Erica Ch. 02: The Stone's Price

Note that this story immediately follows "A rigged birthday" and some references might no be completely clear if you haven't read the first one.

- 1 -

Erica was slouching back in her chair, both feet crossed on top of her desk, one of her azure blue ankle boots unzipped and balanced on the tip of her toes. She was twirling a pen in her right hand, eyes fixed on the ceiling, her gaze far away.

It had been three days since her birthday. Three days since Evelyne had surprised her with what turned out to be an amazing evening of fun and debauchery, so much so that she had called in sick the next day. In truth, her mistress had told her to call, but that had just been the excuse she needed to stay with Evelyne all day long and savor how good she felt about her life.

And now she just sat there, smiling as she reminisced about the events of the evening. About when Isabella, towering over her wearing only-

"Busy day?"

The baritone voice broke the spell and she blinked twice before looking at its source. There stood Darshan, leaning against the door frame, grinning at her.

"Did paperwork all day today, but I finished a while ago." She looked at the clock on the wall. "And would you look at that, it's almost six o'clock already."

"Yeah. Me and some of the others are going for a couple of beers after. You coming with?"

Erica took on an apologetic look. "As lovely as that sounds, I have other plans for tonight. Sorry."

"Pshh. Don't you be sorry girl. If that smile you had on just now is any indication, your plans are way more fun than ours."

She blushed a bit at that. Darshan knew about her wild side. Him and most of her coworkers, and they didn't pry mostly because they knew they would probably hear about anything interesting eventually. She did love to share.

"I'll come next week. Promise. And I'll tell you all about it." She winked.

"I bet you will. Can't wait. You've been positively glowing since your birthday."

Erica laughed at that. "I guess I have, haven't I?"

She got her foot back in the boot, walked towards him and threw both of her arms around the big man for a hug, though her hands barely reached his back. He was a large one and hugging him felt like hugging a pillow. She loved it.

His arms, on the other hand, had no such trouble encircling her. He squeezed her in.

"Have a nice weekend. And tell the others I'm sorry." Erica said to him.

"I will." He stood back and winked at her. "You have fun now, you hear?"

"Oh, I think that won't be a problem."

Erica grabbed her hobo bag from a peg behind the door, a beautifully hand made thing decorated in exquisite mayan inspired patterns contrasting blues and oranges.

Once outside, she stopped on top of the stairs, taking in the view. Below her and across the street was beautiful park with wood benches, lots of trees and a simple but classy fountain in the middle. Even here in the city, one could smell the unique aroma of nature awakening after the winter.

Today was unusually warm for April and she had opted for a pair of tight-fitting waist high light blue jeans. The three-quarter length legs were embroidered with cute butterfly designs in oranges matching a cropped halter top that showed just enough of her pale cream cleavage to draw the eye in and hint at the lack of a bra underneath.

She fished her phone out and checked her texts with Isabella. The last one, sent this morning, said : "Great! Closing at 10. Get here earlier so we can chat. Can't wait to see u."

Erica smiled at that. She had, of course, thanked her friend profusely for her part in Tuesday's event, but they had both been too busy to meet up since then and she felt like she owed the woman more than a few texts.

Evelyne, for her part, had refused to say if she had implied or promised any sort of payment when she got the big woman involved. She stated that those sorts of details where between her and her friend and clearly none of the domme's business. Typical lawyer speak. Of course, that was also her mistress toying with her, giving her a hard time. Erica enjoyed those kinds of games. They both did.

So she had not been surprised upon receiving Isabella's invitation to come to the gym on Friday. It seemed clear her friend had something in mind, which suited Erica just fine.

She still had a few hours of free time on her hands and didn't feel like going back home. Ample time to eat something and probably shop for a while before heading over there.

- 2 -

Erica got out of her Uber and thanked the driver. She now stood in an old part of town that must have originally been build back in the early 1900s. It used to be mostly factories around here, all of them long since abandoned, but people had been working on turning this place into a vibrant neighborhood for the last decade.

The streetlights were on, illuminating the pavement with their yellow and orange hues. Stone's Gym was a red bricked two-story building that covered an entire street corner. Isabella had bought the place a year ago and used some of the money she had made during her short career as a fighter to turn it into a very respectable gym. To the left, Erica could see the parking lot was full. Business was booming. The location was easy to reach and Isabella's reputation made sure she had no shortage of people that wanted to be trained by her.

It was almost nine. Early, but she figured this might give her a chance to catch Isabella hard at work. As she entered, Erica crossed paths with three men chatting on their way out. From the corner of her eye she noticed one of them elbowing the others and nodding ever not so subtly towards her. She kept going as if she hadn't noticed, not displeased by their reaction.

Inside, Stone's had a very unique feel to it. A good amount of effort had been put towards keeping as much of the original structure as was possible, from the concrete floor to the metal structures used for whatever it was they did here back in the day. It had just been revamped and overlayed by modern era materials and equipment. The layout was rather simple. From the entrance hall, a single corridor crossed two locker rooms, to each side, and lead to an open area where two rings and everything else needed to train could be found. The place was brimming at the moment and she could feel a wave of heat and the smell of sweat rush at her as she got to the main room.

The back wall displayed an awesome graffiti mural. On the leftmost part, a larger-than-life depiction of Isabella could be seen, her skin made to look like stone. Underneath it one could read, in bold stylized letters, "Isabella Pérez, the Stone Giant", a nickname that fit the owner perfectly.

She quickly spotted her friend on the ring to the left. Standing at six feet and eight inches, she was wearing skin-tight black gym shorts and a matching tank top. Her olive brown arms and legs were massive and well toned, a clear sign that she was still serious about staying in shape. Her shoulder length dark brown hair was shaved on both sides of her head and tied in a short ponytail at the back. In front of her was a shorter, dark-skinned woman with a completely shaved head, standing with her guard up, skin glistening with sweat.

"You have to keep moving girl. I know you want to take the offense and all, but if you stand too still, you're going to get hit. Hard."

The woman was shaking her head, looking frustrated. "I am moving!"

"Not fast enough, you aren't. Here, let me show you how it's done." The taller woman spread her arms wide. "Try and hit me. Give it everything you've got."

The trainee rushed in, trying to surprise her trainer with speed and initiative. As tall as she was, everyone always assumed the giant fighter to be slow and all about taking hits and striking back. What happened next was anything but. She seemed to just float on her feet, backing away from the first punch, side stepping the second to her left, slapping her trainee in the back of the head for good measure.

"See? Strength is good, but if you can't move, you might as well not bother." The other woman was staring at her, flabbergasted.

Erica, who was now standing on the edge of the ring, spoke up. "Stop showing off in front of the kids. It's unbecoming for one as old as you."

Isabella turned her head and finally noticed the new arrival. "Ha! I'm not old yet." She turned towards her pupil. "Take a minute to breathe and we'll continue this conversation."

The big woman walked to Erica. "Well, you're here early. Not that I'm complaining, mind you," she quickly added.

"I got bored and wanted to see you in action. I must say, you never disappoint."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear." Isabella paused and looked around, noticing the room had become somewhat quieter. Quite a few people were looking at the two of them, curious about who the gorgeous newcomer was.

"There you go again, distracting everyone. I swear girl, it's like you enjoy it."

Erica, looking straight in Isabella's eyes, having to crane her neck to do so, and gave her a sultry look. "I do."

"Well, in that case..." As the words hung there, Isabella leaned forward, over the ropes, and grabbed Erica with one hand on her bottom and the other around her waist. She lifted her clear off the floor and gave her a passionate kiss full on the mouth. Erica had expected this, invited it even, and she gently wrapped her arms around the big woman, kissing her back. The room was now completely silent.

Isabella gently deposited Erica back down and looked around, one arm still held around her girl. "Stop gawping, you horndogs. Haven't you ever seen a girl get kissed before?" When nobody answered her rhetorical question, she smiled and added. "Get back to your training people. This one's here for me."

The noise picked back up as everyone went back to what they had been doing, accompanied by a few friendly laughs. Where someone else would have been embarrassed, Erica was not. She enjoyed this possessive banter from her friend because she knew it for what it was.

"Now, I need to get back to working this newbie into shape," Isabella said loud enough for the woman behind her to hear, "so make yourself comfortable. I should be done in about half an hour." Erica gave her a simple nod and found a spot under the big graffiti with a chair standing against the wall.

About half an hour later, the noise was dying down. Most people were finishing up on their training or had already left. Isabella, done with her pupil, came to stand against the wall next to Erica.

"So, how do you like the place now?" she asked proudly.

"I love it. There are even more people than the last time I came by."

"Right? I've had to hire new help just to keep up and I'm training as many people as I have on my waiting list."

"I always knew you could make it work."

Isabella chuckled. "You did. Happy birthday, by the way. I wanted to tell you in person but the last time we saw each other we didn't get to chat much."

Erica laughed at that. "No, we didn't. I seem to remember having trouble talking at one point," she added, looking for a reaction.

From how Isabella's pupils dilated, she clearly remembered exactly what Erica was referring to. "Fun times. Evelyne has a knack for making things interesting, doesn't she?"

Now it was Erica's turn to feel a bit of heat rise up within her. "That she does. Best birthday ever."

"Hey, listen. I got behind today and I have a few things to take care of before closing, so I'll be in my office for a bit. Just some quick paperwork." Her eyes rolled up at this, indicating how much she liked that part of her new career. "After I'm done, we can talk about why I asked you to come here."

"Sounds good." Erica gave her a mischievous smile, her suspicions about her friend having something planned now pretty much confirmed.

This seemed as good a time as any to hit the bathroom and Erica headed for the girl's lockers. Being rather partial to the fit and strong type, she definitely had no complaints about the company. A blond girl exiting the showers wearing only a towel gave her a somewhat flirty wink and Erica had to admit she felt a twinge of arousal.

As she sat down, she admitted to herself that if she hadn't been here to see Isabella, she might have responded positively to the stranger and try to see where it led. "Incorrigible," she thought to herself, her smile betraying a complete lack of guilt regarding the matter.

Her business took a while and she came out of the stall to an empty locker room. Her phone indicated it was a quarter to ten. Time to go check on Isabella upstairs. As she was washing her hands, the mirror revealed a man standing behind her. Muscle bound with pale blond short cut hair, he was wearing a khaki hoodie and a pair of gray jogging pants. His gaze did not meet hers, fixated lower in a manner that sounded all sorts of alarms in her mind.

"Can I help you?" she managed to say half casually as she turned around, her hands still dripping water.

"It's me who's gonna help you with that big dyke problem o'yours. Thinks she can tease us like that and get away with it? I'm gonna show you what you've been missing all your life, hon."

Was this living, breathing caricature for real? What was this, the "fuck you straight" bandwagon? She'd seen and heard enough stories in her line of work to know where this was headed, and she was also very conscious of the fact that she was alone, in a room with a single exit and a guy twice as wide as she was standing between her and said door.

Before she could think of something to say, he was upon her, standing at least a few inches taller than she did. She felt his right, callused hand close around her throat firmly enough to restrain her access to air.

"Now, you're not gonna give me trouble like making noise and stuff, are you?"

Panic seized her momentarily and she shook her head twice, meekly, silently.

"Good." The grin he gave her was an ugly one, as predatorial as it could get. His left hand pulled her top up, exposing her naked breasts, which he started groping. The touch had no finesse and hurt a little, fitting for the brute this man clearly was. Unable to do anything to resist, feeling that attempting a yell would be too dangerous and unsure if it would even be heard, she let it happen.

The hand holding her neck forced her to look him in the eye. "You're gonna learn what it feels like to be with a real man." Ugh. Even in her current state of mind, she had to restrain herself from expressing her disgust. That would not do right now. Stay calm, analyse, find an out.

He quickly tired of molesting her chest and began trying to pull her pants down, but they were way too tight to budge. He took half a step back and pulled his hand from her throat, shaking a finger at her. "Don't try anythin' funny."

When she said nothing, he pushed her sternum hard enough for her to fall back against the mirror, smacking the back of her head against it painfully, dizzyingly. He almost ripped off the zipper and button from her pants and began to pull them down with both hands. She let that happen also, using the time to try and listen to the outside world for any hint of a chance at yelling for help. Nothing, not a single sound. For whatever reason, it seemed as if the place was deserted.

When he was done, he pulled his own pants down and she could see he was already standing at attention. In other circumstances, she might have smiled at his endowment, but instead she stared at it and gave the best fake lust impression she could muster, adding a short intake of breath for good measure. His confidence was her out, if she could use it.

"Atta girl. See?" he said, puffing his chest proudly, "I knew you'd see things my way."

Keeping on her slutty act, she waited for his next move. Predictably, he pushed her knees apart and stood between them, his erection now standing inches away from her belly. Before panic could paralyse her, she quickly grabbed his shaft with her right hand, her left rushing further down to grab his crotch. Then she squeezed on one and pushed the other down hard until she almost felt something give.

"You move a single muscle," she said pre-emptively, before he could form a thought through the pain she knew this would cause, "and I break it." To punctuate her statement, she gave one of his balls a powerful squeeze between her thumb and fingers. He stood up a bit stiffer and his breath stopped entirely.

Through gritted teeth, she finally let her anger show. "Now listen here, you-"

She was about to say more, but then something strange happened. Something her mind was unable to process at first. Her rapist slipped out of her grip ... and flew. Backwards. It seemed surreal. It was surreal. One moment she was threatening to break his precious manhood, and the next he seemed to be hanging in the air and moving away from her. He hit the wall with enough force to cave it in an inch or two.

The threat momentarily gone, she realized they were no longer alone. A huge figure stood next to her. "Are you okay?", Isabella asked in a soft, worried voice.

"Uh, yeah, I'm ... I'm okay. When did you? How did you?" she replied, still a bit confused.

Isabella had already turned and was walking towards the man. "You stupid piece of fucking shit. How dare you!" She yelled at him, her tone rising and rising as she spoke. "In my house?" She unceremoniously pushed him out and through the door and let him stagger backwards a few unsteady steps.

At this point, Erica lost sight of both of them. She hastily put her pants back on, noticing they were now impossible to completely tighten in the front, and rushed outside. A small crowd of the few clients that were left had gathered around the two, giving them a wide berth. The blond man might have been huge compared to Erica, but he in turn seemed small when facing the stone giant, who's anger seemed to have been replaced by a deathly calm. Erica let out a sigh of relief at that : her second thought after losing sight of them had been worry her friend might lose her temper completely and do something ... regrettable.

"So, you like attacking girls, do you? Well," she stood there, unmoving, "take your best shot, you coward. But make sure it counts, because I'm only going to give you one chance." When he didn't move, she smirked at him, clearly intent on provoking his overinflated ego. "This lesson's free, by the way."

His eyes went wide, the insult to his pride too much for him to take. He put one foot forward and his fist came straight at the giant's head, but she easily evaded the blow, her guard coming up and blocking his follow up left-right hits to her midsection.

"Quick, no hesitation," she mused in a tone she would use to evaluate a student. "Not bad." Then her face slowly turned serious and intent. "My turn."

She closed the distance between them, her right elbow going straight for his nose, hitting it with a wet crunching noise. Stunned and out of balance, he failed to block the incoming barrage of blows, all aimed at his stomach and sides. She didn't stop until he hit a wall and then she took a half-step back only to land a cross right to his sternum, completely knocking the breath out of him. He buckled and fell to his knees, coughing and dripping blood on the floor.

"Hmph. That's what I thought." Seeming to have lost interest in the beating, she turned to the crowd and pointed. "You two. Yeah, don't think I didn't notice you keeping an eye on the door for him. Grab this looser and get the hell out of my gym. You're all banned for life."

The two men didn't argue but hesitated in moving within Isabella's reach. They waited for her to step back and then propped their buddy up. He clearly couldn't stand on his own, his legs looking like they were having a hard time staying straight.