Thursday evening, Dani persuaded Penny to accompany her to a bar. It was nine o’clock and early for the serious punters, so Penny had agreed, but only because Astrid was working a late shift and wouldn’t be home until midnight.
After Penny called it a night and went home at eleven thirty, Dani carried on to the club. She really only wanted to stave off the longing she was feeling for Camila. However, a few minutes in the room and she knew she didn’t want to be there. She was moving towards the door when she heard her name, and turned to find Lisa right behind her.
“Hey, stranger. I hear you’re hooked up now.”
Dani swallowed, “Yeah, well….”
“I thought we had something.”
“We did, I guess.”
“So, where is she, this wonder woman?”
“Working.”
Lisa ran an exploratory hand over Dani’s butt and squeezed a cheek. “I could give you what you need.”
Dani’s mouth had gone dry. She shifted uncomfortably. “I know you could. But it’s not what I want.”
Lisa backed off and shook her head sadly. “That’s too bad. When you’re back in circulation, give me a ring.”
Dani stumbled out of the door needing to walk to clear her head. It was a beautiful night, and the sight of Hammersmith Bridge when she reached it cheered her. Each step she took on the Upper Mall felt lighter. The pubs were all closed; not even a dog walker in sight. She had just opened her front door when the phone rang.
“Dani!” Camila’s tone sounded irritated.
“Hey, great to hear from you. It’s late, though.”
“I know. I’ve tried calling a few times. Where have you been?”
“Walking along the river.”
“And?”
“Went for a drink after work.” Dani leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
“It’s late for a drink.”
This was it. She wanted this woman so badly. But she couldn’t lie to her. Their relationship had to be built on trust. Her next words could either make or break the foundation of their fledgling partnership.
She took a deep breath. “If you really want to know, I went to a club.” Silence. “And I saw Lisa.” The silence on the other end seemed to deepen. “But, you know what, I blew her off. Because, Camila, the only touch I want now is yours.”
Camila found her voice and asked her, huskily, “Will you be home tomorrow evening?”
“Yes.”
“We’re wrapping things up here in the morning. I’ll see you later, and, Dani…?”
“Yes?”
“You better be ready for me.” The line went dead, signalling Camila’s complete control once more.
Dani stood in her hallway, holding the phone and feeling weak at the knees. How could Camila do this to her with just a few words? A few weeks earlier she wouldn’t have believed she would be feeling this way about one woman. A woman who could turn her insides to jelly with a look and a light touch.
Sleep was out of the question now. She walked through the house to open the doors onto the patio. The river was moving swiftly on the tide’s turn. She leaned against the doorjamb and took in several deep breaths. The wait would be long, but she knew now it would be worth it.
†
Camila settled back into her seat on the plane. When the steward asked what she wanted to drink, she told him gin and tonic. “Make it a double.”
Eric glanced up from his newspaper. “What’s that for? Dutch courage?”
“Of course not. Just relaxing from one of the toughest, and longest, contract negotiations ever. Who does Sergio Mendez think he is, Bill fucking Gates?”
“Well, it’s done now.” Eric accepted his own drink from the steward, a whisky and a soda. “Anyway, you’re avoiding the subject.”
“What subject?” Camila knew what he was referring to but studiously continued to mix her drink, making sure it contained more gin than tonic.
“I could tell you what I’m going to do with Carl as soon as I get in the door, if that would help.”
“It would not. You’re still my bosses.”
“So what is worrying you?”
“Who says I’m worried?”
“That.” Eric pointed to the now half-empty glass in her hand.
“Oh.” Even with the friendship developing between them, Camila hated to show any signs of weakness. She put the glass down on the seat tray. “It’s just that, I don’t know if I can satisfy Dani. She doesn’t really need me. She’s got this Lisa woman she can go back to at any time.”
Eric shifted in his seat to look at her. “I’ve known Dani a long time. Paying someone for services rendered isn’t the same as being part of a loving relationship.” He patted her arm. “I know you’ve only just taken the first steps, coming out to me and Carl. This is another coming out, a different closet. But you can do it. And, believe me, it is exactly what Dani needs.”
For the rest of the trip, Eric immersed himself in reading the paper, while Camila lay back with her eyes closed. The conversation with Dani the night before came back to her, and Dani’s words reverberated through her mind: “…the only touch I want now is yours.”
†
The waiting was almost over. Dani positioned the cuffs on her bedstead, leaving them open. She had checked and rechecked that everything Camila would need was laid out in the guest room. By the time she heard the taxi draw up outside the house, she was in a state of nervous excitement she hadn’t experienced since the very first time Lisa had caned her.
Camila didn’t make eye contact as she handed Dani her suitcase and jacket. The stern look she did eventually give her brushed aside the momentary worry that Camila wasn’t going to carry through on the suggestive promise of the night before.
“Go upstairs and wait for me.”
Dani needed no further instruction. She raced up the stairs, placing the case and the jacket in the guest room. In the bedroom, she stripped and lay face down on the bed. Camila came in and without saying anything, snapped the cuffs shut around her wrists.
She heard the shower running and then waited in what felt like the longest ten minutes of her life
Lying as she was, she couldn’t see Camila in full view when she heard the unmistakable sound of high heels approaching the bed, but was aware that she was wearing the tight black lace bodice and stockings as before. The cane swished through the air, and Dani trembled in anticipation. Camila stroked it lightly across her buttocks, then placed her hand between her legs; Dani was already dripping wet with desire.
“You want this now, don’t you?” asked Camila in a husky voice.
Dani nodded vigorously.
“I can’t hear you.”
Dani turned her head. “Yes, I want it now.”
The first stroke landed with precision across her butt and she chewed on the pillow to stop herself from crying out. With the skill of a practiced dominatrix, Camila paced the strokes to have Dani primed to a high level of anxiety waiting for the next blow. After six she stopped.
Camila reached above her head and released her wrists from the cuffs. Dani heard her moving about and felt something land on the bed beside her. “Put these on and meet me downstairs. Don’t keep me waiting.”
Dani waited until she heard her going down the stairs. Taking a few deep breaths, relishing the hot, stabbing pain on her backside, she got off the bed and stood slowly. Then she looked to see what Camila wanted her to wear. Another pleasant surprise: a new dildo, somewhat larger than the one she’d used before, a white T-shirt, her leather vest, and a pair of black jeans, a carbon copy of the outfit she had worn to Deborah’s party. It took her some time to adjust the strap-on and pack it in the tightly fitting jeans.
She negotiated the trip downstairs with difficulty, each step increasing the pressure of the base of the dildo on her clit. Camila was waiting for her in the living room. Her outfit really did look like it had come from Miss Whiplash’s wardrobe, and she carried it off well. Dani couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. This wasn’t the woman she’d had lunch with only a few short weeks ago.
“Come here and fuck me,” the apparition in lace and silk said.
Dani went to her and held her close. They kissed deeply, and as if in a trance, Dani found herself in another place entirely as she made love to Camila, the hot sensations rippling across her buttocks matched only with the internal fire. The intensity of their orgasms startled them both, and then they started again.
†
From the sounds of the birds outside the window, Dani knew, without looking at the bedside clock, it was the hour just before dawn. Camila’s head was on the pillow next to hers and she was snuffling softly, deeply asleep. Dani couldn’t recall when they’d finally made it back to the bedroom, but she remembered helping Camila out of the bodice, and the image of kissing each plump breast as it was released from confinement flashed through her memory bank.
Dani stepped quietly out of the room, stopping only to grab her shorts and T-shirt from the floor. As she pulled on her shorts, each of the strokes from the night before made themselves known. She breathed out slowly as a rush of joy surged through her.
Downstairs, she opened the patio doors and stood watching the red streaks flaming across the horizon. Turning back inside, she went to her drawing board and slid out the picture Deborah had found the week before: the image of Camila in the throes of ecstasy. She couldn’t have imagined that from their first tentative meetings. And now…she opened the pad to a clean page and sucked on the end of a pencil…now she didn’t require any imagination at all as she started a new sketch.
†
Camila awoke and stretched lazily as sunlight spread across the bed. A languorous feeling of well-being pervaded every part of her body. Last night, giving pleasure and receiving it, she finally understood the mutuality of their shared experience. When people said, “Life begins at forty”, she didn’t think they meant something like this. Something she hadn’t known she wanted.
The space next to her was empty and cold. Rising up to look around the room, she saw the evidence of their activities was spread around: discarded clothing—her bodice a tangled heap on top of Dani’s jeans, the tip of the dildo poking out from the midst of the pile.
Desire swept through her and she gasped at the intensity that gripped her core. “Oh God, Dani! What have you done to me? I need you now!”
†
Unaware of the passing of time, Dani was startled by the feel of an arm snaking around her waist.
“What are you doing? You’re not working, are you?”
“Good morning to you too.” Dani turned her body so Camila could see the drawing. The full daylight now streaming into the room showed the picture clearly.
“Do I really look like that?”
“Yes, better in person, though.” Dani reached around Camila’s shoulders to draw her closer. Their kisses became more insistent. Dani gasped when Camila’s hands moved down and grasped her buttocks.
“You’re hot here,” she whispered.
Dani grinned down at her. “I’m hot all over for you.”
“Good. Because I want you upstairs, in bed, now.”
“You’re the boss.”
“Yes, I am. And I don’t intend to let you forget it.”
Taking her hand, Camila led the way up the stairs to the bedroom. With each step, Dani felt a lightness take over her being. Happiness engulfed her as she followed the woman she loved back to their bed.