Chapter Nine – Dirty Dancing
Bo followed Lauren onto the ballroom floor. Her wandering eyes took in every inch of the Doctor, appreciating every subtle move she made. This proved to be dangerous, as the band was blasting out a lively jive number – Bo had to duck at the last minute to dodge a high kick by a particularly enthusiastic vampire. Lauren expertly avoided the dancers and boldly stepped to the very center of the dance floor. She winked at Bo, and with a curled finger motioned for the Succubus to come closer. Bo didn't need to be told twice.
"What did you mean by 'you asked for it'?" Bo wondered.
Lauren grinned. "By asking me to dance, you are presupposing that I am skilled, coordinated, and graceful."
Bo looked her up and down. "With a body like that and legs like those, how could you not be?"
"You seem to have forgotten that I'm also a science geek. A nerd. Dare I say, a dork?" She ran a hand along Bo's cheek. "Keeping that in mind, this could go one of two ways. I could possess sensuous moves that will figuratively and literally dance your pants off. Or, I could embarrass you to the point where you run and hide under the buffet table and disavow any knowledge of my existence."
"You think you can chase me away with big words and bad dancing?"
"Let's find out." Lauren took a few steps backward and then, to the abject horror of the Succubus, busted out a spastic bastardization of so-called 'dancing' that made everyone's drunken uncle at a wedding look like Fred Astaire.
And just when Bo thought things couldn't get any worse, Lauren did 'The Sprinkler'.
"I don't think you're ready for this jelly." The Doctor raised the roof and did 'The Lawnmower', until finally Bo couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Lauren's arms and held them at her sides.
"Please tell me you're joking. That had to be a joke," Bo said.
A grin spread across Lauren's face, as the high paced jive music ended and the dancers politely applauded the band. There was shuffling on stage, and the string section came to life joined by two bandoneons. A slow, bewitching Latin tune flowed from their instruments like water.
"Of course I'm joking. I was only testing you. I'm actually pretty damn good." Lauren winked playfully, and shifted her posture, her back straight like a ballerina. She held out her arms in a ballroom frame. "Trying to be seductive around you hasn't paid off so far – at least, not to the extent I'd hoped. I thought I might try the humor angle."
Bo stepped into Lauren's dance space. She lightly ran her palm along Lauren's arm, from shoulder to triceps to forearm, finally coming to rest in Lauren's hand. She allowed the smallest flicker of pulsing red energy to escape. Lauren rapid-fire-blinked as Bo placed her other hand on the Doctor's waist. "Adorkable is fun. But the band is playing a tango, you're dressed like a Greek goddess, and all I want to do is press up against you and feel your body move."
"Seductive it is, then." Lauren gripped the Succubus tightly and stepped forward.
So did Bo.
They clunked foreheads.
"Ow!" Lauren rubbed the spot above her left eyebrow. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to lead! What's it look like?"
Lauren looked at Bo, and laughed. "You? Lead? I'm sorry, but that's not how this is going to work."
Bo leaned back, still in their tango hold. "Says who?"
"Says the 1995 and 1996 cha cha silver medalist at the Ontario Junior Amateur Championships. Bronze medalist in Viennese waltz and foxtrot in 1994." Lauren flicked her eyebrows. Lauren's domineering parents had started enrolling their overachieving daughter in various lessons when she turned three: archery, fencing, ballroom, equestrian, violin. Occasionally, these lessons paid off.
"Oh yeah?" Bo stammered. "Well…I've seen Dirty Dancing at least 20 times."
"And you freely admit that?"
"It's not my proudest achievement, but I have nothing to hide."
Lauren rolled her eyes. "Right. Because nobody puts BoBo in the corner."
"Exactly." Bo lifted her chin, haughtily.
Lauren looked down at the Succubus – with her heels on, Lauren was a few inches taller. Bo's face was indignant, her posture defensive, her deep brown eyes narrowed. Lauren didn't know if she wanted to laugh at the ridiculous Fae in front of her, or kiss her.
In one sweeping motion Lauren pulled Bo against her, seizing control, so that their hips and chest were practically glued together. Lauren whispered in Bo's ear, "In all seriousness…follow my lead."
"…Okay." Bo breathed.
Lauren spun Bo around, pushing her away before slamming their hips back together again and dipping her low. Lauren bent down and kissed Bo's neck, eliciting a shiver from the Succubus. "You've made a mistake," Lauren said. "A huge tactical error." She lifted Bo back up, never breaking their hold.
Bo's hands slid from Lauren's waist to the top of her bum. Bo felt Lauren's muscles twitch through the smooth silk of her dress. "What do you mean?"
Lauren interlocked her lead fingers with Bo's. "Asking me to dance was a mistake." Bo gasped as Laruen ground her pelvis against Bo's thigh, using her knee as leverage to spin Bo in a circle before pulling her violently back up, centimeters from her face. Lauren pressed her forehead to Bo's and breathed deeply the scent of Bo's perfume. "It's a mistake, because I'm going to keep you here, all night, until the only thought your brain can process is how incredible it feels when I touch you."
"Fuck me," Bo whispered.
Lauren dipped her again, and slid her free hand across Bo's chest. Her lips curled into an evil smile. "That can be arranged."
"Holyyy shit." Hale's jaw dropped, and he completely forgot about the nymph who'd just fallen for his cheesy pickup line. The floor was clearing out around Lauren and Bo, but the two didn't seem to realize that they were attracting an audience as they glided and grind-ed across the room. Hale put his hands to his lips. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
"Get your tongue back in your mouth bro. You're drooling." Dyson clapped him on the shoulder.
"It's like every prayer I've had since I was thirteen is being answered right now, right in front of my face." Hale stared in amazement. "I can die a happy man."
Dyson merely chuckled. Hale finally ripped his eyes away from the ladies and turned to his friend. "How are you not profoundly affected by this?"
"Because Lauren is like my sister. How would you feel if that was Val out there, dry humping a succubus in front of a room full of horn-dogs?"
Hale winced.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"How's it going with Naia?"
"Ciara has him wrapped around her finger. He's on his fifth scotch. Everything is right on schedule."
"And clearly the Doc is keeping our competition occupied."
"Clearly." Dyson said gruffly, as Lauren did a series of intricate leg flicks around Bo's midsection. He frowned. "Don't you feel like things are going a little too well?"
"Huh?"
"Normally we'd have run into some sort of complication by now."
"And you're complaining?"
"No." Dyson scratched his beard. "Just waiting for the other shoe to drop."
Kenzi held her boot upside down, letting the rest of the water drain out slowly, drip by agonizing drip. She smacked the back of her head against the electric pole. Bo had given her one job. Okay, technically three jobs: get inside, give the signal, then kill the lights. That was the important one. Kill the lights. It should have been easy enough. Leave it to the Fae to find new ways of screwing with her plans.
She glanced across the street. There was a bulldozer parked in the sprawling, perfectly manicured lawn of another disgustingly extravagant mansion. It looked like the owners were installing a fountain. Kenzi wondered if a bulldozer would break through whatever barrier was protecting the Santiago house. She quickly decided she didn't want to find out. It was bad enough getting bounced to kingdom come, but getting bounced to kingdom come and then having a bulldozer land on top of you didn't sound like a good time.
Kenzi smacked her head off the pole again, and looked to the sky for inspiration or a sign. All she saw were power cables above her, stretching toward the Santiago compound.
A light bulb clicked on in her brain.
Lauren almost couldn't tell where her body ended and Bo's began. They spun around. "What do you know about the tango?" She asked.
Bo ran her hand up Lauren's leg, reaching through the slit of her dress to touch soft skin. "I know I like it. A lot."
Lauren grinned. "The tango originated in 19th century Buenos Aires, in the slums. Argentine cowboys would dance all night with prostitutes in the brothels of the Barrio de las Ranas. They were poor. It was their chance to escape and go wild. What emerged was a dirty, sweaty, passionate new dance form that was shunned by respectable society." Lauren leaned in. "And for good reason," she whispered against Bo's neck.
Bo licked her lips. "So in this scenario, you're a cowboy and I'm a prostitute?"
Bo felt Lauren grin against her bare skin. "Traditionally speaking, yes."
"Well then," Bo leaned back to look Lauren in the eye. "I guess I'd better start playing the part." She wrapped her hand around Lauren's neck and pulled her forward, mashing their lips together in a dangerously rough kiss. Lauren's lips parted in a moan and that was all the invitation Bo needed to plow deeper, roughly massaging Lauren's tongue with her own. When they finally pulled away to catch their breath, Bo caught Lauren's bottom lip between her teeth and gave it a playfully erotic tug.
"Yeehaw." Lauren's grin was as wide as the Rio Grande.
"It's like they're having sex," Hale marveled, "even though they're not actually having sex."
Dyson groaned. "Is this song ever going to end?"
"My man, if there are gods in heaven, this song with never, EVER end."
Kenzi crawled into the driver's seat of the bulldozer. No keys. Go figure. She kicked the panel under the steering wheel and it cracked in two. "Oookay…hot wiring a bulldozer. No biggie. Probably just like a car…on steroids…Truckosaurus Rex." She bit her fingernails.
Ciara laughed at Arthur Naia's horrible joke, and put a hand on his arm. The man reeked of cologne like he'd taken a bath in it before he showed up to the ball. He was dripping 'sleaze', and Ciara most definitely regretted volunteering to spend the whole evening with him. She caught the attention of a passing waiter. "Another scotch, please." Naia downed his fifth drink, and burped. "Actually," Ciara caught the waiter again, "make it a double."
She was tempted to order one for herself. She straightened Naia's tie, checking again to make sure she could feel the Orsedd Stone under his shirt. She was so close…if only she could just head-butt him, grab the stone and make a run for it. The waiter returned quickly with the drink, bless him, and Naia downed it in a single gulp. He turned toward the dance floor and teetered, nearly losing his balance, catching himself on the shoulder of an angry looking Sileni.
"Excellent." Ciara whispered. She quickly waved to Dyson, signaling him. Dyson nodded.
Time for phase two.
Kenzi touched the two wires together, and the diesel engine sputtered then roared. "It's aliiiive!" She shouted over the sound. "Who's bad? I'm bad. I know it." She did a quick victory dance in her chair. "Now let's get this puppy movin'." Her smile slipped into a frown as she eyeballed the instrument panel. She didn't have the slightest idea how to put a bulldozer in 'drive'.
"What the hell?" She pushed a random lever, but instead of moving forward the blade lifted five feet in the air before slamming back to the ground. "Strike one," she muttered. She pulled another lever, and the tracks slowly spun her into a left leaning circle. "Strike two." She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. In a moment of frustration she hovered her hands over the wheel and shouted, "Locomotor Bulldozer!"
Nothing happened. "Not a Harry Potter fan, huh? Strike three." She sat back, and her elbow grazed another lever. To Kenzi's shock, the tractor began to inch forward.
"Yes!" She stood up in her chair. "Onward, foul yellow beast! Charge!" She shouted out the window as the bulldozer crawled toward the electric pole.
Bo and Lauren stepped and moved around the wide open ballroom floor. "How long are we going to keep doing this?" Bo asked, using her arm placement on Lauren's back to surreptitiously unzip her gown by an inch.
"Doing what?" Lauren asked, innocently.
"Driving each other crazy until we're almost bursting, and then walking away. The innuendo, the flirting, the teasing. All this dancing around. It has to be leading somewhere." Bo nipped at Lauren's chin. Lauren leaned back, taking all of Bo's weight on top of her.
The music built to a crescendo, and Lauren rolled Bo from her chest onto her back, gently laying her on the ballroom floor. "Is that what you want?" She asked.
"You know what I want." Bo replied lustily, looking up at the Doctor. The song ended and thunderous applause rang out from all corners of the ballroom. The two women didn't even hear it.
"Say that again." Lauren whispered, leaning over the Succubus.
Bo raised her head up to meet her. "You know what I want."
"Then show me."
Bo's eyes blazed blue, and she pulled Lauren on top of her. She sensed how much the Doctor wanted, hell needed her.
Ciara grinned at Naia. "Why don't we go somewhere more private?" She led him toward the stairs, Dyson and Hale following a few paces behind.
Lauren's chest heaved from the exertion of their dancing and the yearning for something more. Bo was almost drunk on the lust emanating from the woman. Bo had never, ever, in her entire life wanted anything so much as Doctor Lauren Lewis. She massaged the nape of Lauren's neck and looked deeply into her stunning brown eyes. "Fuck the stone. Fuck it." Bo breathed. "Take me home."
"Banzaaaaaiiiii!" Kenzi screamed, as the bulldozer made contact.
The crowd inside the mansion screamed, as the entire room plunged into darkness.