The Pleasure's All Mine (40 page)

Pierce paced the length of the condo, fuming at Raven’s disappearance. He hadn’t heard from her in hours. She’d said she’d be back by midnight, and it was well past that. What the hell was this Castle? And who the hell was the man who had given her such a fond greeting at the door, as if he knew her intimately? Why hadn’t Raven discussed this with him before jumping off into some secret club? Hell, he might have been down with the program
if
he knew what the hell the program was!

Ava had been tight-lipped on the way back to the condo. They were halfway there before he was able to get out even basic information.

“Ava, what is this Castle deal really?”

She turned the car onto Lake Shore Drive, biting her bottom lip while navigating her sliver Mercedes smoothly into traffic, avoiding his stare the entire time as though she didn’t know whether to say anything at all. “It’s an exclusive club up north. It’s in a castle-styled mansion that sits on several acres of land on one stretch, and a beach and Lake Michigan on the other. Some of the members live there. they call themselves by titles like King, Queen, Lady, Lord, Maid and things like that.”

Okay, that told him a lot. “So it’s sort of like the Playboy Mansion, but with an Old English spin?”

Ava stared at the road straight ahead, hand tightening on the steering wheel.

“And exactly what happens in this place?”

She hesitated again, as Pierce’s rage simmered. “Anything and everything you can imagine. Some you…can’t.”

Pierce gleaned from her disapproving tone that he wouldn’t like to hear more on the subject, and she had reached her limit of shared information, so he didn’t press any further. He’d get his answers straight from the source. Raven said she’d be back in about six hours.

❤ ❤ ❤

Lady Ann extended her hand to Raven. Shaking like a leaf, Raven silently followed the woman who could possibly change her life as she led her down a long corridor within the Castle, past a series of dark rooms, and into an opulent corner suite.

Raven stood at the threshold, fighting the urge to run. Lady Ann gestured inside, which was done in rich shades of purple. “Come in and make yourself comfortable. In here I’m just Ann, and you’re whatever you want to be called.”

“Raven. Just Raven, please.” Her head tilted. “You don’t like to be called Lady, either?”

She closed the door, then leaned against it. “I’m every bit a lady, but in here titles have no place. We’re both on equal ground. Two women, sharing time and space, and possibly…more.”

Raven blinked, absorbing that bit of information. “Why was my virgin status so important to you, to all those other women?”

Ann took a seat across from Raven. “That first time, especially here, is extremely important.”

“Why?”

“First time with a man brings up memories of pain before pleasure—if it even was pleasurable. First time with a woman is all about seduction, sensuousness, pleasure, and going into it with consent. Also, it takes a special kind of woman to be conditioned for as long as you have. Queen Martina and her husband have brought you to a point that a mere touch can make you reach your peak. And watching a woman have that first all-out orgasm is pure heaven.” Ann removed her blazer, letting it fall onto the chair behind her. “Thankfully, your tests came back negative, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why you would jeopardize your life and a two-year appointment by having unprotected sex with a man.” She reached up, pulled the pins from her hair, letting it fall about her shoulders in a cascade of auburn curls.

Raven pushed away any feelings of guilt where her time with Pierce was concerned, explained Pierce’s…circumstances, and almost laughed at the stricken expression on Ann’s classically pretty face.

“How many inches is he?”

Raven gave her best estimate.

“Damn!’

The woman didn’t know the half of it.

Ann strolled over to the mini-bar, gestured to the top row, which included a bottle of plantation rum. “Would you like a drink?”

“How drunk do I need to be?”

Ann grinned, then shrugged.

“No,” Raven finally answered. “I think I should be stone cold sober.”

“Bailey’s?” Ann offered with a smirk.

“I can do that. It’s not a drink; it’s dessert.”

Ann poured them both a glass of the Irish crème, then unbuttoned her blouse.

“Can I ask you a question?” Raven asked, feeling the butterflies taking off and landing in her stomach.

“You can ask anything. Always.”

Ann lowered her pants, stepped out of them, and draped them over the chair. The pink lace bra and panties were a beautiful contrast to her cinnamon skin.

She peeled those off as well as Raven tried to focus her attention on the woman’s face, rather than her perky breasts, a thin waist that spread out into a perfectly rounded ass attached to legs that seemed to go on forever.

Completely naked, Ann settled back into the chair, crossed one leg over the other, and took a sip of her drink.

“When did you know you liked women?”

“I’ve known since I was five.” She smiled. “I had my first two kisses playing house. One from a boy and the other a girl. When I kissed the girl, the moment our lips touched, something tingled, and from then on, that’s the way it went.”

“Kissing girls?”

“Playing house. Kissing boys first and girls a lot longer. “ She moved from the chair to the edge of the bed. “I knew for sure at twelve. No more kissing boys. I had my first girlfriend then. We managed to keep it a secret until we both got married.”

“What happened to her?”

A flash of tears welled in Ann’s dark brown eyes and she looked away. “When her husband found out about us, he flew into a rage and killed her.”

Pain stabbed Raven’s chest and her hand instinctively flew to cover her heart. She didn’t mean to bring up an unhappy memory. She had too many of her own.

“My husband had a different reaction,” Ann said with a bitter smile. “He was disappointed I hadn’t asked him to join in. He’s the one who brought me to the Castle. We’d probably still be married if I’d been honest with him about my needs up front.”

Raven fidgeted. Should she have told Pierce?

Ann leaned back on the bed, giving Raven an unobstructed view of her body as she trailed a hand over her own lush curves.

Raven took in every graceful move. “You’re so…womanly.”

Ann’s laughter trilled out before she could rein it in. “Sweetheart, I hate to inform you, but a certain part of my anatomy makes that a given.”

The woman moved to perch on the arm of Raven’s chair. “I know what you meant, sweetheart.” A single finger trailed along Raven’s face. “Isn’t that why you chose me rather than one of the others?”

Raven nodded, swallowing against the thrill of excitement flowing through her.

“You made an assumption earlier, almost insulted some of the women in that room. You need to get it out of your mind that lesbians are one way or another. There are women you come across every day whom you would never suspect. Just because I look soft and feminine, doesn’t mean I can’t love you as hard and long as one who looks masculine.”

“Those types frighten me.”

“Somehow, I think I frighten you more.” Ann leaned in, pressed a gentle kiss on Raven’s cheek and pulled away to note the younger woman’s reaction. “I look and act just like you—could actually be you on a given day. Sensuous,” she kissed Raven again, this time on her mouth, “strong, focused, sultry. A woman all about her business. In a number of ways I am you—and you’re just grateful that it’s not as obvious with me as it is with Barb, the other woman who almost outbid me for you.”

Ann took Raven’s hands, placed them on her chest. A finger trailed along the outside, as her hands cupped the woman’s breasts with trembling fingers.

“See, you wouldn’t be able to do this with Barb—she’s a touch-me-not. A stone butch.”

Raven blinked. “What’s that?” She explored the depth, texture and weight of Ann’s breasts, smaller and different from her own.

“A lesbian who doesn’t want her lover to touch any parts that identify her as a woman—especially the breasts.”

“No touching?” Raven frowned. “But doesn’t that take the fun out of things?”

“It certainly does for me.” Ann’s hand gripped Raven’s, halting her quick movements. “Take your time, Raven. I’m not going anywhere.”

Using a slight touch, Raven explored Ann, watching the woman become more aroused with each movement. Years of masturbation helped guide her fingers across erogenous zones that mirrored her own.

The moment Ann arched against the fingers pleasuring her core, Raven’s ego soared. She, too, was wet.

Ann sat up, coming off the throes of a simmering, but graceful orgasm, moved in slowly, cautiously, as though Raven would run, before pressing her lips to Raven’s—then gently at first, teasingly explored the depths of Raven’s mouth with her moist tongue. Raven tensed for a moment as the fact that
this was a woman
overrode the fact that it was, indeed, pleasurable.

Ann pulled away, saying, “Stop thinking, Raven, and just let it flow.”

Raven closed her eyes, surrendering to the pleasure of Ann’s touch, as the woman’s lips trailed a path of fire down the soft curves of Raven’s neck, then lowered to flicker her tongue across Raven’s breasts, eliciting a small gasp. Ann followed by cupping her breast and teased to the point that Raven gripped the woman’s head to bring her fully in. Moments later a tiny orgasm ripped through her.

Ann stood, took Raven’s hands, and led her to the bed. She held Raven in her arms, positioning her until she lay across the bed, cushioned between the velvet pillows.

The moment the woman’s soft hands traveled to the nestle of curls, Raven stiffened again, trying to shut off her mind and also attempting to push away all thoughts of Pierce. Pierce’s touch was more solid, sure, certainly comforting and contrasting, but was it better? No, just damn good.

Ann dipped down, keeping a firm grip on Raven’s buttocks as she lifted the younger woman’s hips, parted her thighs, flicked her tongue across the crowning pearl, and watched as Raven bucked with fierce pleasure.

Raven reached out, covering herself. “Ann, they said we couldn’t go this far.”

“I wasn’t trying to check up under the hood, sweetheart, I’m just testing the toys on the dashboard.”

Raven still didn’t budge.

“What happens in my room—stays in my room.”

“But—”

“Raven, your results are clear.” Ann uncurled Raven’s hand, trying to pull it away. “That’s why you had to wait in the med lab all that time.”

“But not clear enough for this,” Raven countered. “They said I could go forward with ‘no exchange of intimate bodily fluids.’ “

Ann rested her chin on Raven’s thigh. “You allowed me to kiss you.”

“That’s different. I know what they meant and so do you.” Her gaze flickered across the room, landing on everything, but staying with nothing in particular. “And I don’t want you to think I’ll return the favor.”

Ann blinked twice, waiting.

“Now that I’m here, I thought I could do…everything. But I don’t see myself putting my mouth on any woman’s—I just—you know,” Raven shrugged. “There’s a lot going on down there—a woman’s pussy is set to kill, not stun.”

Ann roared with laughter and pulled away.

Raven sighed, reaching for the beautiful woman. “Please don’t be insulted. I—”

Ann patted her shoulder. “If you had any doubts about whether you’re a lesbian or not—you should know your answer.”

“I don’t get your meaning.”

Ann crossed her legs Indian-style. “A true lesbian or bisexual woman loves every essence of a woman—head to toe—not select parts. The touch, feel, scent, taste, look—all of it. It’s a state of mind and being.” Ann grinned at Raven’s confusion. “Some, like me, know early in life; some are seduced; others fall in after their first time, but they all have one thing in common—they enjoy what the experience entails.”

“But you weren’t always that way. Three children, married.”

Ann leaned back on the bed. “I did what was expected of me. Marry, have children, all the while I knew in my heart that a woman was what I wanted most.” Her lips twisted into a frown. “
Nothing
changed that—at any time. Not marriage, not sleeping with my husband or pleasing him. And trust me,” her lips spread into a smile “he had no complaints. I waited until my last child was in college before fully giving in to who I really was. I didn’t think it was fair to my children to do anything before then. I never wanted them to use my lifestyle as an excuse for how fucked up they might think their childhood was. There was already enough to draw on.”

Raven bristled. “I was raised by lesbians. I don’t think I’m so fucked up.”

Ann didn’t laugh out loud, but the twinkle in her eyes showed she wanted to.

“What’s so funny?” Raven demanded, pulling the sheet around her.

“A little while ago in the bidding room you were thumbing your nose at one aspect of the lifestyle, and now you’re defending it to a certain extent.” Ann moved forward and clasped Raven’s hands. “Would you be here if your parents were straight?”

“I’ve already done straight sex.”

“That’s the point. You wait two years, come to a place so you can have an experience that isn’t readily accepted. You can get dick anywhere.”

“Yeah, but what a woman really wants is good dick.”

“Speak for yourself.”

They shared a laugh.

“I don’t think questioning who I am makes me fucked up.”

Ann reached out to stroke Raven’s face. “The fact that the question has plagued you all your life says a great deal. Is it genetic? Did some of them rub off on me? But I think you have your answers, now?”

“I’m not gay.”

Ann shook her head.

“I’m not bisexual, either.”

Ann shrugged, a sign of
maybe.

“But I enjoyed…this.”

“Given the opportunity and with the right person—male
or
female—
anyone can get pleasured by someone else. But that has nothing to do with who you really want to be with.” Ann gave her a sly grin. “Did you know you whispered his name while the women placed their bids for the opportunity to be your first?”