Venus rising boxset, p.25
Venus Rising Boxset, page 25
Jessica knew it had been much harder for Hilary. She’d probably been lonely in the apartment where she was used to having Jessica's company. Whereas, Jessica had been inundated with new experiences and meeting new people, with plenty to distract her.
“Tell me everything... wait, let's order some food and break out the wine, then you can tell me everything!”
Jessica had to laugh. Hilary hadn't changed at all. The girls quickly ordered their standard Chinese dinners and brought out a bottle of Kung Fu Girl Riesling to share, then collapsed on the couch. Telling Hilary everything was a relief and also made Jessica sad to admit she'd fallen for two of her instructors. Hilary, being Hilary, thought it was wonderfully romantic. The pretty blonde loved movies where everything turned out right in the end, and even though she hadn't managed to find her happy ending with any guy, it didn't stop her from hoping one day Prince Charming would come along.
She firmly believed if Jessica was meant to be with Flood or Fire, at some point in her life, they would show up again. If not, Jessica would find another guy who would fulfill her even more than either of them had.
Of course, in the back of Hilary’s mind, she was wondering if maybe, just maybe… She pushed that thought out of her head. It didn’t seem right to get Jessica’s hopes up. Hilary had never solved the Olivia, Chris, and Justin mystery, and while she might have had her suspicions when she’d asked Jessica if she saw anyone she thought looked familiar at the school, her friend had just expressed surprise and denial.
“Besides,” Hilary said, over her plate of steaming moo shoo pork, “you’d have to choose between the two of them if they were here, and you don’t seem to know which one you like better.”
“Well, that’s true.” They were so different and yet so similar… Ack, no point in even thinking about it right now.
“So, was all the kinky stuff everything you ever imagined?” Hilary asked, a glint of interest in her eye.
Jessica laughed. “Have you been reading more on my Kindle while I was away?”
Flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder, Hilary pulled a mock appalled face that Jessica would accuse her of such a thing.
“I mean… it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility, I suppose,” Hilary said, a little snobbishly. Both girls giggled, and Jessica rolled her eyes at her friend’s silliness. “I didn’t think it would be something I’d be into but… I don’t know. There’s something exciting about the stories you read.”
Grinning Jessica winked at her friend. “It’s even more exciting in person.”
“Ooh, tell me, tell me.”
Chewing on her sweet and sour chicken, Jessica tried to think of how to describe it.
“It’s like… you’re totally out of control of what’s going to happen, but at the same time, you trust the guy to make sure what happens is going to be good for you. And being out of control, to me, is really hot. Not knowing where he’s going to touch next, what he’s going to do, and being completely vulnerable, unable to stop it. He could do anything he wants.”
Hilary shivered a little. “That sounds kind of scary.”
“It is but good scary. Sexy scary. As long as you trust him. And there were other things too. I liked the spankings and the clamps… I definitely like a little bit of pain with my sex.” Jessica laughed as Hilary gave a bigger shiver, more like a shudder.
“I don’t think I would. I like the dominance stuff in the books. Maybe being tied up. But pain just doesn’t seem like my kind of thing.”
“Well, it’s not for everyone. There’s more to it, though. Like… Mr. Flood was more dominant than Mr. Fire a lot of the time. Mr. Fire would be more playful, but I loved seeing Mr. Flood crack out of being dominant because it was such a surprise when he did it. I liked the way he manhandled me. Mr. Fire did that too, but it was… I don’t know, somehow gentler, sweeter. The two of them together were incredible. And Mr. Flood was always doing things like making sure I was taken cared of—Gatorade when I might be dehydrated or having someone check in on me, so I didn’t miss dinner… that kind of thing.”
Hilary looked a little wistful. “That sounds nice.”
“Very nice,” Jessica said, although ‘nice’ didn’t even begin to cover how cared for it made her feel, how pampered when Mr. Flood had done those little things. Or how much fun it had been to be playful with Mr. Fire.
Studying her best friend carefully, Hilary could see how despondent Jessica was about coming home from the school. Obviously, it was because of the two instructors. Well, Hilary couldn’t do anything about that, but maybe she could make the transition a little bit easier for Jessica if she distracted her.
“Want to go out dancing tomorrow night?”
“Yeah,” said Jessica, smiling. “That sounds awesome.” Dancing was always a release for her, and a night out sounded exactly like what she needed. Plus, if they were out with a bunch of incredibly good-looking guys, maybe she’d be able to forget about Fire and Flood or find someone even better.
Maybe Hilary’s optimism was spreading.
Jessica took advantage of her Saturday to start getting her mindset back to being at home. She checked her email, her Facebook, called her parents and chatted with them for a bit, texted a few of her other friends who had only known she’d been on vacation, and tried not to be too antsy about the lack of sex.
That afternoon, she and Hilary went shopping, so she could update her wardrobe. Even though she didn’t have a ton of spending money, there were enough sales going on for her to get some basic pieces which would flatter her body more than the loose clothing she had in her closet. Mostly, she got tops in different colors, good for day to evening wear, so she could get as much use out of them as possible. Eventually, she’d add more ‘going out’ clothing, although she did pick up a dress to wear out that evening. A simple, little black dress, much shorter than any she’d bought before, it came down to a few inches under her ass, the scoop neckline showing a generous amount of cleavage—sexy but classy.
The strangest part of being home was it almost felt like the past two weeks hadn’t happened. Settling back into her old life, her old persona was far too easy. Buying new clothes helped her keep the newer identity she’d discovered, keeping her from becoming boring and unattractive again. She’d never felt sexier than when she was at the school, wearing clothes designed to show off her body. Of course, she didn’t want to go that far here at home, but she didn’t want to go back to the person she had been before she left either.
After dinner, she and Hilary primped and giggled together in their shared bathroom. It was obvious Hilary was happy Jessica was feeling so confident and excited about going out. Normally, while Jessica was happy to go out, she didn’t go all out making herself presentable. Although that had partly been because she’d had a boyfriend for almost a whole year, and so who cared what she looked like when she went out?
But now, Jessica wanted to look good for herself. She had to admit she wasn’t too excited about meeting any guys while she was out, mostly, just wanted to go out with Hilary and have some fun.
They hopped on the Metro and took the fifteen-minute ride from the suburbs into the nation’s capital and its thriving nightlife. It was only a ten-minute walk to Hilary’s favorite club to go dancing, filled with flashing lights, lots of people and a throbbing bass beat. Jessica could feel the rhythm pounding through the soles of her feet, and her hips swayed as they stood at the back of the crowd in the bar, waiting to push through.
“Hi, would you like some Jell-O shots?” said a bubbly voice to Jessica’s right. There was a female server with a tray of lime green shots, wobbling in their little cups. The crowd of people between Hilary and the bar was three people deep, so she tapped Hilary on the shoulder, catching her attention.
“How much?” asked Hilary as soon as she turned. She was looking hot in a deep royal-blue halter top and short black skirt that swayed and flowed around her nicely tanned legs. As her blonde hair swung around, the guy standing next to her glanced over and looked her up and down appreciatively.
“Three dollars.”
Well, it was a lot faster than getting through to the bar. Both Jessica and Hilary got two of them, quickly sliding their pinkies around the edges of the cup and sucking the Jell-O down.
“Woo-hoo!” cheered Hilary as they finished the second one.
The guy checking her out laughed, obviously watching their enthusiastic shots.
“What do you ladies want to drink?” he asked, leaning over so they could hear him over the music.
Hilary smiled at him and lowered her eyelashes, looking both demure and flirtatious. Jessica envied her friend’s self-confidence. It had been so much easier at the school when there was no flirting necessary.
“Vodka and cranberry for me please,” said Hilary.
The guy turned to Jessica, his eyes sweeping over her appreciatively as well. Unused to the attention, she flushed a little, feeling pleased her new dress had garnered an approving reaction. The guy was tall, blonde, and handsome, obviously appreciating the charms of both ladies.
“Rum and Diet Coke, please,” said Jessica.
The two girls handed over some bills, which he passed to a guy in front of them along with their drink order.
“I’m Steve,” said the guy, turning back to them. Hilary introduced herself and Jessica, giving him a million-watt smile that said he was her hero. Giving him their drink order turned out to be a lot more efficient. Steve’s friend, who gave his name as Greg, passed their drinks back to them, handing another drink to Steve, and holding onto his own before the four of them managed to disengage from the crowd.
“Wow,” said Jessica. “Thanks for helping us out. We’d probably end up dying of thirst if we were on our own.”
“I doubt that,” said Greg smoothly, giving her a wink as he sidled over to her. Also very cute, he looked to be in his late twenties with light brown hair and seemed to like the way she looked in her black dress. Unfortunately, despite his attractiveness, she didn’t feel any attraction to him. Gratitude, sure. “Don’t you know the bar rules? Pretty girls always get served.” He winked at her.
Okay, well, sometimes, a spark doesn’t happen right away. Hilary was already flirting with Steve, so she wouldn’t want to ditch the guys. Jessica would try a little flirting of her own, and if nothing else, she’d play wingman for Hilary tonight. Steve was just Hilary’s type—another blonde like her, lean, cute, and preppy. It wasn’t Greg’s fault Jessica wanted tall, dark, and wearing leathers.
“Thanks,” she said to Greg, laughing. “It’s nice to have handsome men taking care of us.”
The gleam in his eye told her he appreciated the compliment. The guys steered them away from the bar to where there would be fewer people knocking into them. It didn’t take long before they hit the dance floor, but by that time, Jessica already knew she wasn’t interested in Greg. He was nice, cute, and funny, but he just did nothing for her.
Unfortunately, that didn’t keep him from pressing his suit a little more than she was comfortable with on the dance floor. He had Roaming Hands Syndrome. She felt bad, but after about half an hour, she couldn’t put up with it anymore and had to give Hilary the look that meant “Please, get me out of here.”
They took a quick trip to the bathroom where Jessica apologized, but Hilary wouldn’t hear any of it.
“He’s nice, but that’s not really what we’re out here for. You’re supposed to be having a good time!”
“I was, I’m just starting to get uncomfortable.”
“Then we’ll go home,” Hilary said, smiling. Jessica was relieved to see there wasn’t any disappointment on her friend’s face; she truly wasn’t interested in Steve. Without going to find the guys to say goodbye, the two girls dipped out and left the club.
Coming back to work on Monday was so strange after having been gone for two weeks. It was like nothing had changed, not even the office gossip. Of course, that might have been because Jessica was spending time with the same people she always spent time with. The women she and Hilary went to lunch with tended to talk about the same topics—men, diets, and the latest movies or books they were interested in.
“Happy Hour on Wednesday? The Lounge is doing a martini night,” said Mary. The Lounge was their favorite place to go for Happy Hour, especially because they had live music playing five out of seven nights of the week and just enough room to dance if you wanted to.
“That sounds like fun,” said Jessica. The girl’s night out with Hilary on Saturday had been fun, even though they’d had to leave sooner than she might have liked after that guy Greg started getting handsy.
“I’m in!”
“Me too!”
Hilary and Olivia grinned at each other.
“I’ll invite some other people around the office too if that’s okay with everyone,” said Olivia. The girls nodded.
“The more, the merrier,” said Mary. She was a very inclusive person, one of the reasons it was so easy to hang out with her. Personally, Jessica liked the big group happy hours. It was a big company, which meant there were a lot of people she’d never met before working there, and it was always fun to meet new people. Especially now that she was single, feeling confident, and knew what she wanted from a man—all very good things.
As soon as Justin got off the phone with Olivia, he called Chris.
“Happy Hour, the Lounge, Wednesday.”
Chris gave a loud whoop of excitement.
“Awesome. So, how do we want to do this?”
“Approach her together,” said Justin. “See if she recognizes us. If not, we ask her to dance.”
“If she does… we ask her to dance,” Chris laughed.
“Exactly.”
They could feel their adrenaline pumping in excitement. Unfortunately, they couldn’t use all that energy until Wednesday. This happy hour had to go better than the ones before. For one, they knew Jessica was single now. Two, they both knew she was definitely compatible with them. Approaching girls who had never played around with BDSM wasn’t always a good move. It wasn’t something either one of them wanted to give up entirely, and if the girl wasn’t interested, they had learned they never felt completely sexually satisfied. It sucked but was true.
With Jessica, they knew exactly what they were getting. She was their dream girl… and they were each secretly hoping to be her dream guy—well, not so secretly, but discreetly at least.
On Wednesday, Jessica decided to wear one of her nicer new outfits to work—a form-fitting pink blouse with a few ruffles around the neckline to distract from how low-cut it was and a wide black belt separating it from the grey pencil skirt that went down to her knees but hugged her ass and thighs in a sexy but professional way. She even dug out her two-inch pumps, figuring she’d be sitting down for most of the day, anyway. Normally, she didn’t care much, but since they were going out after work, she might as well take advantage and do herself up a little. A pearl necklace completed the classy/sexy/innocent look she was going for.
During the day, she kept her hair up, but once she and the girls headed out to the Lounge, she pulled it out of the clip and let her curls tumble around her shoulders, feeling utterly feminine and sensual. It was nice to dress up and feel good about herself.
The men definitely noticed the difference. Not just the ones she worked with, but other men around the bar eyed her appreciatively as well. Saucily tilting her head up, Jessica added a little extra bounce and sway to her walk, letting her hips roll.
“You've turned into a sex kitten,” Hilary whispered to her giggling. Jessica giggled too.
“I mean, that was the idea, right?”
“Just leave some men for the rest of us,” Hilary said.
Jessica rolled her eyes. “I don't think that will be a problem. You look fantastic, as always.”
“Maybe,” said Hilary, modestly. “But I've been trying to catch the eye of those two guys from marketing and both are too busy checking you out to even notice. You know… they were gone on vacation the same two weeks you were. A couple people even joked maybe all three of you had snuck away for the same trip.”
In the way girls do, Hilary surreptitiously tilted her head as she lifted her martini glass and rolled her eyes toward the guys she was talking about, pretending to be moving her head to take a drink. This was the first time she’d mentioned Justin and Chris to her friend because she hadn’t seen them when Jessica was around to point them out before.
Jessica laughed as if Hilary had said something funny, although she felt her stomach tighten in a strange kind of anticipation. Turning, she let her eyes roam across the room without stopping, although it was hard not to stop. The two guys Hilary had pointed out were indeed checking her out, and they were very, very hot. Both tall with dark hair, they'd shucked off their work jackets in favor of the white, button-down shirts they were wearing.
Her face paled.
“Jessica?”
“It’s them,” she whispered. Realizing she’d recognized them, they started moving. Panicked she turned to Hilary. “We have to go.”
“Okay,” said Hilary, alarmed. They grabbed their purses and left, moving as quickly as possible. When Jessica glanced back over her shoulder, she could see the two men had stopped but were staring at each other. Mortification, heat, lust, and anger swelled inside of her. Tearing her gaze away, she practically dragged Hilary with her.
“What was that?” asked Hilary once they were outside, Jessica setting a brutal pace for their high heels toward the Metro.
“It was them, Flood and Fire. Hilary, come on!” Her best friend had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, gaping at her.
“Oh my God, Jessica, I’m so sorry. I should have said something sooner. I thought Olivia was hiding something about Justin and Chris, but it never occurred to me… I mean, the coincidence…”
