Words Made Flesh: Bound

"Well, hold on a minute," Estelle stumbled over her words, "how-wha...you mean...you don't have a place to live? Just because you two had an argument?" A wave of guilt rushed over Estelle as she theorized that they might have not fought if she hadn't kicked Dion out of the store. After all, isn't that what Angelo was thanking her for, in a roundabout way? She glanced over at her boss, who had her arms folded and was surveying the conversation without apology.

"What?" Estelle snapped, glaring back.

"What? Oh, me? Nothing...nothing at all," the manager said as she quickly turned away and found something else to do. The irritated employee turned her attention back to Angelo.

"So, I was wondering...what kind of music do you play?" Estelle asked in a friendly manner.

"Oh, um...all kinds, really. I'm into rock, goth, pop...it really doesn't matter."

"Really? You seriously play both goth and pop?"

"Yeah; why?" Angelo asked, wondering if he was going to need to defend his tastes.

"I just think that's awesome. I actually got my keyboard out yesterday after talking to you and I've been looking for a kind of sound that blends those styles you just mentioned, plus a few more and," Estelle caught herself babbling to avoid what she really wanted to ask. "Listen, I feel really bad for being the cause of your break-up."

"What? You're not the cause-"

"and if you need a place to stay for a day..." Estelle's voice trailed off because the look on Angelo's face told her that he understood what she was getting at. The sudden cease of papers shuffling told Estelle that her boss was still very much paying attention to their conversation. Sensing that he was about to decline, she added, "or at least come over for awhile so that you can hear me make a fool of myself with my keyboard."

After a long, uncomfortable pause, Angelo opened his mouth to speak.

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

The opening of the bedroom door startled Sophia, and she barely had time to minimize the Instant Messaging window before Amelia walked in. Sophia realized, too late, that the chime of Alessa's response would betray her activities. Sure enough, the short ring attracted Amelia's attention and she strolled up to the desk.

"Hey sweetie; who ya talking to?" Amelia asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, no one," Sophia's voice made no effort to conceal her alarm.

"No one?"

"You know; just someone I'm interviewing for the book."

"Really?" Amelia asked, not at all fooled, "then why would you feel the need to hide the IM window?" The red-head's long hair brushed across Sophia's face as she leaned down and whispered, "is my new room mate flirting?"

Sophia felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. There was simply no way out of this one. Another chime let her know that Alessa was still attempting to interact with her. Before she could object, Amelia placed her hand over Sophia's and manipulated the mouse to open the IM box back up. A playfully sensual dialogue greeted her eyes as she scanned the computer screen. Much to Sophia's horror, she began to read the words aloud.

"Masoch-grrl lies obediently on the concrete slab, her back involuntarily -- wow, big word -- arches in response to the stinging cold. Mmm, very nice girl."

"I didn't mean it, it just happened."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me lover. There's nothing wrong with a little cyber sex. It's not like you two are going to meet, right?" Amelia didn't noticed Sophia's silence at this question. "Ahhh...it looks like Alessa75 still wants to play." Amelia snuck her free hand around Sophia's shoulders and began to massage her breast through her shirt. "Don't be shy; it looks like you've got quite the scenario worked out here."

As petrified as Sophia was at the suggestion of continuing to flirt in front of her lover, she couldn't ignore the spark beginning to ignite between her legs. Amelia seemed to sense this, for she lifted her hand from Sophia's and used it to tease the back of her lover's neck. Sophia's body answered with a subtle quiver.

"Type, my love. Tell her what you want her to do to you." Amelia whispered into Sophia's ear before taking the fleshy lobe into her mouth. A quiet whimper escaped the dark-haired girl's mouth. Her hands shook slightly as they hovered over the keyboard. Finally the fingers danced briskly on the caps.

Amelia observed the letters that emerged from the cursor gliding across the screen. This was a rare opportunity to find out all the naughty things going on in her lover's mind that she was afraid to confess. She kept her head next to Sophia's and occasionally darted her tongue against her pale neck. Amelia wondered just how aroused her little student had become, and decided to investigate. Her fingers slid underneath Sophia's skirt and lightly pressed against the panties within. As Amelia suspected, they were saturated.

"Oh...oh love," Sophia cooed out loud as she continued to type out her fantasies. Her calf muscles tightened when her girlfriend traced the edges of her panties with her fingers. The sensation of her underwear being lifted and moved to one side made Sophia type with increased speed. She was so invested in the dialogue now that Sophia barely noticed that she was spreading her legs open, inviting her lover to explore further. What did manage to break her concentration, however, was when Amelia plunged two fingers into her sex. "God!" she cried out, but kept her eyes on the screen before her.

"Ooh, look at that. She wants to fuck you with the end of her whip," Amelia noticed as she read the monitor, "can you feel the handle inside you now, Sophia?"

"Oh...oh yes," Sophia replied, still unbelieving that her lover would indulge her in someone else's fantasy.

"Ask her if she's putting it in gently or hard." Amelia commanded.

Sophia typed the question, then read aloud, "hard." To match Alessa's words, Amelia began to masturbate her lover with firmer and faster thrusts. Sophia gasped and lifted her hips to meet Amelia's hand wantonly.

"Oh you like that, do you?" Amelia asked with delight.

"Oh, yes," Sophia murmured in between breaths.

"Don't tell me; tell her."

Sophia did as she was told and pressed keys in a flurry. She was barely aware of the cohesion in her sentences. Alessa didn't appear to mind, however, for she was still feeding Sophia's fantasies with uninhibited descriptions. Every new word that appeared on the screen reached deeper into Sophia's well of desire, emphasized by Amelia's fingers being shoved into her sex. Her hands trembled and were unable to find the letters they were searching so desperately for. They flailed until Sophia could not bear to concentrate any longer. She had no choice but to give herself up completely to the waves of pleasure crashing down on her and smothering her will to care about anything else. Her body tensed and she gripped the edge of the desk with sweaty palms. Her posture was still as the waves enveloped her.

"Will you breathe already?" A slightly alarmed Amelia's voice brought Sophia back to earth. Her body obeyed and began to pant heavily. "Wow, that was a really good one, huh?" Amelia asked, apparently quite proud of herself. Sophia nodded in agreement.

Alessa seemed to know that the session had reached its climax, for she waited patiently for Sophia to type the next message. The dark-haired cyber-Sub brought her hands back to the keyboard. They were much more lethargic this time. Amelia smiled as she watched her lover slowly type a string of exclamations and praises.

"Ok lover; time to let your E-sex buddy go," Amelia said as she stood up and kissed Sophia lightly on the top of her head, "we've got shopping to do."

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

Raquel took one step into Trevor's home and had to stop, for she was stunned at what she saw. Gone was the adolescent décor, the clinging remnants from high school. There was not a single poster of a rock star or dragon with its tail wrapped around a scantily-clad woman. Instead, a single dream catcher was suspended from one of the walls. It looked to have about a two foot radius, and several feathers hung from it. Despite her fascination with it, her eyes cold not resist wandering over to the new glass cabinet that stood next to the entertainment center. It was full of strange items that she never recalled Trevor having any interest in before. On the center shelf rested a crystal ball on a stand. On either side sat two golden pyramids.

"My goodness Trevor, you've..." Raquel struggled to find the right words to express her awe.

"Redecorated?" Trevor finished for her.

"Yeah! I can't believe how- " Raquel began again, but was distracted by the smell of strawberries, "are you burning incense?"

"Yeah; it's called 'strawberry fields'. I find this particular flavor rather invigorating."

"Yeah, um...what's going on?" Raquel asked impatiently.

"I just wanted a change of lifestyle. Nothing wrong with that, is there?" Trevor tried to answer innocently. The look on his friend's face told him that she required further elaboration. "Look...come sit down. Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," Raquel replied as she found her way to the couch without taking her eyes off of Trevor, who soon joined her.

"I've been doing some thinking about the direction that my life's been going. After I lost Sophia, I was so humiliated that all I could think about was getting revenge. And when Kaylin came along and fed those negative emotions, it felt so good to have someone understand how I felt. After all, she'd been through the same kind of heart break with Estelle. I thought that we shared a connection."

Although most of this was old news to her, Raquel listened politely.

"I had become this hateful person that let someone use me for her personal gain. And the thing was...I knew it. The whole time, I knew that she didn't really care about me. But when Kaylin dumped me...that was when I realized that I had hit rock bottom. I couldn't have been a more pathetic person if I tried. That's when I knew that I had to take a good, hard look at my life and start making some changes."

"Well, that's good that you decided that," Raquel interjected, "but what kind of changes are these? How does a pyramid help you make better decisions about your life?"

"I met someone online who practiced Wicca. She helped me find a path that was right for me. I even study with her." Trevor obviously took pride in what he was saying, for his voice became more enthusiastic.

Raquel, however, was less than impressed. "Trevor, why didn't you tell me? I would have helped you. How long have we been friends?" In response to his stalled answer, she added, "we could have prayed together."

"That's just not something that I wanted to do. I needed something new; something different."

"Different?" Raquel sounded as confused as she did hurt. "But why?"

"Look," Trevor was aware that his words had to be carefully chosen, "what you believe in...there's nothing wrong with it. It's right for you; but it's just not right for me."

"Jesus is right for everyone."

Trevor eyed the floor and sighed heavily. "I was hoping that the difference in our beliefs wouldn't get in the way of our friendship."

"Trevor! You will always be my friend. This has nothing to do with that. This has to do with- " Raquel began to get flustered, "Nevermind. I have to leave." Raquel got up and let herself out, while Trevor kept his eyes on the floor. After the door closed, he sighed again while bringing his legs up so that they were under him, closed his eyes and began meditating.

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

Amelia rolled her eyes at the screaming male vocals competing with loud, crunching guitars on the car radio. Sophia was banging her head intently with every harsh, rib-shaking beat, clearly oblivious to her girlfriend's annoyance. The leather-clad driver was at least grateful that her passenger wasn't singing along with the song. As if reading and misinterpreting Amelia's thoughts, Sophia opened her mouth and belted out the lyrics.

"It's the beginning of the end, and I don't know where we lost control," Sophia shouted at the window with a scrunched up face.

"When did you start listening to metal?"

"What?"

"WHEN DID- " Amelia sighed in frustration and turned the volume down. "When did you start listening to such violent music? That's the kind of shit that Kaylin used to listen to."

"Oh, so I'm not allowed to listen to it because one of your girlfriend's ex-girlfriends listened to it?"

"Don't put words in my mouth! I'm just...not fond of it is all."

"You want me to put something else in your mouth?" Sophia said with a dark smile.

Amelia glanced over at her, but then did a double-take. Perhaps she was imagining it, but it sure seemed like her lover's face was missing that quality of innocence that she found so attractive. Amelia figured that it was simply because Sophia was becoming quite the experienced woman. Thinking of it in those terms made her feel a sense of accomplishment, and she merely returned the smile.

They arrived at the mall shortly, heading straight for the bookstore. They had to share an umbrella, for it was pouring and neither wished to get soaked. Amelia was sure that the reason they received a couple of stares was because of the way their fingers were interlocked, wrapped around the umbrella's handle. Sophia seemed not to notice, however, and politely held the door open for her girlfriend.

"Hmph," Amelia complained, "you'd think that these people never saw a couple of lesbians before."

"Of course they haven't," Sophia replied nonchalantly, "Have you dear? Do you know any lesbians?" she asked an older lady who passed through the door that she continued to hold open. The older lady offered a surprised glance, then hurried out irritably. Amelia's jaw dropped at her girlfriend's boldness.

"What was THAT?" Amelia asked.

"What? That was just me trying to be friendly to the locals," Sophia replied innocently.

"Come on," Amelia took her girlfriend's hand and led her over to the LGBT section of the bookstore. "You know, you're turning out to be quite the vixen," Amelia said proudly as she glowed at Sophia.

"I learned from the best," Sophia answered slyly.

"You're damn right you did. Don't ever forget it, either."

Sophia was about to retort, but was distracted by the cover of a book on black and white bondage photography. The photo on the front featured a tall woman standing over another one who was hogtied. She had a black leather flogger in her hand and a spiked heel dug into the submissive woman's hip. Spellbound, Sophia picked up the book. Without regard to the bemused girlfriend, she began flipping through the pages. Her eyes took as much in as they could as fragments of spiked collars and leather corsets as they sped past. Finally one photo caught her attention enough to make her stop.

On the concrete ground lied a young woman with long, dark hair just like Sophia's. She was blindfolded with a black cloth, and her naked body was completely bound by several layers of rope. It was fairly obvious that the woman could not escape even if she wanted to. She rested on her right side, and her legs and arms met behind her, tied together. Her nipples were hard, proving that the floor was just as cold as it looked. One detail that stood out was that there was a line of rope that been placed within the folds of the woman's pussy.

Sophia felt her sex getting wet from just looking at the photo. She squeezed her legs together to keep the cream from escaping. With this rekindled hunger, she showed the picture to Amelia. She licked her lips for emphasis.

"Ugh," Amelia frowned, "that's so pathetic. Why would someone do that to themselves?"

"You...you don't like it?" Sophia asked.

"No, sorry. Not my thing. Next!" Amelia said as she wandered over to another section.

Sophia stood staring dejectedly at her lover. How could someone who relished sexual control over others simply dismiss such an obvious indulgence? Didn't she notice how aroused Sophia had become?

"Oh...isn't that a shame?" Kaylin's voice said sarcastically as she stepped out from behind the bookcase.

"Shut up," Sophia warned.

"What? So not only are you talking to your delusions, but now you're telling them to shut up?" Kaylin mocked, "Oh, this is a good sign."

"What do you know anyway? Why are you even here?"

"Because apparently I'm who you associate with this part of yourself. I didn't choose it; you did. So don't act so arrogant about it."

"God, what the hell's wrong with me?"

"For starters, you placing any faith that your beloved Dom would give a fuck about how you truly feel."

"She's not my Dom; she's just my girlfriend." Sophia said internally as she looked away.

"Oh, well isn't that too bad," Kaylin continued as she stepped in front of Sophia's gaze, "if only there was someone else we knew who would be willing to take the role of Dom. Who understood and respected our fantasies. Can you think of anyone?"

Sophia could not resist staring into Kaylin's eyes. She felt as though she were looking at herself; or one of her possible selves. It was hard to tell, as not much made sense anymore. She barely even recognized the feelings inside her. Resigned, she decided to answer Kaylin's question.

"Alessa."

"Good girl."

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

Amelia giggled as she reached into her pocket for her keys. The two women were in no hurry to reach the front door, for they were currently discussing the book that they had just purchased for Estelle ('Sticky sheets: 101 ways to bring candy into the bedroom'), and they expected her to be home.

"Knowing our girl, we're going to need to specify that this does not actually make the bed sheets edible."

"Oh come on now," Sophia smiled back, "she's not a ditz. She wouldn't go that far."

"Are you kidding? Remember the Willie Wonka movie where he eats the cup? Yeah, she saw that when she was six. Let's just say that they had to take her to the emergency room."

"No!"

"Mmhmm," Amelia laughed even harder, "and then she made the mistake of telling me! She doesn't use tea cups when she's around me anymore."

"Don't tell me you make fun of her over that! Oh that's just cruel!" Sophia tried to sound sympathetic, but couldn't keep the bursts of giggles from erupting.

"Hey," Amelia stated matter-of-factly, "she knew what she was signing on for when we got together. Don't tell her I told you that though; she'll kill me in my sleep."

"Oh, I am SO never telling you ANYTHING!" Sophia said through an unrepressed grin.

After taking an extended moment to hush each other's laughter, Amelia finally opened the front door. Both women made their way over to the living room, where they saw Angelo sitting on the couch with this week's health drink of choice in his hand. Amelia stopped in her tracks, and Sophia, unprepared, bumped into her. Angelo looked up at them and froze. Everyone was completely silent. Suddenly Estelle strolled out of the spare bedroom, oblivious to the awkwardness.

Amelia was the first to speak. "Estelle?" She asked as she pried her eyes away form the blonde boy sitting in her living room to look at her girlfriend.

"Yes?" Estelle answered cheerfully.

"Why is there a...boy...in our house?"

"He's my new friend. And don't be so rude," Estelle smiled as though this was the most normal thing in the world. Before anyone could ask further questions, she began introducing everyone. "He's going to listen to me play, and then we might even put a band together. Isn't that awesome?"

Amelia's head seemed to have forgotten which motion meant 'yes' because it was circulating and twitching slightly. Her mouth was gaping as she searched for something, anything appropriate to say that might conceal her shock. Finally her head managed to nod as she plastered a smile to her face.