Love Candles Ch. 01

Trudy left Holborn tube station with her heart beating like a drum, positively fizzing with anticipation for if she played her cards right in the next two or three hours she'd be having passionate sex with Della van Kousen. For most of the time Trudy had known her, -- about a year in all -- she'd just been a voice on a phone. The first and until now, only time they'd met face-to-face was when Della had accompanied their mutual boss down to the Swindon office approximately six months earlier. The two 'pear-shaped' brunettes hit it off immediately and when Trudy had discovered whilst on their lunch break that like her, Della was into women that had been the cherry on top.

Of course that feeling had been short-lived as Trudy had discovered this fact in the context of Della showing her pictures of her live-in girlfriend. Trudy consoled herself with the fact that it had been highly unlikely that anything would have happened during Della's visit anyway. It wasn't as if she was staying overnight in a hotel like their boss sometimes did. But things had changed in the months following. Trudy had successfully applied for a different job which would bring her to London to live and work. The job in question was Della's own. Della was moving back to her native Holland following her break-up with her girlfriend, the break-up having taken place mere weeks after the Swindon visit. This was all gleaned from a coffee break they'd taken together on Trudy's first day in London.

The visit had started on the Tuesday when Trudy had finished work a few minutes early to catch the London Paddington train. She'd checked into her hotel -- the Premiere Inn on St. Martin's Lane, only a four or five minute walk from her company's UK headquarters that evening. The purpose of the visit was for Della to show Trudy how to do the job and for Trudy to view a number of flats that the company had helped find for her to choose to live in. The former activity had spanned the whole of Wednesday, Thursday & Friday morning, leaving the afternoon and the whole of Saturday to view eight flats in various parts of West & South London.

As it happened Trudy picked the second of the three flats she was to view that Friday afternoon and thus the third viewing that afternoon along with the five viewings next day were all cancelled. Trudy now had the whole of Saturday and most of Sunday to do as she pleased in her favourite city before catching the train home Sunday evening, all on the company. The first thing she intended to do was to sleep with Della! Following their conversation over coffee on the Wednesday, Trudy had started to work her 'magic' to get Della to go to dinner with her, preferably on either the Friday or Saturday night on the pretence that Della would be at a loose end on those two nights, all alone in the big city. Trudy was pleased when Della agreed to meet her for dinner at a Dutch-themed restaurant just off New Oxford Street on the Friday evening. It had taken a little convincing for Della to go along with it as she said she had a friend's party to attend near Maidenhead on the Saturday night and didn't want a 'late night out' two evenings in a row and they'd have to meet early so she could get home early.

After leaving the office of the property-letting agency where she'd signed for the flat she'd picked, Trudy had taken the tube to Oxford Street and made straight for the branch of Harmony where she bought a matching black lace bra & panty set and a pair of sheer-black crotchless suspender-tights she'd seen on her prior visit. Trudy was a voluptuous and shapely size fourteen but she sometimes had to do a little more hunting around when it came to lingerie that suited her as despite the advent of specialist 'plus-size brands' it appeared to be geared more to the size six to ten contingent. However, for the basics like now, it was simply a case of finding something that fit. She'd had ample opportunity to pop to the shops as they were open until 8.00 the two previous evenings and she had indeed availed herself of the opportunity to along with Ann Summers and Victoria Secrets, but not wishing to jinx anything, Trudy refrained from actually buying anything until the last minute lest Della cancel on her. She found herself rushing to get back to her hotel room which was little more than a windowless box with partitions for the shower, toilet/washbasin and the bed.

She stripped off the puffy white blouse and cravat, black pinstripe pencil-skirt, black flats, sheer-to-waste gloss tights, matching white bra & panties she'd worn that day and took a shower. Drying off she'd made her short, crew-cut hair as vibrant as she could with what she'd either packed or subsequently bought from a nearby branch of Boots and after applying deodorant, make-up, jewellery & perfume, unpacked the underwear she'd just bought and put it on. She sensuously slid the tights on, one leg at a time, feeling the sheer black nylon sail up her silky-smooth legs in almost one tug. After straightening the sheer waste band of the nylons that functioned as a suspender belt just below her navel she slipped on the panties followed by a black sleeveless cocktail dress and heels which she'd brought with her on the off chance that she'd be going out. Completing the ensemble with a black cardigan and a shiny leather handbag, she headed to Leicester Square tube station and a short ride later found her self outside the restaurant. She expected to have to wait for her date but was pleased to find Della already there.

Like Trudy, Della was in her late-twenties and broadly the same build. However, whereas Trudy was 5"6, Della was more 'compact' at 5"1 and so appeared to be larger. Both women sported round 'baby faces' with naturally red cheeks that made them quite cute and appealing. Della wore her hair long & curly and wasn't wearing quite as much make-up or jewellery as Trudy, not that Trudy had overdone it on that score either. Her outfit comprised a tight-fitting black dress, but hers was long-sleeve and knee-length and more suited to the late-March evening than Trudy's perhaps was. The outfit was rounded out by a pair of black fishnets and black flats. The combination of flats with nylons was a combo Trudy disdained, especially if it was when the person was 'dressed up'. Trudy only wore flats with dresses/skirts & nylons if she had a lot of standing around or rushing about to do.

"Have you been waiting long for me?" Trudy asked. She approached Della and planted a perfectly platonic kiss on each cheek. A gesture Della reciprocated.

"No, only about five minutes." Della replied in perfect English. When she'd first spoken to Della all those months earlier, Trudy had thought that she was either American or Canadian. She'd been genuinely surprised to hear she was actually Dutch and that English wasn't her first language.

"You look terrific. I particularly like the fishnets, very sexy." Trudy said, deliberately focussing on the only visible part of her underwear to see her reaction and omitting her dislike for Della's choice of footwear. Della playfully performed a pirouette for Trudy on tiptoes and Trudy was pleased that her dining companion had been perfectly fine with her comment about her hosiery.

"You look quite well turned out yourself," Della noted, "Shall we?"

They entered the restaurant which had soft lighting and even softer music playing in the background. There was a low ceiling with exposed wooden beams and in addition to an L-shaped bar with half-a-doze bar stools there were perhaps twenty circular tables with four chairs at each cardinal point and a candle in the centre. Only three of the tables were occupied.

"It's because it's only 6.50 and also there aren't too many Dutch tourists in town at this point. You come in here at 8.00 on any night -- particularly a Friday or Saturday between mid-April and mid-September and you'd have an extra five tables set up and every one would be occupied."

"It sounds like you come in here a lot." Trudy noted.

"It reminds me of home. Perhaps not the with regards décor," She gestured to prints of paintings by Dutch impressionist painters adorning the walls, "But the food and ambience."

They opted to go straight to their table -- they had their pick of the nine available ones -- and ordered drinks. Neither initially requested alcohol, Trudy because she wasn't a heavy drinker ('Dry January' wasn't much of a challenge for her) and Della because she was 'saving herself' for the following night. They also both passed on the starters and just made small talk. Much of it was rehashing what they'd discussed before. Della talked about her upbringing in the Netherlands and how her parents met and what brought her to the UK.

"People think because of our marijuana cafes and red-light districts we're a liberal and tolerant society, but not in small communities like mine. When I realised I only liked women I knew I needed to get away to somewhere more cosmopolitan, so I came her to study and ultimately work."

"Why go back, if it's not conducive to your lifestyle?" asked Trudy.

'There are too many memories associated with here. Though I don't rule out returning to live here in the future." Della replied.

Further conversation was put on hold when their meal arrived. A hearty affair washed down with a glass of wine each. Despite her earlier protestations about not drinking too much that night, when the waiter came to take their plates away and ask about desert, Della demurred and asked instead for a second glass of wine -- a large one. Trudy chose the desert instead, a bowl of ice cream, followed by a coffee. Eventually there was an empty coffee cup in front of Trudy and an empty wine glass in front of Della.

"If I'm not being too personal, have you had a lot of sex in your life?" Della asked sheepishly.

"At last, sex talk!" Trudy thought.

"A fair bit. Mainly with women, though I've had sex with men, I've even had a couple of relationships with them. But I prefer women." Her eyes darted up to meet Della's gaze.

"When I came to London, on my first weekend I, as you say in England 'made a beeline' for the bars and nightclubs that women who like women frequent, but I was too nervous to actually go in. Instead I wandered around Soho and was propositioned by men, not very nice men at that. Eventually, after a month or so a classmate of mine who was also into women took me under her wing."

"And she was your first?" Trudy asked. Della laughed out load as if it was the funniest thing she'd heard.

"No, what I mean is that she took me to the bars and clubs she went to and showed me how to talk to women and how to pick up or be picked up, as well as the types of women to avoid. In no time thanks to her I was fucking almost every weekend. I lost count of the number of women I've slept with over the years. Natalie, my ex, was the first and only woman I've ever had an actual relationship with."

Della had been speaking loud enough to be clearly heard by a middle-aged couple who'd entered the restaurant after them and taken a neighbouring table. Trudy noticed them giving her and Della 'the evil eye' muttering something to each other which she suspected was about them and less than complimentary. She wasn't sure whether it was Della's use of the F-word or from the overheard conversation they'd gleaned that Della (and also probably Trudy) weren't straight and disapproved of such things or both, but she gave each of them a long, hard stare. After a moment they broke the stare and made a show of consulting their menus.

"I was a complete whore if I'm honest pre-Natalie," Della continued, albeit in a lower voice, "I watched lots of porn, but most of it was aimed at men and I had to put up with many fake, over the top orgasms and women giving dildos, vibrators and strap-ons 'blow-jobs' before stuffing them into either theirs or their partner's pussies. Unless you count licking cum off them afterward, I've only stuck a sex-toy in my mouth like that once and that was because I was out of lube and the woman I was with had a tight, not overly-moist pussy."

"I know what you mean. Most porn is geared towards blokes. But there's some good stuff out there. Even some of the stuff for men can be good if it's well acted and is as you say, not over the top. As for your figure, I think you look great and I've never had an issue with my body shape. I feel very sexy in this body." Trudy was starting to feel damp between her legs. Her panties were definitely getting wet with the turn the conversation had taken and her heartbeat was once more racing with excitement and anticipation. Trudy just hoped with Della it wasn't the drink talking.

"Since Nat and I broke up I've gone back to my old ways. I've been picking up girls on nights out. One of the reasons I'm going to the party tomorrow is to get some action. My friend's parties have a well-deserved reputation for that." Della said her tone confessional.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Trudy opined.

"Can I tell you something else?" Della asked her voice now little more than a whisper prompting her to lean closer to Trudy to be heard.

"Sure." Trudy said, mentally crossing her fingers that Della was going to proposition her.

"I agreed to go to dinner with you, because I know you also like girls. I was hoping to take you back to my flat and fuck you."

"Well." Trudy began, brass bands playing and fireworks erupting in celebration in her head, but adopted a poker face to tease Della.

"I'm sorry. I hope I haven't offended, angered, or frightened you even." Della hastily added, her face flush.

"I've only one response to that." Turning to a nearby waiter, Trudy called out loudly, grinning from ear to ear, "Waiter, the bill please, we're in a hurry!"

They didn't 'go Dutch' in the Dutch restaurant rather Trudy paid for it all, planning on charging it to expenses. They passed the table with the couple who'd given them dirty looks earlier.

"I'm going back to her place now for some hot girl-on-girl lesbo sex action." Trudy said to them conspiratorially. She almost laughed herself silly at the expression of shock on their faces when they heard what she said.

When Trudy joined Della on the street Della had already managed to hail a taxi and the two girls jumped in. Della gave the cab driver the address of her flat in Putney and the taxi sped off. During the ride the two women merely sat next to each other, holding hands and occasionally exchanging glances, giggling in nervous anticipation. The drive seemed to last forever, taking some thirty-five minutes via the A308 & Putney Bridge. They turned onto a side street just off Lower Richmond Road and Trudy went to pay and charge it to expenses.

"I insist. Whilst you maybe able to explain away paying for two meals, you couldn't necessarily explain getting a taxi to my street." said Della beating Trudy to the punch and swiping her debit card, as the taxi roared off and the two women walked down the road to Della's flat.

They reached the flat located inside one of a terrace of bay-windowed red-brick houses. Della let them in and with Della in the lead Trudy walked up a flight of stairs to the first floor. Where once there was a landing which had run the length of the first floor, separating it into two with a front-half containing two bedrooms, one large and one small and the rear containing a third bedroom and a bathroom, it now ran only a third of the length with a door to the left with a lock. They walked in, Della switching on a light into what was the two front bedrooms now knocked into a single combined living room with two windows, one a bay, curtains already drawn. There wasn't much furniture with stacks of books piled up on the floor rather than bookshelves.

"I'm in the middle of packing up." Della explained. After asking Trudy to make herself at home she disappeared, presumably into the bedroom. Whilst there was a shortage of storage furniture, there were not one, but two settees, one, a two-seater against a wall facing the chimney breast on which hung a large LCD TV, and a three-seater facing the windows. Both settees were 'hidden' beneath mounds of extra-large cushions.

Trudy hung her cardigan and handbag on a hat stand in the hallway and used the bathroom, noting that it contained a bath as well as a shower which was a novelty in flats in this day and age. She could see light from the gap beneath the bedroom door which was closed, though not on the latch as she exited the bathroom into the dark hallway. Returning to the living room she sat down on the three-seater and removed her shoes crossing her stockinged legs one over the other whilst she waited and gently massaged her toes through their nylon covering.

After a few moments the door to the living room swung open and Della pranced in humming David Rose's 'The Stripper'.

"Da Da Da Daaa, Da Da Da Daaaaa..." She wore a semi-transparent, purple silk 'teddy', figure-hugging with an exposed crotch and the black fishnets she'd worn during the evening were revealed to be stockings. Unselfconsciously she strutted around in front of Trudy and soon pulled the twin globes of her boobs out of the confines of the teddy (which had an exposed 'v' down the front), her erect nipples and out-sized areolas transfixed Trudy. In her hand was a pink candle, about two inches high and three across, set in a Perspex candle-holder with a handle just like a mug or cup.

"I think I'm a little too over-dressed." noted Trudy when Della stopped humming, and began to remove her own clothes. She stepped out of her dress followed by her knickers and bra.

"Please leave the pantyhose on." Della asked as she busied herself with the candle.

"I intend to. It's why I wore crotchless suspender tights and my knickers over them, easy access." Trudy cooed.

Smiling back at Trudy, Della lit the candle with a match and brought it close to her face and took in the sweet, cherry-vanilla odour emanating from it.

"I have a real fetish for stockings & pantyhose, sorry tights. I love the look of them on me and the feel against my skin. I also like how they look and feel on my lovers." Della was still stooped over the candle, inhaling the tendril like wisps of vapour extending from the wick.

"Ditto, I really like them to." Trudy said. "That candle smells really, really nice and fragrant. Even from over here."

"It's not just the smell that's nice." Della said and joined Trudy on the settee.

"Oh." Trudy was intrigued.

"Yes. This is a very special candle with aphrodisiac qualities designed to take lovemaking to new heights." Della explained.

"How is that?" Trudy asked, feeling a little strange, though not in a bad or nauseous way, but in a nice, slightly intoxicated way as she to inhaled the smoke emanating from it. She could also feel her clit tingle.

"I don't know what kind of aphrodisiacs they are, but from experience I can confirm they certainly work. I'm already feeling the effects and I can see from your swollen clit and nipples that so are you."

Della continued to hold the candle under Trudy's nostrils. Under different circumstances Trudy might have been reluctant, especially if a man had been involved as it could have been a date-rape drug, but she'd shared more than a few 'joints' over the years and inhaled 'poppers', was going to have sex with Della anyway and so with an 'in for a penny, in for a pound' attitude and with Della grinning from ear to ear in triumph, Trudy deeply inhaled the smoke.

"Breathe it in deeply, but gently." Della coached her. After a moment, Della held the scented candle under Trudy's nose once more and Trudy did as Della suggested. They took turns inhaling the intoxicating perfume.

"This isn't illegal or harmful is it?" Trudy found herself asking, but seemingly from far away as if she was speaking for someone else as for her part, she'd grown disinterested.