Ecstasy, the club, was dark and hazy when we entered. The beat of the music pounded through the walls and the floor, seeping into my skin, setting me on edge. This wasn't my scene at all, but Irene loved it. I figured all I had to do was hang out at the bar, maybe chat with a guy or two so she'd get off my back. Then she'd probably go home with some guy and leave me her car. That's how these things usually went.
What I hadn't anticipated was the way my change in attire would change the normal plan. We were barely in the doors for a minute before a guy had asked me to dance. I declined, which earned me a glare from Irene.
"What?" I shouted over the music. "You said I had to come, not that I had to dance!"
We stood at the bar, and I worked to flag down a bartender, while she berated me.
"You are the most infuriating person I have ever met! You look smoking hot tonight, and all you're going to do is sit over here and pout like always!"
"Then maybe you should have let me stay home and pout!"
A guy tapped on my shoulder, and I didn't even wait for him to ask before I said, "NO!"
Irene fixed her hands on her hips, and for a Barbie look-a-like, she was still pretty intimidating. "I realize you are upset, and you've got a lot going on. I'm trying to be understanding, but what is your problem?"
"I don't have a problem, Rene. I just don't like that you think you can drag me places without any concern for what I actually want!"
"Fine! Nevermind! I give up! Sit here and pout! I'm going to dance!"
She spun around and pushed through the crowd, spilling several drinks and knocking people out of her way.
Scary Barbie.
I inched onto a stool, conscious of the fact that my short skirt made it so that my bare legs were glued to the plastic. I wouldn't be surprised if my ass was hanging out, but at the moment I was too pissed off to care. I ordered a Jack and Coke, and sat there seething while I waited. I knew she meant well, but the solution to all the world's problems was not partying. I'd always known we were very different people, but I'd never realized just how much she didn't understand me.
"Can I buy you a drink?" A voice asked over my shoulder.
I held up my full drink, and ignored her.
The girl took a seat beside me anyway. She leaned in to ask me something else, and I snapped, "I'm not interested!"
Then a familiar voice answered. "I'm glad to hear that."
I nearly fell off my stool when I picked up the accent.
"Lisa!"
Lisa was the girl sitting next to me, a cap pulled down low over her eyes, covering her gorgeous blond hair.
She hadn't sounded like Lisa when she'd first spoken. "You sounded—"
When she answered this time her accent was gone, and she sounded American. No particular dialect, just… normal. "I am an actor, Jennie. I know how to cover my accent."
Still in shock, I asked, "What are you doing here? What if someone sees you?"
"I'm incognito, sort of. And if anyone does, I'll just say we ran into each other by chance. I'm a professor. I didn't take a vow to have zero social life."
"But why?"
"Because I couldn't stomach the thought of you dancing with anyone else in that skirt." Her hand grazed my thigh, and all the heat from earlier came rushing back.
"Lisa, stop! Someone is going to see! What if Irene comes back?"
"Based on the show you guys put on earlier, I don't see that happening anytime soon."
I cringed. Maybe I had been a little bitchy.
"Come on." She stood up, and offered me a hand. I looked around, scared to take it. It was so dark. If there was someone here we knew, we would have no way of knowing unless we came face to face. This was too big of a chance.
"Stop thinking so much," she told me and wrapped an arm around my waist sliding me off the seat. The bare skin of my thighs squeaked embarrassingly against the seat, but she didn't seem to notice or care. She threaded our fingers together and pulled me into the crowd.
I kept my head down, concentrating on putting my feet where hers had just been. She led me down a few steps onto a lower level, where it was somehow even darker, and the bodies were pressed tighter together. I couldn't see anyone but the people right next to me. She weaved and pulled until we were in the furthest corner, then pulled me between her and the wall. Her back was to the rest of the room, and her tall form covered me completely.
Her breath tickled against my ear as she whispered, "Better?"
I nodded. It was better. I mean, we were still in a club and I would rather have been at home alone, but already this was the best club experience I'd ever had.
Even knowing how she felt about me, I was too nervous to dance with her face to face. So I turned until my back was pressed against her front. Her hands went immediately to my hips, pulling me against her. The sensation chased all the air out of my lungs.
I closed my eyes so I didn't have to stare at the wall and I tried to let the music swoop through me. Slowly, her hips tilted forward, and I followed, pushing back against her. She exhaled against my ear, and it sent shivers down my spine. She slid a hand from my hip to my stomach. With her fingers splayed, her thumb rested about an inch below my bra and her pinky trailed the waistband of my skirt. She used that hand to pull me into her at the same time that she rolled her hips.
Stars danced behind my closed eyes and my heartbeat matched the steady thrum of the music. Her body against mine seemed to magnify the already heated room, and I felt sweat begin to dampen my neck. Her hips kept rolling to the music, slowly and sensually, but every once and a while on a strong beat, her hips would push harder against mine. Her lips touched the skin of my neck, and I was falling, falling, falling into the feeling.
It wasn't enough. Would I ever have enough of her? I reached my hands up and behind me, tangling in her hair, and she hummed her approval. The hand on my stomach came up, running lightly from my raised arm down my side. She grazed the side of my breast, and the touch sent tremors through me, which were amplified when her fingers passed the indecent skirt and gripped my thigh.
The song changed, but we didn't. Her hands kept driving me crazy. Our bodies stayed tightly pressed together. I was still so turned on I felt dizzy with want. The whole world was spinning, and only we were still. Or maybe it was us who were spinning. All I knew was that there was everyone else and then there was us, and I never wanted it to be any other way.
She found that spot below my ear, and I moaned, glad for the music that swallowed the sound. She nipped at my neck with her teeth, and I dug my fingernails into her neck in response.
"God, Jennie, do you have any idea how badly I want you?"
Our hips rolled again, and I was certain I had a pretty good idea.
The song ended, and I'd had about all I could take. I slipped my phone out of my bra where it had been conveniently tucked. Lisa groaned and pulled our hips together again in response, but I was focused on my phone. My hands were shaking, but I still managed to type out a text to Irene.
Met someone. Leaving. Sry abt earlier. Talk 2 u tom?
I didn't wait for a reply before I pulled Lisa toward the exit.
For once, I didn't care how fast we went on her motorcycle. I just held tight, and tried to will us home faster.
Her lips were on my neck before I even got the key in my door. My breathing was so heavy it could only be called panting. When I finally got the door open, I pushed it so hard that it slammed against the wall. Tomorrow I'd have to check and make sure there wasn't a hole. As soon as the door was closed, we were kissing.
I had tugged my heels off between the motorcycle and my door, and now without them, she was too far away. The thought must have occurred to us at the same time, because her hands left my thighs, and cupped my ass, lifting me so that I had to wrap my legs around her waist.
My back slammed against the door, and I gasped. Her tongue snaked into my mouth, plunging in and out, fast and hard—exactly the way I liked it.
"Bed," I gasped between kisses.
She leaned back long enough to say, "Are you sure?" Then we were kissing again, and the rhythm she set was just as seductive and hypnotizing as the music had been in the club. She asked again, "Jennie, are you sure?"
Was I sure? Why was she asking me questions? Did she realize I just wanted to kiss her? I wanted to kiss her until the rest of the world fell away.
"Bed," I said again.
"That's not an answer." She moved toward the bedroom anyway.
I clung to her tightly, transferring my kisses to her jaw and then her neck so that she could concentrate on walking.
Somehow I still managed to get caught in the curtains.
Like literally caught.
My earring caught on the sheer material, and I didn't notice until she kept walking. Pain lanced through my ear and the side of my head. I yelped in response.
"What? I'm sorry! What's wrong? What did I do?"
"Ear." Apparently, I'd been reduced to one-word sentences.
"Damn. Hold still."
She tried to use both hands to free my earring, but then we lost balance, and both of us slammed into the side of my dresser that sat just inside my bedroom.
Judging by the way my elbow was smarting, I was going to have one hell of a bruise tomorrow.
When the pain subsided, I laughed, because as usual, my life was ridiculous. And as luck would have it, it was one of those half laugh half snort hybrids. We both laughed, gasping for breath for an entirely different reason now. My side was aching from where we hit the dresser. My earring was still attached to the curtain, and my legs were still around her waist. Between laughs, Lisa pressed a sweet kiss to my forehead.
Maybe ridiculous wasn't so bad.
"Okay, let's get you untangled. I'm going to put you down, okay?"
She lowered me gently the floor, and my stampeding pulse began to slow. She tried for a few minutes to free me, but her fingers were large and clumsy. Finally, I said, "Just undo the earring. I'll get it out of the curtain tomorrow."
Laughing, she did as I asked.
Whereas before, I'd felt like I was burning up in our kiss. Now, warmth spread through me that was different, sweeter. Candlelight instead of open flame.
She rubbed at the shoulder that had hit the dresser, and said, "We're kind of a mess."
I pinched my fingers together, and said, "Little bit."
She curled a hand around my neck, and pulled me forward, pressing another kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes, thinking that this was what perfection felt like.
"I think maybe the curtain did us a favor. Your legs in that skirt pretty much killed all my self-control."
I smiled. "I told you that I never should have worn it."
"Oh, I'm definitely glad you wore it. It's a memory I'll cherish for a very long time." I slapped her on the arm, but I didn't mind the cheeky smile. She said, "I should probably go now, before you make me lose my mind again."
I let her go, even though a large part of me was screaming in protest. And when she was gone, I celebrated in much the same way I had when I learned I'd gotten cast as Phaedra.
I danced.
Because… finally… things were going right.