Biker Chicks: An Anthology of Hot MC Romance (21 page)

Her eye roved over her private dancer’s body, the other eye long since lost, covered by a black leather patch, secured in her cavalry officer days with what they had, directly to her face. She still passed as a male these days, as then. It just made things easier. “Beautiful.”

Emily completed the last series of turns very slowly, making sure Luca could see every line and curve of her arguably-naked body before she reached the end of the dance, right next to the bed. There was a hiss in the valves, and the augmented arthritic joints bent, lowering her to the floor. She looked up, smiling.

“Just hold that pose.” Luca ordered, sitting up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed so she could lean in, admiring up close with her eye, while trailing one hand up the outside of one of the braces, and up to the flesh, caressing the curve of her girl’s hip.

Emily stayed just as she was, sighing at the touch, while Luca shifted for better access, her free hand moving to the other side, feeling Emily’s hips. Then she slid her hands back, cupping her girl’s ass instead, eye still intent on the view presented just in front of her.

That got a bit of a groan out of Emily. “What do you want?” They had a little time left.

“Now that I’ve had a good look, and good feel... I think I want to warm you up, add some color. Over my lap.”

Emily grinned, and the valves hissed again as she scrambled to position and bent herself over, her skin sliding against Luca’s.

Luca’s hand closed on the copper hair. She pressed down, getting her girl head-down, ass-up. Then her other hand came down, moving from one cheek to the other.

Emily loved the sound. Flesh on flesh—always a nice reminder that she still was indeed mostly flesh, and not just the metal that kept her going or the ceramic that the stage audiences assumed from her makeup. The sound and the sting and the warmth rising under Luca’s hand got a moan out of her.

Luca kept her hand going, making sure the pale white turned a rosy pink, then a bit longer, until the pink turned a soft red. The noises became progressively more urgent. Then she pushed Emily’s legs open a little more and swatted her pussy a few times with her well-warmed fingers. Emily yelped at the wet smack.

“Luca, please,” she muttered.

A couple more swats, and Luca pushed first one, then another finger into her girl’s pussy, working them around a little, then faster. The digits’ warmth from the spanking provided all the more stimulation... and all the more push to get her girl squirming and begging.

Every inch of Emily’s skin soon felt flushed to match her tender backside. Her breathing became heavier as she whimpered Luca’s name again. Once she did, Luca drew her hand back, adding two more spanks, before shifting her grip to help Emily down off her lap and onto her knees on the floor next to the bed.

Hot skin and cool metal contrasted as Emily sat on her heels. She nuzzled at Luca’s thigh, ready to kiss her way to licking her, but not trying to rush.

Luca’s hand went for the hair again, holding her back, making Emily work for it at her inner thighs, enjoying the nuzzling and playing. Eventually, though, when worked up enough, and when Emily had earned it, she tugged her head forward, between her legs. And Emily let it just fill up her senses as she lapped eagerly, savoring and listening. Luca shifted her legs apart a little wider. Her hand tightened on the hair and wire. Her hips shifted in time with the lapping, rocking herself against Emily’s probing tongue.

As always, the little movements encouraged Emily. And as always, the firm hand in her hair felt just right. And as always, Luca was delicious. Emily worked more and more frantically.

Luca’s well-defined abdomen tightened, shudders going through her muscles at her girl’s enthusiastic efforts. Her breathing quickened further, until every exhalation came in a deep groan.

And that sound was just right. After years of learning each other’s bodies, there were some signs that were especially welcome. Emily tried to keep at it.

Luca’s hand finally released, her upper body laying back on the bed as shudders went through her and the groans turned into orgasmic moans.

And Emily worked her all the way through it, until she was just kneeling there, panting with a sense of accomplishment.

Finally, when she could breathe evenly again, she muttered, “I guess we both need to get into costume.”

There was so much to see in Crystal Palace Park that they could have spent all day wandering.

But Emily had been invited by this year’s Isambard Kingdom Brunel Day Mechanical Exhibition, so she was courteously seeing and being seen among the various great works of engineering that various Gentlemen of Science presented. There’d be time to take in the fountains when she danced through them later.

Luca, in the nice military dress uniform that managed to be devoid of military insignia, checked out the exhibits, but she was primarily there on business. She appreciated the fancy toys that saved her girl’s ability to walk and dance, but the ones here didn’t hold the same appeal they did for Emily. Besides, looking around, she saw a whole lot of cutting-edge technology right out in the open, and not near enough security to suit her.

Emily spotted a familiar face among the state-of-the-art medical equipment that glinted in the sunlight shining through the Palace’s glass walls. Accompanying the old physician was a less familiar man in a trim suit.

“So good to see you, Doctor.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Miss Emily Carew—” the elderly doctor may have hesitated just slightly on the ‘Miss,’ eyes glancing at Luca uncertainly, but he decided to stick with it and soldier on. “I present Mr. Roper, of Roper Velocipedes.” It had apparently been decided that Emily’s escort was to be ignored socially.

Not, however, by the man in the trim suit, who shook Emily’s hand briefly with an idle “Charmed,” then turned to reach for Luca’s. “I’ve heard so much about you and your young man, Miss Carew.”

“Why thank you, Mr. Roper. Your family make bicycles?”

“We improve the very concept of bicycles, Miss Carew. At least in terms of transportation, if not in exercise. And the latest Roper Velocipede has tripled the potential of even our best previous models, both in carrying capacity and horsepower. We’ve got it on display today, still in the testing phase.” Technically, he was talking to Emily, but still looking at Luca.

Luca ignored the intentional bit of being overlooked. That was normal in a lot of polite society. They weren’t married, and Luca was a known mercenary... not the most distinguished of professions. She still shook the other man’s hand firmly. “Pleasure, Mr. Roper.”

“I was, in fact, hoping I could interest you in a business proposal, sir.” Roper gestured through the windows, toward a pair of two-wheeled machines on display. “My newest model in motorbikes, the 24-HP, could use a cavalryman’s experience in the testing phase.”

24 Horsepower... She’d heard of the steam machines trying to replace the work of 2 to 4 horses, and the noise and mess they made. She considered the proposal dubiously.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll stick with horses, thanks.” After all, every time Luca traveled by anything more complicated than a horse or carriage, things got interesting... airship pirates, train robberies... the motorbikes looked like a guaranteed disaster, possibly an earthquake or something.

A sigh from Mr. Roper. “Let me know if you change your mind.” But he withdrew.

“How did you find yourself working with the Crystal Palace Company on this exhibition, Doctor?” Emily asked cordially.

“Well, after all the trouble with the Afghans, the Boers, the Mahdists, and the Burmese, the British Empire is finally taking the necessities of medical reconstruction seriously,” he said, with another slight sidelong glance to Luca, as if reflecting on his opinion of how seriously the Austro-Hungarian empire took such things. “And the Crystal Palace Company, after a few years of the park’s decline, are very interested in showing their involvement in serious business.”

Another familiar expression. Once her secret was out after the injury that had cost her her eye, the Austro-Hungarian cavalry had no use for Luca, either. Mercenary work paid better anyway, and the respect level outside her homeland was about the same either way. “Reconstruction, huh? Looks like quite the thing to maintain. But I guess you can charge all the mad scientists good coin to come show off their toys?”

“The financial arrangements are a little more complex than when the palace does art shows, but, well, yes.”

And he began to point out his obvious favorites, the ‘medically reconstructive’ works, while acknowledging, for Emily’s sake, the newest phonographs and other technology related to arts and entertainment. “The sound men are certainly happy to be putting their things to use for your performance.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Luca continued to glance around, letting the others talk about sound equipment and the logistics of the show. Luca knew what she liked in a performance, but the technical details were lost on her. She was also getting that itch telling her something wasn’t quite right, while not placing precisely what as she glanced over inventors, their devices, the performance space outside, and the admirers of all the above.

With showtime approaching, Emily was particularly interested in seeing how the sound equipment could be safely placed near the fountains.

“The water is going to be terribly high during the show, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Quite,” said the doctor. “We have excellent water pressure thanks to the water towers. Designed by Brunel himself, much higher and of greater capacity than anything of the kind.”

Emily nodded pleasantly, then smiled apologetically to Luca.

Luca couldn’t help but smile back. “Water pressure, right. Enjoy scouting the stage,” she said, giving Emily a one-armed hug before wandering to do a little scouting and take a closer look at the displays of imported metalwork. Swords from the Orient might not be as fancy as the machines, but they were still regarded as exciting and different here, and as far as she was concerned, a good blade was a lot more reliable.

Emily got to work seeing how the phonographs were being placed—and how they would be shielded as she danced through the water.

She at first thought the roughly-dressed men who approached were more roustabouts to move the equipment—or technicians, in the case of those carrying rolls of carbon paper. Then one tapped her companion on the shoulder. “Doctor,” he said, his accent somewhat affected to Emily’s ears. “I noticed some of your medical machines were missing from their place.”

“Hmm?” the old man asked. “Which ones?”

“The ones they says have diamonds in.”

“Ah. I’m having the surgical drills recalibrated.”

“Now that is a bit of a problem.”

A pair of clerks came running angrily toward the men carrying the carbon paper—and abruptly stopped as two of the men calmly drew guns on them.

Emily breathed. A bit of a problem indeed.

“The day’s certainly not a loss yet,” said the man with the strange accent. Other previously-supposed laborers began bringing over horses. “But I’m afraid we will be wanting a bit more of your expert attention, Doctor.”

Perhaps someone among the small but growing group of those aware of the apparent robbery looked like they might move, because one of the men with guns frowned, and then the sound of a single pane of glass shattering rang through the palace.

Horses were readied, sacks were hefted, and two of the men grabbed the doctor from either side. Emily glanced over her shoulder into the palace, unable to spot Luca. She silently apologized, then took a breath and turned back to the men.

“That’s not the way to do it at all,” she said calmly. “A frail old man? He could drop dead of the fight too easily, and then you’ve got nothing to shield you, and already a murder charge besides. In addition, the sort of men calling the shots—literally—might not value the old.”

The head of the thieves looked at her. “You’re saying he’d break too easily, but his death wouldn’t look tragic enough in the papers to stop everyone.”

“Exactly.”

His grin turned wicked, and Emily remembered to look afraid. “Then let’s take the glamorous doll sturdied up in brass, men.”

Luca walked the perimeter of the palace, letting Emily handle her set-up time and meeting the local VIPs. The general lack of security, with so many high-priced gadgets and top minds of the era here, was still getting to her on general principle. So far, there was no sign of trouble, but her mercenary instincts were telling her that something about the set-up didn’t feel right.

She paused as she walked by one of the maintenance crews, four men with various tools, bags, and unforms, all pointing to various items and displays.

“Okay, we’ll get the bikes. You two get to the electricals.”

One of the others nodded. “Show begins soon.”

They quieted as Luca passed, nodding back when she greeted them and moved on.

She hadn’t gone far when the sound of glass breaking got her attention. Likely as not, an accident somewhere, but it stood out. Trusting her instincts more than she feared making a fool of herself, Luca turned and ran back. As she did so, she saw the workmen again. One of them was using a lead pipe to smash one of the pair of bikes on display. Two others were loading arrays of smaller devices from a display table into their otherwise-mostly-empty toolboxes. The last had a heavy wrench in hand, brandishing it like a weapon while shoving Mr. Roper against the wall with the other hand, right near the bike Roper had wanted Luca to test. Luca sprinted toward them, instinctively reaching for her cavalry saber, to, of course, find it missing.