The Empath Cycle: 2010 Carpe Diem - Book 1

"I'm horny." She declared unnecessarily to the general hilarity. "Will either or both of you butches take care of poor little ol' me?"

They all laughed heartily. Her sexual appetite was the stuff legends are made of.

When they made no move to find a room, and seeing Tamie and Céline begin to get some action of their own, Ann quietly left them all to their own devices and repaired to her room where she had to use one of her own repeatedly before she could go to sleep.

Chapter 3

Ann woke up with thighs covered in cream, her hand sticky and smelling of her come. She didn't remember her dreams, but had a good idea of their subject.

In the shower, after she had soaped and rinsed, she stayed there for long minutes with her head against the wall, dejected. She finished by letting cold water run over her fevered body for as long as she could stand it.

She packed an overnight bag and downed a can of Coke in lieu of her regular breakfast. She had no appetite for... food.

Ann was sitting on the stairs when she saw a bright pink recent four-door Dodge Ram 2500 pick-up turn onto her street. She smiled when she recognized the matching trailer. She hadn't seen the side clearly in the picture so she was amazed by the large airbrush rendering of the classic Big Daddy Ed Roth Rat Fink.

She was still standing on the sidewalk, staring at it when Anne-Marie walked over and gently closed her mouth. Again.

Taking advantage of her dazed mind, the woman stood on tip toes and pulled Ann's head down so she could kiss her cheek. Taking Ann's hand she stood there with her as she seemed to admire the work. In fact, Ann was trying to come to grips with her feelings.

There was no more doubt. Anne-Marie had definitely made a pass at her. She just didn't know what to do about it.

"You have an exceptional artist doing your art work." She said, trying not to sound the complete dork she felt like. "I mean your bike, your car and now this. How much did he charge for the job on your gas tank? I'd sure like to use him if I can afford his prices."

"She's really not expensive." Anne-Marie answered with a grin. "I'm sure she'd do it for a Big Mac."

Ann looked at her, stunned.

"You're kidding, right? That must be worth hundreds of dollars and I don't even want to think how much this must have cost." she said, gesturing at the trailer. "You must be rich."

"I'm not rich at all. I only came into some money a while back."

"Some money? A lot of money you mean. You said you own your house with the two-door garage, you have this recent pick-up which must be a gas guzzler, a motorcycle and a vintage muscle car. The only reason I own a bike is that I rebuilt it almost from scratch from used parts I scavenged from wherever I could find them or machined from specs. Only the engine is new and my brothers chipped in to help me buy it. As for my snowmobile, it's old and held together with bailing wire and a prayer. I hardly ever go out because I can't afford it and I'm lucky to have close friends to share the rent and utilities."

"Everything is relative." Anne-Marie said with a bashful smile. "Let's talk about it in the truck. We have a long road ahead of us."

She gave Ann's hand a gentle squeeze and walked around the pick-up.

Ann saw that her seat had been customized to accommodate her small frame. Looking down, she saw that the pedals had also been adjusted for her shorter legs.

"Wow! I wanted to offer to share the driving, but I see I won't be able to."

"I don't mind driving all the way and back. I love the open road in whichever vehicle I use. Bur if you want to try it, the seat lowers and there's enough room to push it back so the pedal action is fairly comfortable for giants like you." She laughed. "Have you ever driven such a big truck with a trailer, though?"

"I used to drive the farmer's coop eighteen wheeler and delivered hay all over the province. I even drove as far as Manitoba when they had the drought a few years back. I have a class one permit. I think I can manage this."

They laughed together and talked of the road ahead of them until L'Assomption. Then Anne-Marie was quiet for a while. By her thoughtful expression, Ann could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. Eventually, Anne-Marie looked at her briefly, but long enough for Ann to see the tears welling in her eyes. Seeing the road sign, she asked her to stop at the Point du Jour service area for a moment. The woman didn't question her and parked like she was asked.

Once the truck was stopped, Ann took her seat belt off and turned to her. As she had seen before, Anne-Marie was still clutching the steering wheel so hard, her knuckles paled. Gently prying away the hand nearest her, Ann took it gently in hers, massaging it to return some circulation to it.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly.

Anne-Marie tried to turn her head away, but Ann still saw the tears running down her face. She reached over and cupped her cheek to bring her head back around so she could look into her beautiful hazel eyes. Ann brushed away the tears with her thumbs and leaned over the console to deposit a light kiss on each of her eyes. Pulling back a bit, she caught her teary gaze with hers.

"I understand, baby." Ann told her softly. "I feel it too. I've felt it since the first moment I saw you, but I didn't know what to do with my feelings. I'm not used to dealing with this."

"Aren't you a lesbian?" Anne-Marie asked tremulously.

"Yes I am and I dearly hope you are too."

"Oh, I am definitely a lesbian. I'm the black sheep of my family because I won't marry a rich man they will approve of and give them grandchildren."

"Screw them if they can't accept you for who you are." Ann said, vehemently. "You're doing fine on your own."

"Yes I am, but I feel lonely sometimes." Anne-Marie almost whispered.

Ann kissed her softly.

"I can't believe a beautiful, kind, sensitive, funny woman like you is lonely. You must have hordes of women throwing themselves at your feet."

"You'd think so." Ann was happy to see her smile again and to hear her delicate laugh. "Unfortunately, I seem to be too picky and, one way or another, I turn them off. I find femmes too soft and dependant. Butches are usually much too aggressive for my taste. I might as well be dating a man."

Ann laughed uproariously at the statement. It took a while to get back under control because each time she looked at the woman's offended expression, it set her off again.

"I'm sorry. It's just that you clearly haven't met my roommates. Some of them come fairly close to those stereotypes. Others would defy all your expectations in ways you can't imagine."

"What about you? As you were told, we've had our eye on you for a while. I was one of those tasked with scouting you. I liked what I saw and learned. You probably didn't notice me, but I was around often when you socialized with your co-workers. At first, you seemed like a nice enough woman. You looked like you made friends easily and I never saw or heard that you got angry at someone, except your previous boss, obviously. Neither have I heard that you gossiped like most of the other admins."

"How often did you spy on me like that?" Ann asked, blushing.

"Often enough to get an accurate impression of your character in social situations." Anne-Marie answered, blushing too.

"What? Please tell me you weren't there at the company Christmas party last December."

"I... Hum... I..."

"That's not the real me, believe me." Annabelle hastened to say. "I didn't want to go in the first place and a man who was trying to get into my pants thought it would be funny to spike my drink. I didn't notice because he did it gradually, but soon enough, the eggnog was almost pure rum."

"I didn't do him any good, did it?" Anne-Marie grinned wickedly. "I saw you making out with a beautiful blonde on the dance floor, then I lost sight of you. The next thing I knew, both of you were walking back into the ballroom, grinning like fools and disheveled. Her mini-skirt was turned around and your shirt tail was half out of your pants."

"That definitely was not my finest moment. I'm sorry you had to see that. Like I said, that's not the real me. I usually have more class and better taste."

"She was gorgeous!"

"If you think fake boobs and half an inch of make-up is gorgeous, I don't see what you find in me."

"Did you look at yourself in the mirror lately? You're beautiful."

"You need an appointment with the optometrist then. I know I'm plain and I have this ugly bump on my nose as if I had broken it and it was never set properly."

"When we come back, give me a little time and I'll show you what I see in you."

"If you want, sure. What do I have to lose? So you don't think less of me for the Christmas party?"

"Not at all, though I wanted to scratch that woman's eyes out at the time."

"No need, I've never seen her since. I don't even know her name."

"So, you're a 'fuck 'em and leave 'em' type of woman."

"No! No! Not at all. That's the first and last time I did something like that. I told you I didn't know how to deal with my feelings for you. That's because I've never been in a relationship, serious or otherwise. It doesn't mean I'm into one night stands or wild sex with strangers. I only have friends with benefits. I'm always upfront about it when a woman comes on to me and I never do it with strangers. I need to be friends with them first."

"You may think you act like a tough butch, but you're such a femme. You're not into the traditional kind of relationship for sure, but you're doing the next best thing. That's one of the many things I like about you."

"And you? What kind of relationship have you had and are looking for?"

"My first relationship was an affair with a married women, a friend of my mother who took advantage of me as I was discovering my sexuality. Needless to say she broke my heart. It was a long time before I could open myself to another woman. I had a few 'friends with benefit' like yours in College. Then I was in a relationship with a woman which started during my second year at McGill. It lasted three years. We broke up right before I completed my Masters because... I found out that she was the university slut and had cheated on me from the very beginning until at last she fucked a friend of mine who felt so guilty she told me about it all. It seems that everybody knew but me. I felt like such a fool. I've been single since then. I haven't even had sex with a woman these last four years."

Anne-Marie felt guilty for this gross oversimplification, but she this wasn't the moment to go into the details of her sordid past.

"Now I understand why you feel lonely. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to be treated that way. You're such a nice person."

"Thank you. Flattery will get you everywhere, you know."

"It's not flattery when it's true."

"Still, it's nice. It's been such a long time since I've had so many compliments."

"I... Surely you're pulling my leg."

"Not at all. I don't socialize much and, as I told you, I haven't been close to anyone in years."

"Well, neither have I. I have to tell you that's what petrified me the most about you. I felt a strong attraction immediately, but I didn't know how to deal with it. I was tempted to fall back on my usual cowardly escape and ask you to only be friends. Also, I didn't want to risk jeopardizing my new position if we became a couple and broke up at some point. I love what I've seen of the Special Projects Division. You're all mad as a bunch of hatters, but you're my kind of people. I want to fit in and stay around for a long time. I'm even thinking of adjusting my school curriculum to fit my job, but I can't do it right away because I don't even know what it is."

"I can understand your points. It's just that I feel like I know you already. I've been half in love with you for months, only waiting for the opportunity to get close. I was forbidden to do it before you tried out at the division. I apologize if I moved too fast."

"You didn't really. I told you how I felt. What I didn't tell you is that I have absolutely no gaydar and that I didn't know if I should react or not in case you were straight and would be offended by my assumption."

"That's all to your credit and it only reinforces my opinion of you. I notice that you use the past tenses when you speak of your hesitations. Have you changed your mind?"

"I... No... Yes... I don't know. I'm very attracted to you. If I believed in it, I'd almost say it was love at first sight, but I don't. So, what about if we got to know each other as friends before we take things to the next level?"

"That sounds fine to me. May I hold my friend's hand from time to time and does she mind the occasional hug and kiss on the cheek."

"That's fine with me. I'd already noticed that you are a touchy-feely kind of woman."

"I am. I need human contact even if it's only touching the arm of the person I'm talking to."

"All right then. Now we can get back on the road. Sept-Iles is a long way away."

Anne-Marie laughed as she started the truck and got back to the highway.

When Ann put her open hand on the central console, her new friend smiled and put hers in it.

By the time they hit Quebec City, they were comfortable with each other, discovering just how much they had in common.

Ann already knew she was a gearhead like her. Where she learned mechanics from her father and brothers, Anne-Marie had seen a documentary on PBS on engines around the time she discovered she loved science. She had always been good in math, but her passion blossomed in her Introduction to Science class in grade eight. She found that she loved to find out how things worked and, more importantly, why. She never looked at the world around her the same way again. Where she saw beauty, she also saw the reason behind it. Where she saw ordinary everyday things, she saw what made them possible.

Anne-Marie had extremely eclectic tastes in music, from classical to hip hop and punk rock, which she shared with Ann on the truck's mp3 player. Ann's were a little less diverse, going from the classic rock she had grown up with in her parent's house to Celtic music and artists such as Melissa Ethridge, Sarah McLachlan, Loreena McKennitt, Donna Summer, Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco and others which she had discovered only in recent years.

"You're such a lesbian." Anne-Marie laughed. "You couldn't fool anybody who listened to your playlist."

"I never pretended to be anything else." Ann protested. Her friend didn't buy her offended act. Even then, she could see right through her. "I didn't have to come out. It was obvious from the start to anyone who knew me."

"You're very lucky. I had to pretend to be straight for the longest time. Remember the older woman I told you about? She's the one who first outed me to my mother. After that, my parents kept throwing men at me, forcing me to go out with them to 'cure' me. I could only put a stop to it when I turned twenty one and got the first installment of the trust fund my grandmother had set up for me. I moved out and never looked back. They tried to break up the trust to punish me, but the old lady had better lawyers than theirs. I got the second part when I turned twenty five. The last is held in reserve until later."

"So that's what you meant when you said you came into some money. Good for you then. I'm glad you can be financially independent from your family. They sound like really ugly people."

"You've got to understand. They're rich and very influential, so they're used to things going the way they want. They're not bad people, I suppose. They only have a skewed view of the world and they won't learn new tricks."

"Still, if I had a wonderful daughter like you, I'd want her to be happy whatever her choices in life were."

"Thank you." She lifted Ann's hand to her mouth and kissed her fingers. "I love your compliments. They sound so sincere."

"They are, baby. When I'm around you, my brain bypasses any filter and things come out like I feel them."

"That's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me."

They stopped in Tadoussac for a seafood lunch. Anne-Marie said she loved seafood in general and lobster in particular. She asked if Ann was having it too before ordering. She didn't want to gross her out by being the only one to eat garlic butter.

"Who eats lobster without garlic butter?" Ann laughed.

At one point, as she was gorging on her second lobster, Ann almost choked when she felt a bare foot caress her calf.

"You're way past holding hands or hugging, friend." She whispered to Anne-Marie in the crowded restaurant.

"I'm sorry. I got carried away. I won't do it again until you give me permission."

"Oh! I didn't say I minded. You just surprized me."

"So...?"

Ann answered by slipping her sandal off and lifting her foot to Anne-Marie' leg. Thanks to her longer legs, she could reach her thigh. At one point, she was sure she could feel heat radiating from the woman's crotch through the sole of her foot. It turned Ann on so much that she stretched as much as she could and, reaching under Anne-Marie's mini-skirt, rubbed her toes against her 'friend's' crotch.

Anne-Marie jumped and choked on a mouthful of lobster tail. Ann rushed around the table and pounded on her back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you so. I only meant to repay you in kind."

"That's all right. Really. It's one thing to play footsies. It's another to tease me like that if you don't mean it."

"I... I..." Ann stammered. Leaning to her ear, she whispered. "I meant it, baby."

Before Anne-Marie could reply, she moved back to her seat.

They gulped the rest of their lunch and were at the counter before the waitress came over to ask if they wanted coffee and dessert, much less bring the check. While Ann waited impatiently to pay, she felt a hand squeeze her ass. A low moan escaped her lips before she could stop herself. She blushed to the tip of her ears when the cashier looked at her and grinned.

Ann reached back without looking, only meaning to remove the hand, but found herself cupping Anne-Marie's mound. She dared a quick flick of the finger on her clit before removing her hand.

When she turned from paying, Anne-Marie was nowhere to be seen. Ann walked out of the restaurant. She looked toward the truck where she could barely see the top of her friend's head over the steering wheel. Ann took the long way so Anne-Marie wouldn't see her coming if she hadn't already spotted her coming out.

As Ann suspected, she was slumped in her seat, eyes shut tight, a hand under her camisole, kneading her breast while the other was furiously fingering her pussy.

Ann opened her door as quietly as she could and sat. Anne-Marie's eyes opened, but they were glazed to such an extent than Ann was not entirely sure she saw her. Ann wet two fingers and reached over to join the activity. She had a clear view of her goal as Anne-Marie had lifted her short skirt up and pulled her small pink panties to the side.

She jumped when Ann's fingers touched her pearl, but didn't stop for a second.

"Aaaaaah! Yesssssss!" She moaned.

In seconds, she was shaking as if seized by a grand mal, then she closed her thighs, imprisoning Ann's hand under hers tightly against her pulsating pussy.

She was still shaking when she released it and slumped in her seat, limp, drool leaking from the corner of her mouth. When she opened her eyes, Ann took her hand and brought it to her lips. She was surprized at the amount of cream on it, but cleaned it thoroughly, giving the palm a sensual tongue licking before bringing her fingers inside her drooling mouth and sucking them clean. All the while, Ann held her gaze, trying to convey what she felt deep down.

"I... I didn't mean for you to see this." Anne-Marie said tremulously. "I couldn't take it anymore. I know I started with the teasing, but I got caught at my own game."