew but the two of them. The two women never talked about it, but as days went by, they became more comfortable with one another and were less embarrassed in showing little affections to one another.
They had formed a habit of going for a walk together and even going into town to visit small shops.
The two of them looked like a striking couple, Alex splendidly tall and elegant, grinning that lazy approving grin at her blonde companion who seemed able to make the brunette laugh with a joy that no one had ever before observed.
To an outsider, the two might have even looked like they were in love with one another.
Alex tried hard not to think too much about the exact term to encompass what she now felt for the blonde, but it was becoming harder and harder with each passing day. She could not see or hear or touch her enough to satisfy her craving for the blonde. At night, she would feel that hot need rising within her that seemed to increase instead of diminishing each time she orgasmed with her, and Piper would press herself against Alex as if she too could not be near enough to the brunette. In bed, the blonde was passionate and an irresistible lover intent on pleasing her. Alex showed Piper that there should be no room of embarrassment or shyness between them, and Piper responded by abandoning herself to the brunette's caresses. Alex allowed Piper to hold nothing back from her, and after a few feeble attempts by the blonde to hide her passionate responses to the brunette's lovemaking, Piper surrendered herself willingly to the wild and stormy tides that Alex caused to rise deep within her until she cried out. And then Alex would hold her in her arms, tracing Piper's curves, whispering until they both slept, happy, peaceful and sated.
For a month, Piper felt contentment in that aspect.
They found a routine in working well together. Sometimes Piper would curl up in a corner of Alex's study room during the day, helping Miss Claudette review things needed for the house, planning menus or simply reading, stealing small glances at Alex while the brunette leaned on her chair, going over correspondence and reports on her business ventures. Piper learned that ever since Alex had returned the brunette had been handling her family's business.
Occasionally, Alex would look up as if to reassure herself that the blonde was there and grin at her or give Piper a quick wink before turning her attention back to business at hand.
In the beginning, Piper wondered whether Alex liked having her there during the day. This was Alex's private world, where she dealt and discussed staggering amounts of money with John or with clients over the phone and gambled investments that Piper soon realized were amazingly perceptive and prudent. Alex liked her work, Piper realized, though she didn't have to do it. Piper had overheard John telling Alex one night how the brunette had doubled her family's wealth after she had taken over the business when he noticed that Alex had been overworking herself too much that night.
Piper liked listening to Alex talking to her business associates. She adored the quiet authority in the brunette's voice as she spoke to them. Alex was so quick, sure and decisive. She was also very beautiful, Piper thought every time she looked at the brunette. Piper began to feel safe and protected whenever she was with Alex.
Whenever Alex was away for a night or two, she missed the brunette's voice, her warm glances, and engaging smile.
Their nights were filled with hot steamy lovemaking. Sometimes Alex lingered over Piper as tenderly as she could. Other times, Alex would tease Piper, deliberately tantalizing, making the blonde tell Alex exactly what she wanted, and then there were times when the brunette took Piper swiftly, almost roughly. And Piper couldn't decide which way she loved the most.
/
Alex was looking forward to spending a quiet afternoon with Piper, enjoying a game of cards with her or just anything that involved her spending time with the blonde. She was beginning to like this simplicity and had not felt restless in days. Had she found the kind of life that she'd been searching for? She shook her head when she heard voices from outside, and when she came out of her office, she saw John's distressed face followed by Miss Claudette's. Alex raised her brows at them, questioning what was the matter.
"Nikki and a few of your friends from the city are here," John announced. "And I also saw.." John noticed that the brunette's look darkened immediately, so he didn't continue what he had been planning to say. He and other trusted and loyal confidants knew that Alex didn't want any visitors these days.
"Who?! Who did you see?"
"I saw Larry with Nikki getting out of the car, and I think they're already outside the patio right now." That's where guests would usually go to see the property and enjoy the view of the beach. Like Alex, Larry and Nikki both knew each other's families too. The three of them came from the same social circle along with most of the friends also here with them.
Alex couldn't blame either John or Miss Claudette for this unforeseen happening, so she just sighed and told Miss Claudette to prepare some refreshments for their guests and instructed John to tell her friends that she'd be out in a while.
Her mind wasn't on deciding what clothes she was putting on but rather on the blonde who was currently on her room waiting for the brunette to tell her that she was ready for the afternoon that they had planned. Alex was also worried what Piper would think when she knew that her friends were here and Nikki, oh Nikki... What would she think of Piper? She'd seen how territorial and vicious Nikki can be when she felt threatened by other girls. Alex wasn't worried about her blonde though, because the brunette had seen firsthand that Piper could handle herself, and that thought made her smile.
"Your blonde?! Is she yours?"
Alex felt a cloud of melancholy sweep over her with that thought because deep inside she didn't really know whether Piper liked her. Well, Alex didn't understand what she felt either because she hadn't stopped to analyze things, fearing that she'd only make herself disappointed. Whenever she felt that disappointment might be imminent, Alex's instinct was to back away and close off. But what if Piper just feels like she has to do this with her, for lack of other options? The brunette had told the blonde that she can leave if she really wanted, but she's still here, right? The way she was in bed, when Piper cried out for her, didn't that say something that maybe Piper could like her too?
Alex left her room after twenty minutes, thinking she couldn't go through that right now, knowing she had guests waiting for her outside.
Alex sent Maria to inform Piper that they had guests and that Alex would be happy if she would join them. Maria told her that they were Miss's friends from the city, and Piper just managed a small 'oh' in response. Piper had gotten so used to living in a bubble here with only them that she had forgotten how it was to be with other people. Furthermore, these were Alex's friends. What would they be like? Piper wondered. Would they suspect that there was something going on between her and their friend?
Piper decided that she would face them by being her best self, just like how she would when she faced executives while pitching ideas for products in her previous work before.
To be continued...
It's a short one cause I want to get this out already so you wouldn't have to wait long. I divided one chapter into two cause it's pretty long. Have fun!
Thanks Rosa! xo