Chapter 8

It was Saturday night. Laura and Fiona stepped inside The Lantern, the familiar hum of jazz music and low chatter wrapping around them like a second skin. They went to the bar and Laura ordered some wine, her hand then settling possessively at the small of Fiona’s back, guiding her across the club toward their usual corner booth, which fortunately wasn’t taken.

Fiona was wearing an emerald green dress that shimmered under the club’s lighting, with a neckline low enough to attract attention, but not so low that it looked like she was begging for attention. Laura’s dress had a high neckline, but was tightly fitting, emphasizing her curvy figure. Being black, it was a perfect match for her hair which cascaded over her shoulders.

As they sipped their wine, Fiona looked around the room, her eyes quickly finding Lila and Evelyn. They were sitting with three other women Fiona didn’t recognize, all dressed the same, in sleek, dark attire that surely meant they were performers. Evelyn soon caught her eye and smirked, before leaning in to whisper something to Lila. Fiona’s pulse jumped.

This exchange of looks hadn’t happened without Laura being aware of it. She set her wine glass down, then reached out and placed her hand on Fiona’s thigh beneath the table. “Eyes on me,” she murmured, tilting Fiona’s chin toward her with her free hand. “Unless you’d rather go over there and sit with them?” There was a dangerous edge beneath the playful tone.

Fiona shook her head quickly, warmth flooding her cheeks. “No, I—”

Laura’s fingers tightened on her thigh, cutting her off. “Good,” she purred, leaning in until her lips brushed Fiona’s ear. “Because I didn’t bring you here to share.” Her hand slid higher, fingertips skimming the hem of Fiona’s dress. Fiona’s breath hitched, her knees pressing together instinctively, not to stop Laura, but to trap her hand there, to feel the pressure.

Across the room, Evelyn laughed, the sound clear and bright. Fiona’s gaze flicked toward it before she could stop herself. Laura’s nails dug in, just shy of painful. “Eyes - on - me.” Fiona obeyed, her pulse racing as Laura’s other hand traced the line of her collarbone. “You’re mine tonight. Every gasp, every shiver. Mine.” Her thumb dragged over Fiona’s bottom lip. “Understood?”

A breathless nod. Laura rewarded her with a slow, open-mouthed kiss that left Fiona dizzy. When she pulled back, she noticed that a couple had taken to the dance floor, making slow, sensual movements that blurred the line between dancing and foreplay. Laura’s grip tightened. “Dance with me,” she murmured against Fiona’s lips, not waiting for an answer before pulling her up.

The moment they stepped onto the floor, Laura’s hands slid down Fiona’s back, settling just above her hips. The music was sultry, a deep bass thrumming through the air as Fiona melted into Laura’s touch. Their bodies moved together effortlessly, Laura guiding, Fiona yielding. A low hum escaped Laura’s throat when Fiona arched against her, making her misstep.

Across the room, Fiona caught Evelyn watching them, her smirk sharpening as she murmured something to Lila. Laura noticed too, her grip tightening possessively. Her hands slid lower, squeezing Fiona’s backside as she pulled her flush against her. The sudden friction drew a gasp from Fiona, her nails digging into Laura’s shoulders.

The music shifted to something a little faster, and Laura’s hips rolled against Fiona’s in perfect synchrony with it. Fiona’s breath hitched as Laura’s thigh pressed between her legs, the thin fabric of her dress doing nothing to dull the sensation. Fiona gasped, her forehead dropping to Laura’s shoulder. Laura chuckled, low and throaty, her lips brushing Fiona’s neck. “You like that?”

“Yes ... I like it...” Fiona’s words dissolved into another gasp as Laura pressed harder, her thigh relentless. The music swelled around them, the rhythm syncopated, unpredictable, just like Laura’s touch. Across the floor, Evelyn continued to watch them. Fiona didn’t dare give her more than a fleeting glance, but she felt the weight of her attention, the unspoken challenge.

“Eyes on me,” Laura murmured, nipping Fiona’s earlobe. “Or I stop.” Fiona whimpered, clutching Laura tighter. The song crescendoed, a saxophone wailing, and Laura claimed Fiona in a bruising kiss. Fiona melted into it, hips grinding down on Laura’s thigh. A wolf whistle cut through the music, causing Laura to pull back, lips swollen. “Let them watch,” she growled.

The dance floor crowd had thickened around them, shadows pressing close, but Laura moved like they were alone, her palm sliding up Fiona’s inner thigh. “Tell me what you want.” Her fingers hooked into the lace of Fiona’s panties, tugging sharply, just enough to make her gasp. “Tell me.” Another wolf whistle was heard, but Laura didn’t even look to see where it came from.

Fiona’s voice cracked. “You.” Her hips rocked against Laura’s thigh, her nails digging into her shoulders. “Here and now.” The music pulsed around them, the bass thrumming in time with her racing heartbeat. “In front of everyone.” Across the club, Evelyn leaned back in her chair, watching them with a smirk. Lila whispered something in her ear, and Evelyn laughed, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

Fiona waited for Laura to respond, knowing they were being watched and excited at the prospect of going further in front of their audience. She wasn’t sure how many people were watching them, but taking a quick look around it seemed that eyes were on them from all over the room. She shivered in anticipation, hoping that they could really put on a show.

Then the music stopped and everyone on the dance floor came to a halt mid-movement. Fiona knew perfectly well why, being on her third visit to the club, and her head turned toward the stage, although it remained in darkness for the moment with no sign of activity. Her plan to put on a show with Laura was clearly being superseded by The Lantern’s official entertainment.

Laura’s grip loosened on Fiona’s thigh, but she didn’t pull away entirely. Instead, her fingers traced idle circles through Fiona’s dress fabric as they both watched the stage. “It looks like we’ll have to wait,” Laura murmured. Fiona nodded, disappointed by the anticlimax, but curious to see what was going to happen on the stage.

The three women in matching outfits, whom Fiona had seen earlier sitting with Lila and Evelyn, were now nowhere to be seen, which suggested that they were indeed the performers. If their show were anything like those of Lila and Evelyn it would be hugely exciting, although Lila had seemed to imply that it would be something different this time. All would soon be revealed.

The stage remained dark for a few seconds more, adding to the suspense. Then the curtain rose, revealing the three women standing perfectly still, about two feet apart from each other, facing the audience but with their heads bowed. They still wore their dark, rather formal outfits, and each held a rather large feather fan in one hand.

Fiona’s breath caught as the music started, a slow, rhythmic drumbeat that matched the deliberate way the women raised their heads in unison. Their look was striking, their eyes dark with kohl, their lips blood-red. The trio began moving with slow, precise steps, their fans flicking open in perfect synchrony, the white feathers a sharp contrast to their dark outfits.

The drumbeat quickened, shifting from a pulse to a gallop. On the fourth beat, the women snapped the fans shut with a sound like a pistol shot. They stood for a split second, silhouettes of severe tailoring, until, with a collective snap of their wrists, the fans bloomed open again, larger and wider, momentarily eclipsing them from the neck down.

Laura leaned closer to Fiona, her voice barely audible above the music. “They’re trained in burlesque, but this isn’t just teasing. Watch how they control the room.” Fiona swallowed hard, her pulse quickening as the women circled each other, their movements hypnotic, their fans brushing against each other’s wrists, their necks, their thighs, never quite touching skin, but promising it.

The drumbeat shifted again, growing louder and more insistent. In a flurry of movement, the two outer dancers lunged toward the center of the stage. They crossed their fans in front of the middle dancer, the white ostrich plumes overlapping to create a solid, shimmering wall of white, covering her entirely.

A moment passed. The two flanking dancers then snapped their fans shut, spinning away in opposite directions. The middle dancer remained, but her formal black outfit was gone. In its place, she shimmered in a bodysuit of emerald crystals that caught the spotlight like a shattered mirror. The audience gasped. The transition had been so fast it felt impossible.

The emerald dancer locked eyes with Fiona for a moment, a slight smile on her face. Fiona wondered if it was her own emerald dress that had attracted her. Then she moved away to her left, the dancer on that side moving into the middle. Again, the two outer dancers lunged toward the center, crossing their fans in front of the middle dancer, who disappeared from view.

After a few beats on the drum, the fans snapped shut, revealing the middle dancer now clad in a bodysuit of sapphire crystals, reflecting the stage lights beautifully. Fiona glanced at Laura, whose lips curled into an appreciative smirk. “They’re good,” she murmured, her fingers tightening slightly on Fiona’s waist.

The only dancer still in her dark outfit now became the middle dancer. The emerald and sapphire dancers moved inwards and deployed their fans to hide her. The drumbeat paused, a classic moment of suspense and a held breath. Then the music swelled again and the fans snapped shut, revealing the dancer in a bodysuit covered in a shock of ruby red sequins.

The audience applauded as the trio reformed their line, the music changing into a brassy, uptempo swing. The ruby dancer took the lead, her bodysuit shimmering like molten metal under the stage lights. Now the middle dancer, she stepped forward boldly, rolling her hips to the music while the others flanked her, their fans moving in graceful, hypnotic arcs.

Fiona felt Laura’s grip tighten again, her nails pressing just enough to leave marks. “Look at them,” Laura murmured, her voice low and rough. “They move like they own every pair of eyes in this room.” Fiona nodded, transfixed as the ruby dancer pivoted sharply, her heel catching the stage with a sharp click, before peeling off to her left to be replaced by the emerald dancer.

The music built to a crescendo, horns blaring, as the trio spun in unison, their fans flicking open and shut like the wings of predatory birds. The ruby dancer and the sapphire dancer both arched back against the emerald dancer between them, before snapping apart and moving away, only to turn around and move toward her again, their fans fully open to cover her.

Laura exhaled sharply, her breath hot against Fiona’s neck. “Another quick change,” she murmured. “Watch.” As if on cue, the fans clicked shut, revealing the emerald dancer transformed into a golden dancer, her bodysuit now a corset and mini-skirt. An appreciative murmur ran through the audience, who were clearly captivated by the performance.

The golden dancer strutted forward, her hips swaying, before peeling away and changing places with the sapphire dancer, whose turn it was to disappear behind the fans of the others. The drumroll swelled as the sapphire dancer reappeared, now another golden dancer, in corset and mini-skirt. Fiona’s breath hitched. The transformation was mesmerizing.

Laura’s lips grazed Fiona’s earlobe. “Tell me, would you like to be up there? On the stage?” Her fingers remained tight on Fiona’s waist. “Or do you prefer being watched right here?” Fiona shuddered, considering her answer, but her eyes still followed the dancers on stage, torn between the allure of the spectacle unfolding before her and Laura’s possessive grip.

The drumbeat fractured into syncopated jazz. It was the turn of the ruby dancer to move to the center, soon vanishing behind the fans of the others, and then emerging as a third golden dancer. Fiona was impressed with how slick it all was, but she couldn’t forget Laura’s presence as she felt her hand move up her spine, then curl possessively around the back of her neck.