Dominion of The Butterfly

Disclaimers, Spoilers, and Ratings, Oh My! See Prologue

Chapter Two-Coffee, Tea or Me-Lady Heather Style

Sara stood in at the front door of the Dominion filled with trepidation. She nervously smoothed the cotton of her black trousers and the silky violet t-shirt that she wore. Sara looked, but none of the fashion magazines that she secretly bought and devoured covered the appropriate attire to wear to a Dominion where the lead Dominatrix may or may not have slept with the love of your life.

Making a quick prayer to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, she begged him to give her the ability to not over talk, Sara crossed herself one time and rang the bell. Moments later the door opened, and Sara found herself looking at probably the most beautiful man she had even seen. He had skin the color of cappuccino, and bright green eyes. He was dressed casually in a pair of karate pants and a short robe that hung open, revealing a chest and stomach that could have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself. Gathering her composure, Sara introduced herself, and stated her mission. The gorgeous man merely bowed, took her by the arm so gently that Sara barely realized that she had been touched, and led her to the poolside garden, where Lady Heather was waiting.

Lady Heather rose when she saw Sara and smiled her Cheshire smile. Lady Heather was attired in her usual black, in a fine linen sheath to account for the rise in temperature. After shaking Sara's hand and holding it for a moment too long, Lady Heather invited Sara to sit, and asked her if she preferred iced tea or iced coffee. Sara noted her preference for tea, and Lady Heather spoke to the beautiful man standing silently between the two women, waiting for his command. With a small bow, he left the two of them, and while they were making small talk, returned with a pitcher of cinnamon-honey iced tea, and a plate of crudités and cucumber sandwiches.

Once tea had been dispensed, Lady Heather looked at Sara, debating which approach she should take. She could tell that Sara could probably get defensive, so she figured it was best not to quiz her about Grissom immediately. She instead began by telling Sara what the others had done with Dr. Lurie and what she was expected to do. After hearing that there would be no whipping or spanking, she visibly relaxed, and noting that Lady Heather smiles and murmured, "See Sara, nothing too disgusting for you to do, is there?"

Sara sputtered. Could Lady Heather read her mind? She tried to cover. "Lady Heather, I never said this was disgusting."

"You didn't have to Sara; the disdain is clear in your eyes. You could never be a poker player Sara, you wear your heart on your sleeve and your eyes give everything away. Sara what we do here is not 'freakish' or 'sick'.

Sara smirked, "Well what do you call people paying to be smacked around."

Lady Heather face took a stormy quality. "Sara that is not what we are about. We are about fulfilling fantasies. We provide people with the things that they cannot ask others for. We fulfill desires that people are afraid by our narrow society to ask for."

Sara stopped smiling, "If they can't ask, maybe there is something wrong with what they desire."

Lady Heather knew she had Sara now. "Sara, everyone has desires that they are afraid to whisper, some because they are afraid they may never come true, and others because they are afraid that they will. Everyone has unspeakable desires, even you. Even Gilbert Grissom."

At the mention of Grissom's name Sara began to feel herself blushing. There have been a million times in Sara's life that she cursed herself for that flush that her face and chest would take on when she was embarrassed, mad or impassioned, and she had never felt more like cursing than today. The anger coupled with the embarrassment if anything made Sara blush even more. Lady Heather took pity on the girl, and took Sara's hand.

"Sara, don't be embarrassed. Anyone can see that the two of you have something…complicated between you."

Sara stopped blushing and resisted the urge to snort. Complicated was the gentlest adjective she could think of for the five year mind fuck that she had willingly submitted to. After Sara had left home and went into foster care, she promised herself that she would never end up like her mother, dependent and submissive to a man. She went to school and excelled in order to not be dependent, and spent her entire professional life striving and working herself out of friendships and relationships, because she feared dependency. But Sara knew, and at what cost to her, was able to admit, that in some ways she had become her mother. She wasn't dependent on Grissom for money, or a place to live or to put food on her table, but she was dependent on Grissom to feed her soul. He owned her heart, soul and mind, as sure as if he had branded her, and the fact that a total stranger had picked up on this only served to remind Sara of how far she had fallen, how dangerously close she was becoming to being Laura Sidle. Would her love for Grissom and her dependency on him break her eventually?

When Sara visited her mother in the institution where she was being evaluated, she explained to Sara, that she had not killed Sara's father, but rather the evil man possessing him, the man that beat them. She had thought that by stabbing that man that the gentle Michael Sidle that she had fallen in love with, the one the braided her hair, and read poetry to her pregnant stomach would finally return. The shrink had called Laura Sidle delusional when she had told him that, but to Sara, it made more sense than anything.

Would she take that step one day? Would she in a fit of temper, or passion, stab Grissom, until the cerebral, eternally cautious scientist left and the man who told her that she was beautiful remained?

Lady Heather realized that Sara was lost in a reverie. She rose from her seat, and walked over to the younger woman, and kneeled so she was eye level with Sara.

The next words out of her mouth were gentle. "Sara, Sara baby doll, listen, he loves you. I can see the struggle you put him through in his eyes, in his soul. His problem is that he fears you, almost more than he loves you, and his fear and love fight within him. But I am going to help you. I know how."

Sara looked perplexed, "But why would you help me?"

Lady Heather pushed a stray piece of hair out of Sara's face, and smirked, "Because it would amuse me to see Gilbert Grissom be a fool for love."

Sara looked at Lady Heather. Part of her was reluctant to accept her help, but most of her decided that she could not do any worse with Lady Heather's help than she had done on her own. "What about you and Grissom?"

Lady Heather knew that was coming. As a person whose stock in trade was discretion, she could never understand how some other work places would simply be a fermenting place for idle gossip. However, she knew that Sara was not asking her that question to provide fuel for gossip, but to help her understand the love that she danced around. Sighing, Lady Heather answered. "We kissed…I invited him the next morning for tea, and then he had me served with a search warrant."

Sara laughed at that. At least she was not the only player of Grissom's pull in-push away game.

Lady Heather returned Sara's smile. "At first I was angry, but on later thought, I was relieved. I have no issue saying I was attracted to Gilbert Grissom, those blue eyes have probably done more than one woman in, but while I was attracted, for some reason, I was also repulsed. Odd isn't it." Lady Heather returned to her seat and pressed an intercom button. The beautiful man returned, took their plates and placed a small platter of fresh tropical fruits before the two women.

They snacked on the fruits and spoke of less incendiary topics. Finally Sara asked, "How could you tell about me and Grissom?"

"Sara, not unlike you, I am paid to be observant. I watched you. While you were arguing about your assignment in the interrogation room, I sat in the observation room and watched the two of you stalk each other. You two are fascinating to watch from a professional perspective. Usually within a unit, each has chosen whether they are to be the dominant or the submissive. It's apparent in their body language, or their speech with each other, but with you, it was different. Neither of you have settled on your role. I think you have the rarest of relationships, where you can switch off being dominant or submissive, it's something I very rarely see, since people who can communicate almost symbiotically like yourself and Grissom do not use my services."

Sara had her own question for Lady Heather. "One thing I don't understand, is how you can love someone, but wants to physically hurt them. I always thought that true love would be gentler."

Lady Heather smiled gently. She had a good read on Sara now. "You are one of them, Sara aren't you?"

Sara gave Lady Heather a curious look. "One of whom?"

"You are a true believer. You really believe in having one true love, having a soul mate who can read your desires before you are even aware that you desire them."

Sara nodded slowly, "Well of course, doesn't everyone."

Lady Heather responded with the tiniest of shrugs. "Everyone says that they do, but they do not have the patience to wait for that person, so they settle. After settling, the years go by and they realize that they are not fulfilled by their partners. Everyone deals with that lack of fulfillment in different ways, some eat, some gamble, or shop, and many come to the dominion to enjoy the theatrics of pleasure in a way they can never ask for with their partner. But Sara, I have a question for you. I heard the tail end of your conversation with Grissom. What was he talking about when he asked you if 'you heard that'?

Sara for reasons she did not understand trusted Lady Heather. So she told her of Dr. Lurie, and her history with Grissom, including the attack in the hospital, and the lab explosion. She even told her about her childhood. She talked and began to weep. Unlike Grissom, Lady Heather was not afraid of touch, and she swiftly walked over to Sara and enveloped her in a gentle hug.

"Sara, baby doll, it is going to be fine. I will help you catch Lurie, and we will put things right with Grissom. We will get him over his fears."

Sara looked at Lady Heather. She smiled one of her bright smiles, wiped her eyes and thanked her. Normally she would have been embarrassed about crying, but for some reason she felt so comfortable around the woman, she did not. She changed the topic and began to ask Lady Heather more about the dominion. They chatted, and it was soon time for both women to prepare for their evening at work. Lady Heather led Sara to the door, and gave her a parting hug. She noticed Sara's unique smell, and inquired about the fragrance. Sara told Lady Heather that she used Khiel's Lemon Verbena shower gel and Jo Malone Verbena of Provence fragrances. Lady Heather told Sara that it was interesting how she used expensive body items, but cheap make up and decided that they would go shopping before Sara's assignment began to have her looking the part. As a woman who never had many female friends, Sara found herself looking forward to the outing, and surprisingly her assignment.

She left the dominion and walked to her car. Lady Heather walked away, feeling a small flame flickering in her lower belly and wondered to herself if desire and sympathy were linked.

Shaking her head of that thought, Lady Heather walked back into the dominion, thinking of just how interesting her work with Sara would be.

TBC….

A/N: The reviews have been fabulous. I think this story is going to be a bit more involved than I initially planned, so bear with me as I write and update. I will try to move quickly.

Also, my thoughts and prayers are out there for all of you affected by Hurricane Katrina.