Illusions

"Fuck!" Mavin stopped cold and turned around, so very tempted to follow the latest distraction. A couple of redheads danced in and out of her vision. She sniff again as her eyes skittered left and right in observation. The trail was gone but now she was permanently on edge. "Fuck!" She gasped again as a pair of hands grabbed her by the pants and pulled her into the lounge.

"What took you so long?" The voice came from the body pressed into hers. She felt movement in the fly of her jeans and didn't bother to look down. "I know, you'll enjoy this." The woman whispered softly into her ear. Moist lips, kissing down her bare chest. A warm tongue snaking out to lave her every so often.

'What do you want from me?...What do you want?...What do you want from me?...' Bellinda's voice was stuck on repeat in Mavin's head. She sure as hell couldn't focus now.

"Fuck..." Mavin muttered again.

"Hang on baby." Some more movement at her fly, and then a slurping sound, and then some gagging. That would've thrilled her a moment ago. A fucking moment ago.

**********

Meanwhile

**********

"Yo I saw this woman yesterday, she looked like she had 2 basketballs in the back of her jeans, I was tempted to call offense; double dribble. Know what I'm saying?"

"Hmm yeah."

"I wonder how she got her ass in those jeans, oh my fucking god. I swear it was amazing."

"Right, I'm sure."

"I mean, my eyes were burning, I couldn't take my eyes away and it was like 30 degrees. 30 fucking freezing degrees. But that ass...jeez."

"Musta been some ass."

"Talk about whoa."

Bellinda winced. She was being pinched savagely by Jo who was talking to a dark haired woman about basketball-sized asses. Bella could tell Jo was trying not to laugh but then again, only she would find it funny. Bella thought it was ridiculous for her friend to be posing as a carpet muncher just to get Bellinda 'laid like foundation' as Joann had put it.

"What are you ladies doing later?"

"No, were waiting for someone, thanks though?" Bellinda said sweetly, albeit through her teeth.

"Wha?" Joann was about to protest.

"Yes, Jo. You know, who we're waiting for right? Don't you?" Bellinda pinched Jo back, she yelped a little but turned it into a sudden memory.

"Owoh, right, how could I forget?" Jo slapped her forehead. "Sorry, but it was nice meeting you...um..."

"Gin." The dark haired woman smiled.

"Right, Gin." Jo flicked her tongue in her mouth and nodded. "Maybe some other time?"

"No doubt." The woman said and walked away.

"Bee, what is wrong with you?"

"Me? Hello, I don't have b-ball sized ass cheeks!"

"Come on, that was like the 5th good looking person you've suddenly had selective memory about."

"Gee, I thought my message wasn't clear enough." Bellinda rolled her eyes, she was much too tired for this.

"What message?" Jo said and eyed the redhead, only to realize she wasn't even paying her any attention. "Bee!"

"What?!" Bellinda snapped back to face her friend.

"What did you see?"

"Nothing, I thought I saw...never mind. I doubt she even left work."

"Who?" Jo grabbed Bellinda by the shoulders.

"Mavin." Bella sighed and felt her blood boiling. Was Mavin stalking her now?

"Why don't you find out for sure?"

"And say what?."

"I dunno, we'll see when we get there." Jo grinned wildly and began to pull a reluctant Bellinda towards the lounge.

**********

"Wow." Was all she could say.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself. So, you're a friend of the Champ?"

Eva nodded absentmindedly. Her eyes planted on the private dancers jiggling their scantily clad assets on the wide stage. Jasmine had found her wandering around the club in search of Mavin and had taken the liberty of inviting her to the dance show happening for the night.

"Not much for words, no?" Jas smiled endearingly, her accent fading only slightly. She liked the glint of new discovery in Eva's brown eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but this is so....I don't even know how to take it."

"Slowly is always a good way to start." Jas whispered smokily, her accent spicing up her words.

"If you say so." Eva turned to face Jasmine who was now sitting even closer than she'd remembered.

"Oh, I do Eva. I definitely do." Jasmine said slowly, as she leaned in.

Eva didn't move away, even though everything was happening in slow motion. What was in those drinks?

***********

Mavin sat with the woman bouncing gently in her lap. The tall butch was happy with the dark lighting in the room. Her breath was steady and only shook with her words.

"Yes...take it deeper." Mavin's hands gripped the woman's hips and tugged her down harder. Her own, not needing to move.

'What do you want?' The voice in her head asked, she knew it wasn't her own.

"Faster..." Mavin breathed, trying to escape without actually moving.

'What do you want from me?'

"Shit! Arggh...Stop!"

"What's the matter baby?" Came the thong-muffled reply.

"Just...just stop." Mavin swallowed and found herself covered in a sheet of cold sweat. She could smell her own arousal and it irritated her for some reason. She pushed the woman off her lap and pulled her jeans up.

"What the fuck?!" The woman pulled at Mavin's shirt. "You can't just leave this!"

"Watch me." Mavin said in a dead pan tone as she redid her shirt and left the lounge. She walked right into...

*********

Bellinda stopped cold as her eyes locked onto Mavin's. Joann smiled at the sparks. Or that could be from the fourth 'orgasm' she was totting. She quickly made herself scarce.

"Bellinda." Mavin breathed, barely. Her chest was so tight from something she couldn't catch. "Wha...how...what are you doing here?" Mavin asked, her tongue glued to her palate.

Bellinda eyed Mavin, noticing the sweat, the familiar odor. A wanton current of desire rippled through her. Against her wishes. She was about to say something when she saw the barely-dressed woman walking out of the room Mavin had just popped from, giving Mavin the evil eye. A cold shiver ran through the redhead as her blood boiled for the second time that night.

Mavin didn't notice the shapely woman, she didn't notice the hungry look in a few spectators' eyes. She certainly forgot the sound of the music as her heart pounded an animalistic rhythm in her ears. She was however, aware of the lights in the club and how they played on Bellinda's face. It was something out the hallucination she'd had months before. The only thing missing was the heat. And then she felt it, like a hot slap across her chiseled face. She didn't feel the blow, but it burned nonetheless.

**********

"You sure this is slow?" Eva said when Jasmine was within inches of her face.

"Ya fancy torture eh?" Jas grinned wickedly.

"Um...wha?" Eva felt her skin flush.

"I thought so." Jasmine smiled and pulled herself back, turning her attention back to the stage.

Eva sighed heatedly. There was a lot of heat floating around and it wasn't from her breath alone.

***********

"You bastard!" Bellinda found the words after her hand stopped throbbing.

"Bellinda, it's not what you think." Mavin said and shrugged with a bitter after thought, 'Correction, it was what you think.'

"You're gonna stand there and tell me you didn't fuck her?" Bellinda said coldly.

"No, I won't say anything, 'cause nothing happened." Mavin said, her eyes imploring. 'But something did happen and you know it.'

"Why don't I believe you?" Bellinda shook her head, tousling her mane into her eyes in an attempt to keep them from leaking.

"I haven't been completely honest with you." Mavin said and clenched her jaws as another wave of cold sweating consumed her.

"I don't know why I ever thought you were." Bellinda spat and turned on her heels. She had to get away, she was suffocating. What was it about the tall woman that had her this rattled?

"I'm in love with you Bellinda!" Mavin said in a tone that was a hybrid of a loud bark and a low growl.

Bellinda stopped as her world began to spin. She needed air and she needed it fast. She started running through the crowded place, looking frantically for the exit. She saw someone step into her path and panicked because her vision was blurred.

"What happened? Where are you going? Who's chasing you?" 21 Questions from Joann.

"I...home...I gotta get...outta here." Bellinda stammered as the tears came faster, hotter on her cheeks. She felt a presence creeping up like a chill in her spine. She didn't need to turn to know who was chasing her.

"Okay, lemme just get Sasha and we can leave." Joann said and was about o walk away.

"Give me the keys Jo." Bellinda demanded and Jo eyed her friend for a second before she relented. Too late.

*********

"I've had a wonderful time here Jasmine, but I think I should find Mavin." Eva smiled as she rose from her seat with Jas in tow.

"Mavin's at the main floor." Jasmine said as if she had her friend tagged with a GPS locator.

"I'm gonna go get her." Eva said as they made their way down.

"I think she's already had." Jasmine said, again with the wicked smile.

*********

"Bellinda." The smooth, yet husky timber kissed her ears beneath the thumping sounds of the club. Coaxing a secret festival, hidden between her silky thighs. She almost lost her balance as she shivered visibly.

"Let's go Jo." Bellinda squealed as her airways froze. Why was she so upset? They hadn't agreed on anything and thus, were both free to do as they desired. But that was it. While her mind was consumed by Mavin at every turn, Mavin seemed to have no trouble jumping into skirts, so to speak.

"Don't do this babe." Came the low voice behind her, sending sharp tingles up and down her spine.

Bellinda couldn't move her feet now. She wondered if she really even had a reason to be so angry. After what seemed like an eternity, Joann rolled her eyes at the dramatic nonsense she was witnessing and promptly gripped her friend's shoulder, to spin her around.

For the second time that night, she was too late. Mavin was gone.

************

"Fuck, way to disappear on me Mavin!" Eva panted as she caught up with her friend.

"Don't take the job." Mavin said as if they hadn't spent the last 3 hours apart.

"Oh, now you wanna bring that up. What is up you tonight?" Eva said, her voice shrill and unsteady.

"Look, Kurt Pryce and A.J. might have been involved in José's murder. I don't want someone else I care about in harm's way." Mavin said quickly as she kept walking, on the verge of breaking into a run.

"You know, that's too bad. I already signed the contract." Eva sighed and Mavin froze in her gait.

"WHAT?!" Her breath exploded into words. "I asked you not to!"

"Mavin, you didn't give me any real reason and even now, you're not. Besides, the contract was hot against time." Eva said in her defense. She's signed the papers and taken the job.

"Well in that case, congratulation." Mavin said and kept walking to her car.

**************

A week later

**************

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Was what the twin musketeers proclaimed in the Bright household. The girls ran around, trying to decipher their route through the sea of gifts that had magically appeared overnight.

"Wow, Santa broke the bank this year." Zeke joked behind a glass of eggnog as he eyed Mavin. She was smiling, but in no way was she jolly.

She'd ordered all the things her nieces had gawked at in the various stores she'd taken them to, and now was enjoying their expressions as they tore through their neatly-wrapped presents.

"Oh my gosh!" Lou's eyes widened as they danced over the rest of the unopened gifts.

"What?" Sharon asked with a candy cane hanging from her lips.

"Do you smell that?" Lou said with a serious face.

"Tell me, what?" Sharon moved closer to her sister and sniffed the air.

Mavin, Zeke and Becca watched in amusement. The girls were very intuitive and were in the process of guessing what was in one of the boxes, as they did every year.

"I smell a 360." Sharon giggled brightly and eyed her sister. As if on a timer, they both suddenly dashed under the tree in search of a box, sniffing like bloodhounds.

"Got it." Lou screamed after a short while and rolled out from beneath the tree. "It's mirco soft." She said goofily and set the box down.

"Ready?" Sharon asked and Lou nodded. "Go!"

With that they both ripped the box apart like savages, completely unaware of the 3 pairs of eyes watching them. The wrapping dissolved under their experienced claws and they high-fived each other upon seeing that it was indeed an Xbox 360.

"Awesome! I'm so gonna knock the bejeezus outta you, Shar."

"Louie, Louie, Louie, still whining are we?" Sharon said in her best Lestat impression.

"Well, I am gonna beat you cuz I know something you don't." Lou grinned wildly.

"And I know something you do." Sharon retorted.

"What's that?"

"I never lose." Sharon said and sent the their family into a fit of laughter. They'd been watching the girls banter and despite the seeming hostility, it was egregiously entertaining to the elder members of the Bright clan.

"Aight girls, get together for pictures." Mavin said as her abs ceased vibrating. "Say 'Santa'." Mavin commanded as she snapped a few pictures with her digital camera. She'd actually been taking pictures the whole time, but figured a posed set wouldn't hurt. "Excellent, now for a few with everyone." Mavin set the timer and motioned for the family to gather on the sofa.

"You aight?" Zeke asked Mavin as the commotion died down. "You look the same way you did when I raided your fun stash."

"Hahaha! You're crazy you know?" Mavin smiled broadly, remembering the time so long ago, when Zeke had gone through her stuff looking for one thing and finding a box of assorted condoms. He'd emptied the box by half.

"I know, but you didn't answer me. You hanging cool?" Zeke implored with concern.

"I'm cool. Just exhausted." Mavin lied, she wasn't feeling chatty.

"Aight, get some rest then. It's been a wild week." Zeke nodded not wanting to push, and squeezed Mavin's knee.

It had been a wild week. José had been buried earlier in the week. She'd seen his body again. Cleaned and prepped for a new life six feet under. It didn't even look like José. There was something off about the color, the careful dead expression. It was death, and it inhabited José's body by invitation from a bullet to the head. Mavin had gone alone, not wanting to drown in sympathy from well wishers. Bellinda had been there, so had her father.

Mavin had met the man a few times in passing but only momentarily. He had a cold hard look about him, but Mavin chalked it up to the mood of the day. She didn't think Bellinda had told him about her. That string of thought brought her right back to where she didn't want to be. José had trusted her with Bellinda. She had fucked up. But then again, she had never committed anything to the redhead whose bright green eyes were rimmed with tears. Mavin felt her heart shattering with every shudder of Bella's slight shoulders as José's body was lowered into the ground. She ached to have Bellinda in her arms, to comfort her, to...

'You're in so much trouble.' Mavin sighed to herself. It hit her like a ton of marble and there was no way to ingnore it.

She wasn't paying much attention to the ceremonial drone that was taking place, but she had Bellinda to anchor her mind. She'd giving up on trying to pry the firery woman from her thoughts. Was it even possible now? Mavin cursed herself for getting so caught up in all of this. But she couldn't pull herself away. She didn't want to.

"Mavin? Calling Mars are we?" Mavin blinked at the voice as her vision cleared from the fog she'd just immersed herself in.

"What?" The tall woman asked softly.

"Dinnertime sweetie." Becca smiled at Mavin's self-imposed turmoil. The woman was just too stubborn for her own good.

"Oh...Um...I'm sorry Becca but I have to do something before it's too late." Mavin said slowly but didn't move. She simmered a tad longer until she felt like her skin would rip from the tension invading her body. Becca just nodded and left Mavin to find her bearings. Just as she was out of view, Mavin's cell vibrated in her pocket. She fumbled with the gadget, noticing the anonymous caller. She figured Agent Turner was up to her neck in something.

"Susan you know not to call this--" Mavin began tiredly but was cut off by the gruff voice on the other end.

"If you want to see her again, you'll do as you're told."

*************

End of Chapter 5