Chapter 92

"So?" Shawna asked, standing in the doorway.

"So, what?" Hope replied, turning round from the cupboard.

"Well, first off, where the hell did Elspeth get the idea for the sheep?"

"Yeah, that caught me by surprise, too," Hope admitted. "I most certainly was not expecting an inflatable toy with a vibrator jammed into it. She did explain it though."

"As?"

"Well, apparently, when she and Bri asked me at the start of term what I was expecting for my birthday, I said 'a stuffed toy.' So that's what I got."

"You certainly did," Shawna agreed.

Looking up at the mirror, Hope caught the odd expression on Shawna's face. She turned to try and make it out properly.

"Go on. What are you thinking?"

"So what did he actually do?" Shawna sat down on the edge of the bed, unclipping her earrings as Hope skipped around to the other side. "Marcus, I mean. This morning."

"He was just ... not forceful ... Well, he was..." She smiled, feeling warm as she remembered. "He took charge. Took the initiative, sort of. Well, not really. I had to tell him ... not what to do. It was ... It was a feeling about what he did. He took me and didn't hold back. Didn't wait for me to do everything. He wanted me, and he let it show."

"I'm sorry it took us this long to work it out." Shawna turned and stared across the mattress. "We ... Well, Marcus wouldn't notice, but I should have."

"I didn't show you. I didn't show anyone," Hope explained. "I just bottled it all up and hoped it would change, but neither of you are mind-readers."

"I am," Shawna replied indignantly.

"Oh, really?" Hope asked, smirking. She slipped her shoes off and stepped over to the wardrobe. "Come on then, mind-reader. What am I thinking?"

"You're thinking how delightfully wanton you'll feel wearing nothing to bed tonight."

"Wrong! I'm thinking about what books I'm going to get with the book tokens Daddy sent me. And anyway, I'm wear..."

Hope started to turn, but Shawna grabbed her hips and dragged her back to the bed, slipping her hands inside the short dress as she did.

"Oh..."

"Marcus' turn this morning, remember. My turn this afternoon."

"Sounds good to me," Hope sighed, leaning back into the soft body behind her.

"Listen ... this morning ... I know it was just the two of you, and this afternoon was supposed to be just the two of us..." Shawna whispered, in her ear, sliding a hand up inside the dress to roll a nipple gently between her fingers, the other hand slipping inside Hope's satin underwear.

"Hmmm."

Hope didn't trust herself to speak. She relaxed into the sensations, savouring the different feel as Shawna repeated Marcus' actions of the morning.

"Well, if you really want it to just be the two of us, we can leave Marcus out doing the dishes, but after this morning I think it'd be better — for all of us — if he was with us."

Hope struggled to pull herself clear of the questing fingers and turned with a smile.

"Still my show, though. Right?" she asked.

"Whatever you want..." Shawna assured her with a nod. "We get most mornings together. You and Marcus was something that needed to be done."

"Well ... alright," Hope said and then put a hand over Shawna's mouth as she went to call. "Let's make a start without him, though."

Her hand slowly eased its pressure, one finger staying on Shawna's lips then trailing down into the plunging neck of Shawna's top.

"And we can start by getting rid of these, can't we?"

Shawna turned slowly, not quite taking her eyes off Hope as Hope's little fingers deftly undid the zip at her back and then the clasp on her bra. Sliding her hands up over Shawna's shoulders she pushed both items off and carried her hands on around to slip over the swell of her breasts, palming the nipples as the sprang out. Shawna shuddered slightly and made to move away, but Hope pulled her back.

"Stay still. Please."

Shawna shuddered again, biting at her lip as Hope slowly slid one hand down her stomach, trailing little circles while the other started gently pulling at her nipple, pinching it.

"I want to..."

"No," Hope said, cutting her off. "Whatever it is, no. It's my birthday. This is about what I want, right?"

Shawna nodded reluctantly.

"Shouldn't you be on the receiving end, then?" Shawna asked, her voice trembling as Hope's small hand slipped inside the waistband of her jeans. For a moment Shawna wondered when she'd undone them, but those thoughts disappeared at the urging of the questing fingers that slipped along her skin.

"No. See, you always have to be on this end. You never let anyone just do something to you. For you."

"I like to — oooh!"

She almost fell as one of Hope's surprisingly strong fingers curled up inside her.

"To what?" Hope whispered, pushing her forward towards the bed, pulling her finger back out.

"To give something back." Shawna turned, reaching for Hope's shoulders, but Hope pushed her hands away.

"No, you don't." Hope pushed again, letting Shawna go as she fell to the covers. "You try to please everyone because then it's on your terms. You won't really relax and let us treat you like you deserve. That's something we're going to have to get you over."

"We?"

"Marcus and I."

"Does he know he has to get me past this?"

Hope just shrugged.

"No, but he'll appreciate it."

Shawna started to sit up, but Hope put her hand out again, pressing her back into the sheets, rubbing a nipple as she did.

"Stay there for me," Hope said. "Just stay still. I want to put on a show for Marcus. That's what I want."

Across the backstage area, Hope and Shawna watched two men shouting and yelling at each-other, their argument escalating to the point where one swung a slap at the other's cheek.

"Ooh, you bitch!" Shawna mocked, sotto voce, drawing a giggle from Hope who was working on the drum-synthesiser settings.

"You don't know the half of it," someone commented from behind them.

They turned to find a young man stood in the door of the fire-exit smoking a cigarette.

"They've been a couple for two years, in the band for two years, and they still haven't decided who's lead guitarist and who's lead singer."

"And you are?" Shawna asked, rubbing at her neck.

"I was their drummer," he said, gesturing over their heads at the men. Turning to look, the girls watched the arguing men packing up and stalking away from each other. "They'll be back together in about a week, full of remorse and blaming the stress and the weather and ... everything. Probably me, at some point. I've had enough of it."

"You're a drummer?" Hope asked.

"Yeah, for the good it'll do me. You can probably make a show as a singer-guitarist solo on stage, but not a solo singer-drummer. Especially if you don't sing."

"You looking for a band to play with then?" Shawna asked, following Hope's line of thought.

"I thought Aiden McGill was your drummer."