Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (32 page)

"This is Felicia," Sally said. "Felicia, this is Carol."

"I have two places reserved for you," Carol said. "Noisy booth near the dance floor or quiet booth in the other room?"

Sally looked at me. "I wouldn't mind dancing later, but I wanted
to get to know you. Is the quiet
booth okay?"

"Quiet booth, if you don't mind, Carol," she said.

She turned us away from the dance floor, to the right, and into another room. It was much quieter, and the booths each had a significant amount of privacy, with high sides and lots of faux walls to break up both sight lines and noise.

"Wow," I said. "This is amazing."

Carol led us to a booth in the back and said, "Patricia will be along shortly. Nice meeting you, Felicia."

"Do you know everyone here?"

"Pretty much," she said. "And some of the patrons. It's a pretty cliquey group."

A waitress stopped by. I asked for a glass of Pinot Noir. Sally asked for the same, plus a glass of water. "Maybe something little to munch on, nothing heavy," I said.

"How daring are you?" she asked.

"Pretty daring," I said.

"Sushi?"

"Seriously? I love sushi."

"Bring us the baby sushi platter," Sally said.

"Sushi?" I said after the waitress left. "Seriously?"

"Nothing exotic," Sally said. "The basics everyone likes."

Our wine c
ame, and we clinked glasses. Sally was definitely flirting with me. I decided I enjoyed the attention, but this woman had been very kind to me. I couldn't lead her on.

"I need to tell you something," I said. "And I don't know how to be gracious about it."

"You aren't gay."

I laughed. "I didn't know I was," I said. "I'm in a relationship. This really was about thanking you and offering a friendship. Unless you now feel misled, this evening will end up with a hug, not a romp in bed."

"You aren't just saying that because you don't like me?"

"Sally, I think you're amazing. But I am head over heels in love." I paused. "You met her. That night."

"Your boss?"

"The other one. I called her 'my other boss', although she isn't. She's the Director of Human Resources." I paused. "She makes me scream her name. A lot."

Sally laughed. "Friends then. Until you dump her."

"You are the firs
t woman I'll call." I paused. "
I still want to dance later. But you put a lot of effort in. Maybe you have time to call someone else."

She smiled. "Dancing later would be nice."

The platter of food came. There were a bunch of very small
nigiri
samples, about half the size you normally get. They were a perfect size, as far as I was concerned.

We talked for a couple of hours. Both of us switched to soft drinks after a single glass of wine. She was driving, and I was a lightweight. I asked her about being a cop, and that's when she told me her schedule. She was on days for the next two weeks with a seven AM start time. She would get up at five and get a workout before going to work. Perfect.

Self-defense came up. I told her about our dojo at work.

"It's my term to be ungracious," she said. "When we met-"

"I was a little bit pudgy."

"Yeah. You're not anymore."

I smiled.

She asked about Petra. I asked how long she'd known she was gay.

"As long as I can remember. You know, a gay female cop is a
cliché
, but I don't care. I love my job, and I'm not going to do something else just to avoid being a
cliché
."

Alicia stopped by. I got to meet her. She seemed nice, but busy on a Saturday night. I told her I'd be back. "If Sally doesn't hate me."

"Sally isn't going to hate you," Sally said.

I smiled.

Alicia gave Sally a quick kiss and went on her way. Sally excused herself to use the facilities. I pulled my phone out of my purse and texted Petra. "At a place called The Underground Lipstick. This place rocks. I expect dates here in the future."

Sally came back and asked if I had been serious about wanting to dance. I stood up and took her arm. She led us to the floor.

The music had a good beat and wasn't overbearingly loud. We danced three songs before a slow song came on. Sally expected me to leave the floor, but I stepped into her arms and set my head on her shoulder. We swayed to the music. When the song ended she told me, "Unless you're dumping your girlfriend, we probably should be done dancing."

I laughed and let her lead us back to the table.

We talked for a while longer before I asked for the check. Sally tried to take it from me, but I told her I had asked her, this was my thank you for her kindness. "And I had a very nice time tonight. Please let me pay the bill."

I paid the bill and tipped nicely. Service had been excellent.

I took her arm as we left. She helped me into my coat and walked me to her car. She held the door for me when I got in, which I always like.

We were quiet on the way back to my apartment. There was fifteen-minute parking immediately in front of our building, so she found a spot. I turned to her. "Walk me inside?"

We both got out and I took her arm until we were inside the building. I pulled her to the side of the foyer. "I had a nice time. Thank you."

"I did too," she said. She was staring down at me. "This is to give you something to think about. Just in case, well, whatever." She pulled me into her arms and gave me a kiss. It was a nice kiss. She kept her tongue to herself. I kissed her back. Then she let me go and turned to the entrance. I put my hand on her arm.

"Sally, I understand if you say no. But I really was serious when I said I'd like to be friends." I told her about movie night. "If you would like to come, we're watching 'King Kong' tomorrow night.
The Peter Jackson version.
I should warn you, we're very silly and we will be heckling the movie."

"You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your girlfriend won't mind?"

"I'm not inviting you to a three-some.
Or in this case, about a seven-some.
  I'm not trying to lead you on or offer false promises. I'm deeply in love with Petra. So. Friends. I was hoping you wanted to be friends. If not, I understand."

I watched her think about it. "All my friends are either cops or ex-lovers. I'd love to make a few new friends. I'll be here."

"Great! Five PM. Dress is casual. Guns are optional." I grinned at her.

* * *

"I had a nice time," I told Petra the instant I was in the door. "I danced with her, including one slow dance. And I let her kiss me downstairs.
In front of the guard.
Tongues were not involved. She has a nice ass and I think she got a good look at mine. She knows I'm deeply in love with you. If you are going to punish me, it better not be very severe."

She got up from the sofa and walked over to stand in front of me. "You would accept punishment and not get angry? For one slow dance, one
oogling
of another woman's ass, and one inappropriate kiss."

"I don't think I deserve being punished, but if that's what you need to feel better, and it isn't severe, yes."

She popped out of the room then I felt myself pulled to her tower. She left my clothes behind. She pulled out a chair and sat in it. "Spread yourself across my lap," she said. "Face down."

I walked over
slowly,
offering a little sway, then lied down across her lap.

"If you move, pull away, try to hinder me, or complain, I will take away your ability to do so," she said.

I simply gripped her ankle in one hand and a leg of the chair in the other. She rubbed my bottom with her hand for a minute,
then
said, "This is for one slow dance." I got three swats. They stung. "This is for looking at her ass." That was two swats. "And this is for the kiss." That was five.

I remained silent through the entire treatment.

"Spread your legs," she ordered. I meekly complied.

"This is for telling me the truth and for then accepting your punishment without complaint." She slipped her hand between my legs. Her fingers found my
labia, parted them,
then
slipped inside me. I gasped.
S
he opened her magic to me, bringing it up slowly. I started to squirm immediately.

"Who
m
do you belong to?" she asked.

"You, Petra." I squirmed.

"Yes. You are mine."

"Yours. Yours. Oh god, Petra, yours!"

She never moved her hand. She held it there and let her magic tease me for an eternity. Then she gave one more push and I exploded in orgasmic bliss, screaming her name.

* * *

We popped home and called Andrea. We left a message. "She's probably with Kelly," Petra said. "If so, we won't bother them."

We set the alarm for three and went to bed.

When it went off, I groaned, made coffee, and took the fastest shower I could. I grabbed the coffee and ported to my tower. I immediately began trying to summon Sally.

I could feel the magic working. I'd gotten used to it with Karen, and I immediately felt a connection to Sally. I took that as a good sign. But I couldn't get her to appear, and then suddenly I lost the connection.

Petra and I went back to bed.

* * *

The movie was fun. Sally met everyone. Petra treated her like a friend, for
which
I was grateful and Sally was surprised. During a break, she pulled me to the side.

"You didn't tell her?"

"I did," I said. "I got ten swats on my bare bottom and then a mind-blowing orgasm. She has magic hands."

She laughed. "She doesn't hate me?"

"No. She wants to be friends."

"I like her," Sally said. "I like all your friends."

"Andrea is in a relationship. The other three are straight, but may be open-minded. We do a lot of teasing, so it's hard to tell. If you flirt, I know Erika will flirt back. I'm not sure about Beth or Karen. And I don't know if they'd mean it or if it's just flirting."

She smiled. She flirted lightly with all of them, and they all flirted back.

Everyone had a nice time.

* * *

Sunday night we followed the same routine. Again I felt the connection, but again she didn't appear.

"She's there," I said. "But I don't know if it's going to work or not."

* * *

Monday and Tuesday night went the same. Wednesday night I got nothing. When I woke up Thursday I wondered if I was wasting my time, but we'd agreed to try for a week. If it didn't work, we'd look for someone else.

Thursday felt the same as the other nights. There was a connection, but that's all there
was
. I thought about what might be missing, and then suddenly she was there, lying naked on my tower floor. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.

I tapped the ground to get Petra's attention. She rushed over and knelt over Sally, spreading a blanket over her.

"Hello, Sally," she said. "I imagine you're a little confused right now. I want to assure you, you are completely safe and completely unhurt. Later you are going to think this is a dream, but it's not.

I watched Sally's eyes latch on to Petra's
,
then she shifted her gaze to me.

"Sally," Petra said. "Please blink once for
yes
, twice for
no
. Do you understand?"

We got
one blink
.

"You recognize the person singing?"
One blink
. "She has to continue to sing. We're going to put you in a wheelchair and show you something. I want to stress, you are completely okay. I know this is scary, but you are okay. When you wake up in the morning, call Felicia. She will answer all your questions."

Then the two of us lifted the limp body into a wheelchair. Petra supported her head, and we wheeled her to an outside wall of the tower. Petra made a window and we made sure Sally could look outside. "Sally, this is
Siriena
. This is all real. Please call Felicia."

And then she disappeared.

I stared at Petra. "It worked." I said.

"It worked," she agreed. And we both popped back home.

She didn't call. We did our yoga and she didn't call. I showered with the phone in the bathroom, and she didn't call. I got to work and she still hadn't called.

At nine-thirty, she called.

"Hello, Sally," I said when I picked it up. "Are you safe?"

"I'm outside your apartment. I've been parked here for two hours."