'So what is the plan for tonight exactly?'
'Patience, bride-to-be. Can't very well go off and be a married lady without a proper send-off.'
Meredeth rolled her eyes playfully. They were at Castle's and Beckett's loft, setting out platters of catered goodies as they waited for the other women to arrive. She'd offered to cook for the, but all of her bridesmaids had threatened to take away all her fancy lingerie she'd accumulated for her honeymoon if she lifted more than a glass of champagne. 'It's not like I'm moving halfway around the world, I'm just getting married.'
'No such thing. Hey question, where did you get your tattoo done?'
'Pins and Needles West on Thirty-Fifth. Why you thinking of getting some ink done?'
Lili nodded, unconsciously rubbing her lower abdomen where her c-section scar was. 'I was thinking of getting a design to go over my scar, like a rose with a trailing vine for my Rosie.'
'It's your body of course, but that's a sort-of souvenir from your first baby being born, Lili. Are you sure you want that covered up? What does Cam think?'
'Cam thinks it's kinda sexy, tells me it reminds him how much of an Amazon I was when they sliced Rosie out of my belly.'
'I have a question.' Beckett appeared on the landing, looked down at the guest of honour. 'Why are we talking about such heavy stuff tonight? This is part one of party time. Lili, get her a drink.'
'On it.' Along with the food, a bar station had been set up, and Lili set about fixing what she knew was one of Meredeth's favourite drinks, a brass monkey - gin, white rum, triple sec, sours and grapefruit juice. 'Want a double barrel?'
'You bet,' Meredeth replied as the doorbell buzzed; she opened it to find Lanie and Honey-Milk on the other side.
'Happy almost wedding!' Lanie squeezed the bride-to-be tightly, then pulled a tiara and sash out of the tote bag she'd brought with her. 'You are in for a treat tonight.'
'Strippers dressed as firefighters?'
'No, the men don't appear until tomorrow. Tonight is just about all us girls doing what we do best - drinking strong fruity drinks, pampering ourselves and talking trash about our men, who as we speak are spiriting away your beloved in a stretch limo full of cigar smoke to fly to Vegas for a boys' weekend.'
'Oh, man, he's going to be floored!' Meredeth felt her phone buzz in her pocket, fished it out. 'And speak of the sexy devil. 'Hi Javi! You already in the limo?'
'How do you know about that?'
'Honey-Milk and Lanie just got here and told me you and the boys were heading to Nevada for the weekend. Just remember, always bet on black fourteen, strippers are for looking only, and never ever feed the flamingos.' She watched as Lanie pulled a book labeled '101 Naughty Questions for Every Blushing Bride' from her bag, wiggled her eyebrows.
'Same goes for you about that stripper detail. I'll see you Sunday, baby. I love you.'
'Love you too!' She all but sang it as the connection clicked off, then reached out for the book. 'Seriously, Lanie, do you shop in Dungeon Alley on a regular basis or just since I got engaged?'
'Well I also have Beckett needing a push every now and then, and my own love life to think about,' she said with a grin. 'You want to play this before or after our main entertainment gets here?'
'What main entertainment?'
Before Meredeth's question could be answered there was a knock on the door, which Beckett opened to a fresh-faced redhead carrying a large suitcase. 'Giselle, thanks for coming.'
'I love doing bachelorette parties. Always love to spice up things for a newlywed couple.' Giselle set her suitcase down on the coffee table, waited until all the women had assembled. 'My name's Giselle, and I am here to give you a demonstration on a variety of our products. Since I understand our bride-to-be has never been to a fantasia party, we'll start off with something I know she'll like before we move into the hardware. So,' she popped the lid on the case, spun it towards the women to reveal a variety of toys and accessories. 'Let's talked edible massage oils.'
A few hours and a lot of drinks later, after they'd all made purchases from Giselle and her bag of tricks, the five women were in various states of inebriation, with the exception of the still-nursing Lili, as they lazed around the furniture of the living room. Meredeth was lying on her back, a throw pillow under her head and a very long straw extending from her drink while they continued sharing the dirty details of their loves lives by answering Lanie's questions.
'Okay, okay.' Lanie sat half-sideways, one leg dangling towards the floor, the other hooked over the arm of the sofa. 'Question number sixty-eight. Describe your man's style in bed according to an animal. Example - my man's like a chicken because he always bobs his head when he gives me oral sex.'
Beckett, who was as looped as Meredeth had ever seen her, was hanging upside on the couch beside Lanie, her legs over the back and her head resting on the coffee table. 'It doesn't say that!'
'Okay, I made up that compar...comparison but you get my point.' Lanie craned her neck past Beckett to see Meredeth. 'How 'bout it, Merry Cherry Poppins? What's your man like?'
'Nuh-huh. I've been going first all night.' Meredeth blinked in concentration, adjusted her plastic tiara on her head. 'At least I think I have. Someone else.'
'I'll go.' Ever ready to dish on her baby daddy, Honey-Milk picked herself up off the floor where she was laying on her stomach, to prop her elbows on the table. 'My Kev's a dolphin,' she sighed dreamily, eliciting wobbly giggles from the other four. 'No, think it about it. Everyone thinks dolphins are these cute, cuddly things when they're actually these shit-kicking badasses.'
'And Kevin's a bad-ass in bed?' Lili asked, nonplussed.
'The baddest. One night before he had to go on surveillance, Dell was having a nap and I was going to make dinner, when he just cleared the kitchen table and pounded me good on that big oak slab. The table, I mean not his junk. Although does that count since it was a table and not a bed...' Honey-Milk trailed off, flushed pink at remembering the night while Meredeth nodded.
'Yeah. One of the hottest nights I had with Javi was on our living room floor, on a real-bearskin rug.'
'I thought those only existed in seventies pornos?' Lili asked curiously.
'My grandfather was into hunting, he tanned it and kept it and then his granddaughter banged her fiancee on it.' Meredeth laughed, sucked up more brass monkey. 'Wha' 'bout your baby daddy, Lucita Lourdes? What's Cam's animal spirit?'
'Tasmanian Devil,' she replied. 'He's not very big, I mean, he's big-' she gestured widely with her hands '-but not very tall, but he just knows how to rip it up. Best lover I've ever had.'
'Only lover,' Meredeth reminded her. 'So we have a dolphin, a devil, what about Dave, Lanie?'
'You mean my Italian Stallion?' Lanie rolled her tongue in a low growl. 'In my diary, my very personal private diary that would mean certain death for anyone who read it, I called him Campbell's after we got together.'
'Why, because his cream of mushroom soup is so delicious?' Beckett asked lasciviously, earning groans from around the table. 'It's the liquor. I get stupid and horny when I've had the hard stuff. Speaking of hard stuff...'
'You're sick, girl, but I was going to say because he is mmm-mmm-good,' Lanie replied with eyes closed; she opened them and looked directly at Beckett. 'Since your tongue's that loose, what about Castle?'
'Castle's a panther. Big, beautiful, powerful, sexy and dangerous. Can't ask for much more than that.' Beckett slurped her drink through her straw, hit bottom. 'I need a refill. Oh, after, of course, Meredeth's turn. I'm hearing way too much about my favourite two-headed monster tonight but then again, I'm dishing on Castle so fair's fair's fair's..fair.'
'That's four fairs, Katie,' Lili pointed out.
'And there's four of you. Ahem, Meredeth?'
Meredeth furrowed her brow in concentration. 'Javi is...a chameleon.'
'Because he's got a long tongue and knows how to use it?' Lanie asked automatically.
'Not just that, but it's like...changes all the time. Our sex is like snowflakes.'
'You're thinking about snowflake chameleons when your man's drilling you until you call out for Jesus?' Honey-Milk asked, confused.
'No, I usually can't think. I mean like...no two times with him are ever the same. Like snowflakes, and like a chameleon, always changing it up so it doesn't get boring. Though I doubt it could ever get boring with him. Even when we're old and grey, and my boobs are hitting my knees and he needs to pop the little blue pills just for a one-timer, it won't be boring.' Meredeth snorted. 'I'm thinking this is a great bachelorette night itself right here. No need whatsoever for more.'
'Bite your tongue, tomorrow we're going to see some leaping young stags in little or no clothing,' Honey-Milk said dreamily. 'Lanie, new question, no mushy tonight.'
'Question sixty-nine. Heehee, sixty-nine. What is your perfect sex fantasy with your guy?'
At this one, Beckett reached over and poked Meredeth in the forehead. 'Mere, I wanna hear about that interrogation room thing and no details spared.'
R&R&Enjoy.
