Chapter 16

 

 

Although Rose knew she was meeting Cindy right after work, she couldn’t help but take note when she wasn’t summoned to make a delivery. She had become so accustomed to their nightly routine that it already felt like a hole grew in her heart.

What does it mean that I’ve already lost count of how many times she’s made me… Rose blushed at her post to think about it. Oh, she wasn’t shy when she and Cindy went at it like grateful lovers, but when she sat here behind the desk, surveying the world before her?

A little embarrassed.

Yet it wasn’t embarrassment for the sake of it. Every time Rose caught herself staring glassy-eyed at every resident coming up to the desk, she imagined telling them what was going on in her life. “Do you know Cindy Ling? Yes, that one. Lives in the premier penthouse. Oh, of course you know her! Well, you must also know that she’s quite the sexual deviant. No, no, I don’t mean the lesbian thing. Although does it make her extra-deviant if she’s gay and kinky? Oh, it does? That’s exciting!

Hm. Perhaps that was the word Rose was looking for. Exciting. No… exhilarating. Ah, yes. That was it. Fucking exhilarating. How could she best announce to the world that she was now Cindy Ling’s thrall? Should she take an ad out in the paper? Or should she call into the radio station and announce it there? This was a woman who wanted nothing more than to let all of Taipei – no, the world – know that she had finally found that thing missing from her life. Something she hadn’t realized was missing at all!

She makes love to me in ways I never imagined possible. Rose’s imagination wasn’t too shoddy, either. For example, since discovering what Cindy kept in her bedroom, she had been imagining all sorts of sordid things as she slipped off to sleep every night. Tonight, I sleep with her again. I get to feel her pressing up against me and hear her snoring lightly…

Watching her take her medication… whatever it was…

There were two great obstacles to this relationship, of course. The first was her job. So far, they had done well enough keeping it away from the management, but Rose had cut it close more than once with taking too long to return from her errand. She had only been asked about it once, and her response had been, “Ms. Ling asks me to personally deliver it and set it up for her on her dining table. I go as quickly as I can, since I knew people are counting on me to return.” Although setting a resident’s table was not in her job description, as the manager had said, there were always those strange requests. Rose’s explanation had been waved off as if it were nothing special. Accepted, but nothing special.

The other obstacle was Jameson.

He balked to hear that his sister planned on staying out again that night. “Who are these girls you’re going out with, huh?” he had asked over their lunch. “How do I know they’re trustworthy? Hey, I don’t want to hear it from the folks if it turns out you’re running with a bad crowd. There aren’t any drugs involved, are there?”

“Drugs? Are you kidding? Where the hell did you get an idea like that?” At least Rose’s surprise had been genuine. Seriously! Drugs?

“So maybe it’s not drugs. Don’t drink too much, okay? How do I know they’re not trying to compromise your body in other ways?”

Jameson was too single-minded to mean they were trying to have sex with her. Oh, no, his big assumption was that they were luring her into other kinds of sex dens. With men.

Maybe the overactive sexual imagination was a family trait.

“They’re coworkers, Jameson. We go out, have a few drinks, maybe sing bad karaoke, but mostly complain about our jobs. It’s cathartic. As you know, since you go out drinking on most Friday and Saturday nights!”

“That’s different…”

Of course it was. That shit was always different, wasn’t it?

Didn’t matter. He got what he wanted, which was a notice that his sister would be out most of the night. Did this mean Rose was in the clear, though?

Not quite.

Stealing into the bathroom after work to change into a simple skirt and blouse wasn’t odd, since Starla did it too. Except Starla was going out dancing with a friend. Something Jameson must think I’m doing… While Starla finished up her makeup and announced she was off to have some fun, Rose hung back and waited for the coast to the penthouse elevator to clear. She kept her head bent down and her steps quick as to avoid the security cameras.

This time, she forgot to turn on the Teresa Teng.

“Ms. Ling?” Rose helped herself into Cindy’s unlocked apartment. At least she remembered that I was coming… After closing the door behind her and removing her shoes, Rose glanced up and down the front hallway for any sign of her girlfriend. The one she still called “Ms. Ling,” because anything else was too informal for someone as important as her almighty lover.

There was no audible response. However, Rose found a handwritten note on the dining table, where more than one dinner had been delivered.

“Bedroom,” was all it said.

Rose could take a hint.

She didn’t know what to expect when she entered the master bedroom. Would Cindy have a bath drawn for them? Or maybe she’d be dressed from head to toe in the kind of leather outfit Rose had seen when she scoured the internet for more information on what her new lover offered. Would Cindy sit atop a mountain of whips and chains? Would she be sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to tell her new girlfriend to get down on her knees and beg for sex?

Which did Rose want most? Could she stand it if none of those things came true?

“Good evening, Rosie. You’re right on time.”

The words hit her before the image did. Probably for the best. The image was so much more glorious than the image hitting Rose upside the head.

Cindy was on her bed, yes, but she didn’t sit on the edge and expect pure obedience. She lay across it, arm propping up her head and hair let down. A chic black robe cinched around her waist, although the top was left open, and her bare legs poked through the slit. Her toes were a luscious shade of pink. The makeup on her face? Sultry. Cindy looked like a cat ready to pounce.

Yet she wasn’t leaping up anytime soon. She was too relaxed where she lay, her come-hither eyes all but bidding Rose to come over. Now.

“Wait.”

So much for rushing forward. Rose stayed in place, her hands folded before her, but her eyes greedily absorbing everything she saw before her. Look at her. She’s a queen. This is her palace, and she’s the empress. Not empress regent. This woman commanded her queendom all on her own.

I wouldn’t mind being her consort…

“Turn around, would you? I want to see what you’re wearing before I rip those clothes off your body.”

A shudder prompted Rose to slowly spin in place, her bare feet digging into the carpet and her sweaty palms wringing together. “I didn’t wear anything special, sorry.” Clearing her throat, Rose returned to her original position and lifted a sweet gaze in her lover’s direction.

“Nothing special? I think it looks very lovely on you.” Cindy lowered her leg, pressing both together. She tucked something between her thighs and refocused all of her attention on Rose. “I like the combination of black and rose. Like your name, isn’t it? Where did you get that lovely skirt, anyway?”

Was she kidding? This piece came straight off the sales rack at a middle-class department store. Rose hadn’t bought it in Taipei. We’re talking mountain village middle class. A place where a yuan stretched a little farther.

“Doesn’t matter,” Cindy said. “You style yourself very well. It’s a shame that people probably tell you how plain you are.”

A breath hitched in Rose’s throat. “Sometimes,” she muttered. “I don’t mind being plain, though. I like to blend in with the crowd.” She bit her lower lip. “Not like you, xiaojie. You’re the type of woman who wants everyone looking in her direction, aren’t you?”

“It’s like you know me so well already. Then again, you probably guessed that from looking at me here on my bed. I wanted your attention from the moment you walked through my bedroom door. Now…” Cindy pushed herself up again. “Take off that skirt and blouse. I can’t believe you wore the same ol’ underwear you’ve been wearing all week for work. Tonight’s special, hm?”

With a giggle on her lips, Rose pulled her blouse over her head and wiggled out of her skirt. No, she hadn’t worn the “same ol’ thing,” as Cindy put it. She had at least matched her underwear. In color, anyway.

The black panties and pushup bra totally matched!

“Look at you. A regular Venus de Milo.” Perhaps that would have sounded trite from anyone else, but Rose believed it coming from Cindy’s mouth. She thinks I’m hot. She thinks I’m beautiful. She calls me her girlfriend. She wants me to spend the night in bed with her. Rose still hedged her expectations by saying this was a fling for Cindy, who would grow bored of her soon enough. Until then, however… well, Rose would reap the benefits. “You are far from plain, Rose. Even if I didn’t know the kinky little kitty inside of you, I’d still recognize the taste of the wild in your eyes. That’s far from boring. You know what’s boring? Someone who goes through the motions, thinking that’s the key to happiness. There’s so much more to life than doing what you think you’re supposed to. It’s one thing to do as you’re told of course… but imagine a life where you do as you please, and nobody is around to tell you to stop bucking the status quo.”

She could very well be talking about herself, hm?

“Enough about that.” The ruthful grin returned to Cindy’s face. “Know what I want to do with you tonight, my sweet rose?”

She said all of that in Mandarin, including the “rose” part. I never thought that name would suit me so well… “Wei-lin” had absolutely nothing on Mei-gui. The Wus had completely dropped the ball when they named their oldest daughter. Didn’t they know what name was her destiny? What spoke to her innermost heart, deep, deep inside of her personal world?

Of course they didn’t. They hadn’t known her at all.

“What would you like to do with me?” Rose finally asked.

Cindy’s teeth tugged on her bottom lip. A caress, not a bite. A reminder that what she offered Rose was anything but painful.

“I’d like to push your generous limits. Now that we have all this time in the world, I’d like to introduce you to relentless pleasure. I’d like to oh, I don’t know, fuck you until you can hardly imagine a world where I’m no longer inside of you.”

Rose placed a hand atop her stomach. “That sounds… wonderful.”

Cindy snorted. “But?”

“But I haven’t had anything to eat since my lunch a few hours ago.”

“I have dinner waiting for you, dear, but it isn’t time for that yet. It’s time for a different kind of feast.”

“As you wish, xiaojie.”

“So obsequious, aren’t you? I really should appreciate you more. If you’re going to be my girlfriend, you deserve to be spoiled. From here until… well, until eternity.”

Rose held back a squeak of excitement.

“Tell me,” Cindy said. “You’ve mentioned before that you’ve had boyfriends, yes?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“Why would that be a problem? I don’t care to hear your petty comparisons between them and me, but who you’ve been with before me is meaningless. I’m only asking if you’re familiar with certain ways of making love. I don’t believe for two minutes you’re a naïve, innocent little wretch waiting for me to introduce you to every pleasure imaginable, but if you are, I’d like to know before we begin tonight.”

“I’m not naïve,” was all Rose said.

“So then you have no problem with this.” Cindy pulled back the top flap of her robe. A black strap wrapped around her waist. Attached to it, nudged between her thighs, was something quite familiar to Rose’s memory, yes. Although I’ve never seen one that looked like that before. Her ex-boyfriends’ hadn’t been made of silicone or rigid enough to stay hard for hours on end.

A pity, yes?

“I’m quite adept,” Cindy said with a haughty sigh. “Which is why as soon as you step over here, you’re admitting that you belong to me. Your body, your pleasure, your entire consciousness belongs to me as long as we’re wrapped up together in this bed. Do you understand? I’m not someone you’re simply spending a night with. You don’t get down on your knees and suck me off because you feel like it. You do it because you’re mine, and the compulsion is so great inside of you that you’ll do anything to please me, my little toy.”

Rose wouldn’t let the goosebumps racing up and down her arms betray her excitement.

“Tonight, I’m testing your limits,” Cindy continued. “I’m searching for your boundaries and discovering what gets you off the hardest. Because, after tonight, our real fun as girlfriends begins.” Such a sinister grin should not have graced such a young and confident face. Yet Rose didn’t fear it. She knew Cindy would do nothing to harm her. Not after a solid week of making quick love on nearly every surface in this apartment. “I won’t know how to train you until I know exactly what I’m working with.”

There was that word again. Train. Instead of conjuring up images of circus animals and show dogs, however, it reminded Rose of how proud she’d be if she ever impressed this woman lounging before her.

“Are you ready to come over here and show me how crazy you can get, my sweet rose?”

Rose reached up her back and unhooked her bra. With a little pop it snapped off her torso and crumpled to the floor, right next to her skirt and blouse. She didn’t bother to look down and behold how hard her nipples already were. If I’m in her presence, then I’m ready. Always ready. To be anything less than ready would be an insult to what Cindy offered her.

“I really hope you got a good night’s sleep, Rosie,” Cindy said with another sigh. “Because I’m going to exhaust you tonight.”

Rose slowly lowered herself to the floor, the tips of her hair swishing against the carpet as she placed one hand in front of the other and crawled toward the bed. She couldn’t explain the compulsion, beyond the look in Cindy’s eyes. The one that was more than pleased to see such subservience on a Sunday night. She probably has a meeting in the morning, yet she’s doing this with me. Or did she clear her schedule so she could stay up late with me? Rose didn’t have anywhere to be on Monday. She could spend the whole day in Cindy’s bed if allowed.

Their eyes remained locked as Rose closed the gap between them. She pressed her nose against the bed, expectant gaze swallowing the queenly demeanor hovering above her. Look at her. I get to be at the beck and call of that. Rose didn’t think so highly of herself that she could only be in the presence of greatness, but if she could give herself lofty aspirations, it would be serving someone like Cindy Ling.

“That’s right.” Smug – or was it self-satisfied? – Cindy intercepted Rose’s ascension to the bed with a kiss. “You don’t have to be told. You do it. You’re a special little rosebud I’ve found in the garden of earthly delights.”

Rose remained kneeling on the floor, feet pressing into the carpet as she sat back and placed her hands in her lap. Her eyes never left the sight before her.

“You’re about to have the craziest night of your life.” Cindy swung her legs over the bed and spread open her thighs. “I can’t wait to see how you start it.”

Giving Rose that much free reign might have been a bad idea. She was worked up enough to go straight for the main course.