Chapter 2

"Fuck!" Sophia cried as the knife pierced her finger. She glared at the knife before setting it down and running her bleeding finger under cold water. After rinsing it off, she pulled it out to see that the bleeding had stopped. However, the lingering pain still provoked her to nurse the finger. She wondered if the juices from the potato she was cutting made it sting more.

"Let me see," Amelia said with a concerned voice as she stopped chopping up the chicken. She took Sophia's finger and turned it over to find the cut. A thin red mark gave evidence to the mishap, but it was no longer bleeding. Amelia brought the finger up to her mouth and suckled it for a moment before kissing it. "There. All better?"

Sophia smiled sheepishly in return, but did not say anything.

"You know, for as much as we've been through together, you're still awfully shy." Amelia observed.

"Yeah, well..." Sophia's voice trailed off as she considered this notion, "we haven't really been together for very long, have we? I mean, I haven't even finished moving my stuff in."

Amelia pondered this answer. "I suppose that it may take a little while to get used to such a drastic change in lifestyle. How long was it before you went down on Trevor?"

A gasp escaped Sophia's mouth, once again betraying her naivety. "How do you even know I did that kind of thing?" she asked as if she were being judged for a crime. After a moment of silence, however, she added, "Two months."

Amelia could not repress a snicker, "My, but you do like to string them along, don't you?"

"Hey! So not fair!!" Sophia exclaimed as she threw a potato peel at Amelia's forehead. Amelia flinched, but was unable to avoid the wet smack of the starchy vegetable between her eyes.

"Oh, you bitch!" Amelia shook off the peel before lunging at her attacker. Sophia realized too late that she was trapped in the kitchen, and flung her hands about in front of her in a weak attempt to stop Amelia's onslaught. This was not a problem for Amelia, for she simply grabbed the flailing hands and held them at the helpless girl's sides. The red-haired captor took a moment to watch with satisfaction as Sophia struggled to get free. When she observed her dark-haired lover begin to tire, she quickly leaned in to kiss her hard.

This made Sophia freeze briefly, only to begin squirming again for an entirely different reason. As frustrated as she was at not being able to put her arms around her lover's neck, she was even more aroused at being held down. She could only let Amelia's tongue pry its way between her lips and explore her mouth. Her legs were beginning to quiver and so she leaned back against the counter for support. To her astonishment, Amelia suddenly pulled back and let go of her arms.

Amelia must have noticed her girlfriend's hurt expression, for she explained, "That was just an appetizer. The main course comes later."

"But..." Sophia began to speak with disappointment, "I want you now... not later."

"My dear, dear sweet Sophia," Amelia responded as she smiled sympathetically, "do you have any idea what Estelle would do to us both if we did anything without her? You enjoy life, yes? You do not wish it to end, no?"

Sophia thought about how disheartened her angel had been when she couldn't stick around for a threesome. Those heartbroken puppy-dog eyes could be turned into Sophia's conscience, for the memory of them instantly made her forget about the longing between her legs.

"She's been extremely patient, and now look; she's sick in bed." Amelia lamented.

"Hey," Sophia said seriously as she looked into Amelia's glistening emerald eyes, "it's not your fault. It's not your fault."

Amelia looked away and sighed heavily, "I know... but I just feel so helpless watching her toss and turn at night. God, I wish she would just forget."

"Forget what," inquired a sleepy voice from the living room. Both girls turned to see Estelle wrapped in a blanket, walking slowly towards them.

"What are you doing out of bed, young lady?" Amelia immediately scolded her.

"I feel better. I do"

"No, you don't. You just want to be part of what's going on out here. Now go to bed; you're not missing anything." Amelia insisted.

"Will you relax? I just want some tea to help me sleep." Estelle retorted as she continued to make her way into the kitchen.

Amelia sighed with frustration and began searching through the cupboards for a box of tea. Estelle took this opportunity to sneak over to Sophia and lean against her. "Hey babe, want to see what I got under these covers?" she flirted, while grinning mischievously.

Despite her angel's messy appearance, Sophia was quite charmed. It seemed that Estelle had the power to turn her dark-haired girlfriend into a spellbound, wanton lover under any circumstances. Sophia leaned forward to press her lips against Estelle's when she felt the abrupt presence of Amelia's hand instead.

"No kisses!"

"Aww!" Estelle whined.

"You want to get your girlfriend sick the first night she moves in?" Amelia asked firmly.

Estelle dropped her head down and pouted without a verbal response.

"Ok then," Amelia continued, "I've got your favorite sleepy time tea right here. Get back in bed and I shall bring it to you." Estelle turned to do as she was told, but was stopped by Amelia, "and one more thing. I love you," she spoke softly as she put an arm around the squishy blanket. Estelle smiled, then continued on her way.

"And as for you..." Amelia shot a disapproving look to Sophia before turning her attention back to the chicken breasts.

"Hey... she's hot!" Sophia said as she shrugged her shoulders. "So anyway, do you know anything about lesbian tantric sex?"

Amelia looked up from the cutting board to reply, "Yes. Estelle and I practice it quite often, actually."

"Really? Well bloody hell; am I the only person who hasn't heard of it?"

"Heard of what?" Estelle asked as she popped her head around the wall.

"Lesbian tantric sex," Sophia repeated.

"Oh sure! Amelia and I practice it all the time!" she said cheerily.

"So I heard," Sophia said under her breath.

"I'm just after the couch pillow," Estelle explained to Amelia, who had her hands on her hips to accentuate her stern expression. With that, Estelle quickly disappeared.

Satisfied that Estelle wasn't returning, Amelia continued the conversation as though it was never interrupted, "what made you ask about that?"

"Oh... someone just brought it up online. I'm doing research for my first book. I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to make it about those things you said... you know, about porn and stuff." Sophia cringed at how poor her language was when explaining the concept to her idol. She supposed it was because Amelia's opinion was so important to her.

"Oh, you mean about how classic erotic literature used to have a political and philosophical agenda?"

"Um... yeah."

"Oh Sophie! I think that's great! I've done lots of studying on sex over the years, you know. Maybe I could help you?"

Sophia became visibly sheepish before asking the next question, "Maybe sometime... you could teach me... about tantra?" She couldn't keep her eyes from avoiding Amelia's as she said this.

"Of course, sweetheart! I'd be honored to become your tantric teacher. Estelle can be my assistant. We'll do it just as soon as she gets better, k?"

Sophia could only nod appreciatively.

Although Sophia was used to having the computer in her bedroom, it certainly felt strange to be on it with someone sleeping only a few feet away. She imagined that it would take a little bit to get used to the lack of privacy. Still, there was no sense in having two of them in the living room, and it was nice to not have to travel to another room in order to check her email in the morning.

Amelia had already gone to work, and Estelle took the day off to recuperate. Since Sophia had another couple of hours before she had to be at school, she decided to check out the Words Made Flesh forum. Recently, her tidbits of literature had developed a few interested followers. Plus, she already had a reputation for asking aggressively detailed questions in her interviews with some of the members. Sophia did not see herself in the same light; she was simply curious, and saw no point in being vague about what she wanted to know.

"Of all the vagina's you've licked, which taste did you find the most pleasant?" she would ask objectively. She had gotten quite used to the stuttering or the pause at the bluntness of her questions. While some of them were quite offended and never spoke to her again, some of them answered very truthfully.

"I was with this one bisexual woman, and she and I had an open relationship. One night she had sex with this guy and then came home to me, and I gave her oral sex. The mix of his and her juices gave her pussy a unique taste that I'd never experienced, before or since. I wish she could have gotten the guy's number, because I would love to taste that again!"

Of course, the questions weren't all explicit; some of them focused on broader subjects. "Would you ever consider bringing a homeless person into your bed? Under what circumstances might you do this?" Predictably, most of the answers that she received were of the firm "no fucking way" persuasion. However, there was one answer that she found worthy of quoting.

"Normally I would never think of doing such a thing, but there was this one girl who looked to be in her late teens. She would sit near the door to my apartment complex and I would pass her every day. What really got me was how, even though she had nothing, it wouldn't stop her from smiling at those who bothered to make eye contact. For awhile, I gave her a little money every time I passed by, always being rewarded with that hopeful, innocent smile. She was just so unlike any other homeless person I had ever seen. Well, one night I just invited her up to my place to join me for dinner. I wanted to give her a warm meal and a place to sleep. I honestly intended for her to sleep on the couch. We started talking, and, as they say, one thing led to another. When I woke up in the morning, she was gone. I never saw her again. I still think about her sometimes."

As was normal these days, Sophia found half a dozen private messages waiting in her inbox when she signed on. Most of them were continuations of correspondences. There was one that was from someone whom she'd never heard of.

"Your insatiable spirit," read the title of the message. Curious, Sophia read on.

"First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Alessa, a 31/F who is considered by many to be Dominant. I say that so you will understand more about who I am, but you should understand that I am not fond of labels. I have a strong personality and I know what I want.

I have been keeping tabs on your posts for some time now, Sophia. Of the hundreds of other members on WMF, you stand out. I find the passion of your curiosity to reach heights well beyond the other members. Quite frankly, such a strong drive behind a search for knowledge is a very rare thing to find these days.

Sophia, I would like to offer my experiences to your cause. I realize that this may be a bit forward, but I feel that I have much to share with you. A request for an interview is something that I imagine you get all the time. So, to increase my chances of standing out, I'd like to show you a sample video of what I do. I have more, if you decide that you're interested.

Looking forward to your reply,

Alessa"

Sophia had to read the message over a couple of times in order to discern how she felt about it. On the one hand, it was indeed quite forward and even arrogant. On the other, the confidence behind this person's words caused Sophia to believe that she knew what she was talking about. She decided to download and watch the video.

The animated moaning made Sophia flinch, as she forgot to turn down the volume from before. She quickly turned down the volume and turned to see if the noise had awoken Estelle. Her sleeping beauty stirred slightly, but remained a visitor of dreamland.

Satisfied, Sophia settled in to watch the video. She was instantly transfixed at what played out before her eyes, for she had never seen anything quite like it. The lighting was dark, but she could make out a young, naked brunette with a slender body in the middle of the screen. The woman was tied to some kind of mesh fence that appeared to be made out of wood. Both of her arms and legs were attached to the fence awkwardly with a thick rope, making her look like a rag doll. Her mouth was covered with black tape, but Sophia could still hear her cries. At first she thought that they were cries of anguish, as it certainly looked as though she was being tortured. However, upon closer attention, Sophia realized that there was another woman below the first one. She was pushing a long vibrator up inside of the woman who was tied up. This woman was a little larger than the first, and had jet black hair, just like Sophia's. Those were not the cries of a non-consenting victim; they were the sounds of a woman at the peak of her submissive fantasy.

Before long, Sophia found herself incredibly turned on by the video. She subconsciously reached up to squeeze a nipple through her shirt as the brunette twisted and turned as much as the ropes would allow her to. The dark-haired woman drove her tongue into the other's sex, appearing to compete for space inside her vagina. Sophia began to rub the palm of her hand on her crotch to ease the burning of her desire. However, instead of smoldering it, she felt like she was feeding the flames.

Timidly, Sophia glanced over at the bed behind her to make sure that Estelle was still asleep. She then slipped her hand underneath her pajama bottoms and began circling her clit with two fingers. Her eyes never left the monitor, for the video was the single source of her arousal. She projected herself onto the brunette woman and imagined what it must be like to be suspended by ropes. Sophia's fingers became the woman's tongue as she stuck them inside of her to gather more juices for her swelling bud.

The video started over automatically, giving Sophia the chance to further burn her favorite images of the scene into her mind. It wasn't long before she began to cum, biting her lip so that she wouldn't make any sound that might wake Estelle up. Although she longed to close her eyes and dip her head back, the desire to watch this woman getting pleasured was stronger, and Sophia looked into the eyes of the submissive brunette as she came.

"Damn, now that was hot! Do it again!" She heard in a voice that was clearly not Estelle's. Suddenly Kaylin's head rose from behind the monitor, smiling approvingly at Sophia. "Now you know what you like." Sophia looked back at the screen, trying to ignore the dark side of her conscience. When she looked up again, Kaylin was gone. She exited out of the video and slumped forward, staring mindlessly at the inactive screen.

"Is everything alright, baby?" Estelle's sleepy voice could barely be heard across the room. Sophia turned around to see her girlfriend lifting her head to look at her. "You're staring at nothing. Are you ok?" Estelle asked again.

"Yeah," Sophia nodded absently, "I just... have to get ready for school."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired is all," Sophia said indifferently. She didn't bother to notice Estelle looking at her with concern as she quickly got up and walked out of the room.

Amelia had decided to come home for lunch to check up on Estelle. To her surprise, she immediately noticed the sound of music coming from the bedroom when she walked through the front door. Her first instinct was to scold Estelle for not resting, but she knew that this was coming from her own sense of over-protectiveness. Amelia then made a conscious decision to let Estelle be the one to decide whether she was feeling better. She opened the bedroom door to find her girlfriend sitting up in bed playing one of her portable video game devices.

"Hey babe! What are you doing here?" the pajama-clad brunette said through a grin when she looked up.

"I just wanted to drop by while I'm on break to check up on you."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you. I woke up feeling better a couple of hours ago. Got a good night's sleep last night," Estelle winked at her lover as she said this.

"I'll bet you did," Amelia replied, "have any special dreams?" The red-head frowned at herself as soon as she said this. She had meant it in a sexy manner, of course, but it may have come off as rude in light of Estelle's recent string of nightmares.

"You know, I can't remember a single dream," Estelle remembered fondly, "all I remember is being snuggled on either side by you and Sophia, both your arms around me like the world's coziest blanket." She looked up at the ceiling and sighed happily. "I love having her here with us. She did seem a little out of it this morning though. I hope I'm not making her get sick," Estelle wondered aloud.

"I think she's just having a little trouble adjusting is all," Amelia assured her lover as she sat on the bed. She was unable to resist holding her palm up to Estelle's forehead. It was only slightly warmer than normal, which pleased her greatly. "What's your temperature?" She asked hopefully.

"Ninety-nine point zero," Estelle exclaimed happily, "see? All better!"

"Almost all better," Amelia corrected, "I don't want you to have a relapse, so take another day off." Estelle looked at her like she had just sprouted a dick on her forehead when she said this. Amelia caught herself and said, "I'm sorry; I don't mean to be so motherly. I'm just worried about you."

Estelle placed her hand on Amelia's cheek and said, "No worries; I love it when you pamper me. Look; I know that you're just concerned, but I'm fine; really." She paused for a moment before adding seductively, "Say, you know what would really help me have a speedy recovery?"

"Now you're pushing your luck, missy" Amelia answered sternly.

"Oh come on! It's been forever!" Estelle whined as she stuck out her lower lip in protest.

"Alright I'll tell you what," Amelia caved, "if you are still feeling better tonight, we'll do Sophia's tantric lesson, k?"

Estelle nodded her head vigorously in agreement. "How about I get a little practice in before then?" She began to lightly trace her finger nails down Amelia's neck.

Amelia's eyes fluttered at first, but then she caught herself and gently grabbed her lover's hand. "No appetizer's; you'll spoil your dinner."

"What is it with you and the food metaphors lately?"

"I don't know; they just keep coming to me."

Amelia heard her girlfriend mumble something about her coming, too, before she continued, "anyway, I need to get back to the office. Find something to do so you don't get bored and I'll rush home as soon as I can." She brushed her lips up against Estelle's cheek and hugged her briefly before getting up off the bed.

Estelle listened for the front door to open and shut before getting up excitedly and heading over to the closet. Hearing that blonde boy from her work say that he was a drummer gave her an itching to pull out the old keyboard. It had been a couple of years since she last laid a finger on it, but the fact that she had practiced regularly for years before then ensured her that she would still be able to play decently. If nothing else, it would be an amusing way to pass the time until her girlfriends got home. After dusting it off, she placed it in her lap as she sat on the bed. Her heart fluttered a little as the familiar green light shone when she turned it on. Estelle could not repress a childish grin when her hand played its first chord.

"You know, sweetie," Marilyn began as she placed her hand over Sophia's in a friendly gesture, "it sounds to me like you are just trying to find yourself. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But what if I don't like what I find?" Sophia observed uneasily.

"Then you must ask yourself two things; the reason for what you have found, and the reason for not liking it." Marilyn said wisely.

Everything about her friend made Sophia feel warm and secure. She was able to recognize the familiar tone of her dark skin at first glance, and the inflection in her voice made Marilyn sound both self-confident and empathetic. Stepping into Marilyn's presence was to enter a haven from the cold, harsh world.

"One thing that you need to realize, dear," Marilyn continued, "is that sometimes sex is not about sex at all. Desires are simply the parts of our soul that long to be free. We keep them caged because we are afraid of them, or unaware of what they truly are. But, one thing is always certain; if you will not release them willingly, then they will find a way to escape."

"I never really thought of it like that before," Sophia considered, "I guess I'm kind of ashamed at what I see when I look at myself."

"Then you need to ask yourself why, my dear."

Marilyn withdrew her hand and leaned back to study Sophia's face. This always made Sophia nervous, for she felt like her friend was able to peer into the darkest depths of her soul. Despite her self-consciousness, Sophia was never able to look away from Marilyn's penetrating gaze.

"I see a curiosity to learn of new things, but not for the reason you think. You may be collecting information for the book, but the knowledge is for yourself. Understand that."

Sophia had no words to respond with, but could only stare back. She brushed her hair to the side nervously and waited for the uncomfortable moment to pass.

"Sophia," a male voice came from behind the dark-haired woman. Sophia turned around to find Trevor cautiously approaching the table. "Sophia, hi."

"Ah, this is the savior of your new relationship, yes?" Marilyn announced.

"And who might you be?" Trevor inquired, not quite as politely as he intended.

"I'm her therapist," the black woman said in an abnormally monotone voice. "She pays me in sodas," she added, taking a sip of the can of her diet soda.

"Fair enough," Trevor mumbled, unsure as to their acceptance of his presence. He turned his attention back to Sophia. "Look, I know you haven't been accepting my calls cos you don't want to talk to me. But you should know that I only wanted to apologize for... everything."

Sophia took a moment to consider this notion. "You did apologize, Trevor," she said matter-of-factly. She hesitated before continuing, "And the truth is that I should be apologizing just as much as you. We both did things to hurt each other."

"I know, and I didn't mean to —"

"Stop. Don't say that, because it doesn't matter. We did. We did hurt each other, Trevor. And maybe on some level we did want to. But none of that matters now. I've moved on, and I hope you have, too." Sophia's voice was cold and distant, as if she were repeating a script.

Despite the somber overtone of the conversation, Marilyn could not help but become mildly entertained. She turned her head back and forth to focus on whichever person was speaking, as if an invisible ball was being tossed between them and had sparked a cat-like instinct to follow it. When Sophia noticed this and paused to look at her, Marilyn stopped and focused on drinking her soda.

"Look," Trevor continued, trying to ignore the unapologetic slurping noises coming from Marilyn, "as terribly, horribly cliché as this sounds... I was really hoping that we could stay friends. I love you. I know that it's too late to get back together, but you were my best friend before, and I don't want that to change."

Sophia couldn't believe what she was hearing. She expected to receive attitude, accusations; anything but this. Trevor's maturity in the matter made Sophia realize how focused she had become on being defensive. She looked up at him with shameful eyes, knowing that she had not really taken responsibility for her fault. Instead, she had relied on Amelia and Estelle to assure her that she was merely the unfortunate victim in the scenario.

"Trevor," Sophia's voice changed to a more sincere, heartfelt tone. "I've been pretending that this was all your fault for cheating on me... but that never gave us — gave me the right to do what I did to you. I'm so, so sorry. I would love to stay friends."

These words prompted Trevor to kneel beside Sophia and embrace her. The searing flames of guilt licked at her soul repeatedly, and she could no longer keep the tears from flowing. It had been so long since she had felt his warm body against her own. At this moment, she longed to take back everything and return to the familiarity of their relationship, but she knew that it was much too late for that. The pain of this realization was so great that she had trouble breathing. Trevor just kept his arms around her and let her cry.

During dinner, Amelia could see Estelle writhing in anticipation of the event that was to unfold soon. Although she was proud of her anxious lover for being so patient, she couldn't help but tease her under the table by sliding her bare foot up Estelle's leg. A low growl let Amelia know that, were she to push too hard, Estelle would not be held responsible for any unrestrained sex that may occur on top of the dinner table. Amelia took the hint and left her alone, while being sure to smile innocently.

Since Sophia was to be the student, she waited outside the bedroom while Amelia and Estelle set everything up. There were no lights on in the entire house, and only a faint glow of candles coming from under the bedroom door. Sophia began to unbutton her shirt, for she had specific instructions from Amelia to be naked when they came to get her. After slipping her skirt and panties down her legs, she sat down onto the couch and waited.

Sophia could not even see the clothes that lied on the floor next to her. She found the enveloping darkness to be quite erotic. Not being able to use her eyes to discern anything increased her other senses. She began to run her fingers through the hair under her tummy to tease herself. Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and a low, orange light spread over the room. Sophia quickly pulled her hand away.

Estelle's unmistakable silhouette appeared in the doorway. Her ass rested casually against the frame of the door, and the position of her body made the shapes of her breasts plainly visible. That was as much of a 'come hither' look as Sophia needed. She got up off the couch and made her way over to the door. Estelle showed no sign of moving out of the way, so Sophia had to turn sideways to fit. Their eyes locked as their bodies rubbed up against each other when Sophia moved past.

"Careful," Estelle whispered, "you don't know what might happen when you turn me on." Sophia paused, caught in the brunette vixen's entrancing glare. "You might not make it over to the bed," Estelle promised while blowing her a kiss.

"She's not going over to the bed," Amelia interjected, "Come and sit between my legs." She sat bare-skinned on the floor with her back to the foot of the bed. Her legs were spread apart, and for a moment all Sophia could do was stare. She wanted to crawl to Amelia's sacred entrance and pay tribute with her tongue, but she restrained herself and did as she was told. "Now lean back into me," Amelia instructed to Sophia, who followed through obediently.

The heat of the candles was already warming Sophia's body, but she shivered anyway. Amelia must have noticed this, for she brought her arms directly over Sophia's and interlocked their fingers. Sophia leaned her head back and rested it on Amelia's shoulder. She let the wispy smoke from the vanilla-scented incense seek passage through her nostrils.

"Welcome to your first lesson in Lesbian Tantra," Amelia whispered into her dark-haired lover's ear, "this is what some call the 'Tandem Yab Yab', where your buttocks is placed against my vagina." Sophia's ear tingled as she felt Amelia's hot breath sweep against it. The lesson had barely begun, and already she felt intoxicated.

Estelle had made her way over to Sophia's feet and was gently petting the top of an ankle with her fingernails. Sophia breathed deeply at this tantalizing sensation, but was unable to find the strength to open her eyes. She laid there in complete submission, letting her two girlfriends bring every nerve in her body to life. Estelle brought her mouth down to her other foots' big toe and sucked on it. This caused a mild whimper to escape Sophia's lips.

"The lesson that I want you to learn today," Amelia spoke, "is that pleasure is in the mind. Very little is being done to you right now, but your mind captures the sensuality of the ambience and embellishes it. Illusions, Sophia." She brought both her and Sophia's hands closer to her dark-haired lover's sex as she spoke. "Your thoughts are magic; they are the true bringers of pleasure. Do you understand this?"

"I do," the student murmured softly.

"Then relinquish control of your body, and let your mind take you on this journey now."

Sophia's muscles tightened as she felt her and Amelia's fingers glide over the petals of her very aroused flower. Her nectar, usually properly contained within, was beginning to seep out in anticipation. Their thumbs rested briefly in Sophia's pubic hair, becoming willfully entangled. Amelia's thumb rolled against Sophia's, playing the black, curly strings of her venus like a private serenade.