Chapter Fourteen
Sophia
“Get dressed. We're having a girls day with the rest of the old ladies. The men are on daddy duty,” Hallie told Sophia a couple days after she'd gotten her tattoo. She hadn't shown it to anyone yet, but she knew she needed to at least tell Indi since she went back to work soon.
“Girls day? You mean I finally get to attend your coveted event?” Sophia teased.
"Watch it, brat. I can always leave you here,” Hallie told her and Sophia laughed.
“Noted. Be right back.” She rushed to her room to change since she'd been relaxing in lounge pants and a long sleeve shirt.
When she returned a short time later, she had on jeans and a flannel shirt with only the first button undone over a tank top along with her ever present boots.
“We're picking up Ronnie, Rose, and Ivy before we meet the others at Indi's so we can all head to Westfarms Mall together,” Hallie told her as they headed out to Hallie’s SUV.
“Sounds good. I'm really excited about this. I've wanted an invite for a while.”
“Aw, we should have invited you sooner. Honestly, we weren't sure you'd want to hang out with all of us since most of us have babies.”
“I understand. I'm not upset. I promise,” Sophia assured her.
“Hey, Soph!” Rose said as she got in the backseat. “Are you ready for some fun?”
“Yes indeed!” Sophia replied.
She got a similar greeting from Ronnie and Ivy before they headed over to Indi's.
“Hail, hail, the gang's all here!” Rose said, making everyone laugh. “How are you doing, little mama?” she asked Liria, who was seven months pregnant.
“Ready for this to be over with,” Liria replied. “Otherwise, I'm good.”
“I remember that feeling,” Rose said with a soft laugh. “Not much longer now.”
“Thank the Goddess for that.”
“All right, ladies. Let's load up. We've got a day of shopping to get to,” Indi told them.
“Time to spend some moolah!” Amber said and they all laughed.
Indi, Phaedra, and Liria were in Indi’s SUV while Amber, Tiff, and CeCe were in Amber's vehicle.
“So, since you've never been to one of our girls' days, we always have to hit the ladies room first, and then we wander from store to store until everyone's ready to eat.
Then we use majority rules for where we eat lunch and then shop some more until we're ready for dinner. Then, and only then, do we head home,” Hallie told her.
“Ahh. That explains why you don't get home until so late,” Sophia remarked.
“Yep. So be prepared for a lot of walking,” Hallie said before she turned the radio up so they could sing along to it as she drove.
“So, what's new with you, Sophia?” Liria asked when they stopped to grab lunch.
“Ummm… a couple of things.” She played with her napkin. “About a week ago, I was attacked while leaving Elysium—”
“WHAT?? Who do I need to shank?” Liria said with an impressive growl for a woman.
“Relax, badass. Axel stopped the guy before he could really do anything. He almost killed the guy, and if it wasn't for Havoc, he'd be facing prison time.”
“Holy shit. Wait, why was Axel there?” Phaedra asked.
“He's been coming to the club a lot,” Sophia admitted.
“But, anyway, Indi gave me the week off and a few days ago I decided to do something a bit crazy. I got a tattoo. One that Axel custom designed for me.”
“No way! That is so awesome,” CeCe commented. “Where is it? What is it? Can we see it?”
Sophia snickered at CeCe's exuberance. “It's right here on my chest, and, well, you'll have to see,” she responded before she undid the rest of the buttons to reveal the red tank top and the tattoo.
“Oh, wow. That's beautiful,” CeCe told her and the others agreed.
“I think so, too. I was so surprised when he showed it to me, because I just said that I wanted something with an infinity symbol.”
“Uh huh. And?” Hallie questioned.
“And, what?”
“You have this secretive little smile on your face. So what is it?” Hallie asked.
Sophia groaned. Leave it to Hallie to notice. “You can not breathe a word of this to my dad,” she said, pointing at Hallie.
Hallie mimed zipping her lips and Sophia shook her head at her. “With the way he reacted to you working at the club? That is not something I'm going to share with him,” Hallie told her.
“Wait just a minute. How did he react?” Indi asked. “And don't you even dare trying to weasel out of answering Hallie McNeill!”
“You know Sinner. He's overly protective. He was a bit of an idiot, but when he suggested there was something wrong with Sophia working there, she pointed out that he then must think there was something wrong with Rose working there and with you owning the club. It took him all of five seconds to realize he fucked up and he apologized profusely,” Hallie responded.
“What is with the misogyny?” Ivy questioned.
“I don't think it was misogyny. He just still sometimes struggles with the knowledge that he has an adult daughter,” Hallie told her.
“I guess that makes sense,” Ivy admitted. “Sorry, Soph. I didn't mean to derail things. Carry on. Tell us all the deets!”
Sophia snickered before she continued. “Okay. So, I kind of… kissed him. And he kissed me back. By the time he stopped, we were both breathing hard.”
“You go, girl!” Indi cheered. “Going after what you want like a boss. So, what now?”
“We're, I guess dating? Maybe? I don't know. We're just seeing where things go, which is why we're not telling dad. Axel really respects dad and values his opinion. I don't want to jeopardize that if we don't work out.”
“That makes sense. I promise he won't hear it from me,” Hallie told her.
“Or any of us. Right, ladies?” Indi put in and they all agreed.
“Thanks, ladies. I'll tell him if we get serious.”
Sophia was watching Hallie and frowned. The woman was picking at her food.
“Are you okay, Hallie?”
“Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. My taste buds have changed a bit. There's a reason I wanted to do this today. I told Sinner this last night but… I'm pregnant.”
“Wait. What? So that's why dad was grinning from ear to ear!” Sophia squealed.
“Yep,” Hallie replied with a grin.
“Congratulations!” all of the ladies said.
“Another brother or sister for me to spoil,” Sophia teased.
“Oh, please, dear Goddess, let it be another boy. Look at how overly protective he is of you, and you're an adult. He'd be even worse with a little girl,” Hallie said with a laugh.
“True. Very true,” Sophia agreed.
“Well, you did say you wanted to give Kingsley another sibling,” Ronnie interjected.
“Yeah. And now that we're past the terrible twos, this is a good time for it.”
“I knew you were glowing,” Rose said, “but I figured maybe it was a new makeup you were using.”
“So many babies in the club. The next generation,” Liria joked.
The only ones who didn't have any kids were Phaedra and Bones, CeCe and Ox and Tiff and Rebel.
“Yeah, well, don't look to me to add to it,” Tiff said. “Rebel and I are perfectly okay with being the cool aunt and uncle. We're not interested in being parents.”
“And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Amber assured her.
“Amber's right. There's nothing wrong with that,” Phaedra put in. “Bones and I haven't talked about that yet, so who knows with us,” she added with a shrug.
“Ox and I are talking about adopting,” CeCe interjected. “We know there are so many in the system waiting to find their forever homes, and seeing you and Chaos with Darby and Lorcan is such an inspiration,” she told Indi.
“If you decide you want to go that route, I'll get you the contact information for the agency we used,” Indi responded.
There was a bit more random chit chat before they finished, paid their tab, and wandered through more shops.
So far, Sophia hadn't bought anything simply because nothing had really caught her eye.
Then she saw it. A deep scarlet corset top trimmed in black with black fixtures.
There was just one left and it was her size.
Without hesitation, Sophia took it off the rack. It would go great with anything black.
She wandered a bit more and found a black pleated miniskirt that would hit her mid-thigh. All she needed now was the perfect pair of thigh highs.
Just as she was giving up hope, she found them. They were ebony black with a black lace trim at the top and in the front center of the lace was a blood red gemstone.
“Oo la la. That outfit is fire. Is it for anything special?” Rose asked her.
Sophia felt her cheeks heating and knew she was blushing. “No, but if the opportunity presents itself…”
She felt Rose watching her and fought the urge to squirm. “What is it?”
“Feel free to tell me it's none of my business, but have you been with a guy? You know, had sex?”
Sophia huffed out a breath. “Once. It lasted maybe five minutes, and I never really understood the hype. Granted, we were both only fifteen—and yes, I know, that was young—but maybe that's why it was so lackluster.”
“Oh, honey, you have no idea. This might feel like I'm asking for some TMI, but I promise there's a reason for it. Do you have any toys for self pleasure?”
Sophia stared at her. Was she seriously asking that?
“I'll take that look to mean no. We need to rectify that, pronto.”
“Um. Why? I mean… do you think Axel won't be interested in me otherwise?”
“What? No! Sweetie, take it from someone who knows, if you don't have a lot of experience even with self pleasure, you can feel very awkward during intimacy. Like you, I lost my virginity in my mid-teens, but I didn't go on to experiment like a lot of other girls did.
“When I got into my first serious relationship, I was so awkward and embarrassed that it made intimacy difficult for me. It wasn't until a friend of mine talked me into getting a vibrator and experimenting with what made me feel good that I stopped feeling that way.
“Besides, it doesn't matter how much experience a person has, every woman is different, and knowing what you like from the very start is sexy. It lets you help your partner learn what turns you on and gets your motor revving and what doesn't a whole lot faster.”
“Oh. I… didn't really think of that, but it makes sense.”
“That'a girl!”
When they finally stopped for dinner, Rose waited until they had their food to fill the other ladies in on the plan.
“We have to make one more stop before we go home.”
“Okay, I'll bite. Why is that, Rose?” Indi inquired.
“We need an adult toy store. Soph doesn't know much about self care, so it's our mission to teach her,” Rose replied.
“Ohhh. I know the perfect place. Secret Seduction. Ox and I go there often,” CeCe said.
“Often, huh?” Amber teased.
“Yes, indeed. It'll have everything we need,” she assured them.
Conversation flowed while they ate, and once they were finished and paid the bill, they were off to Secret Seduction.
Sophia stood there staring at a blue vibrator that had a rather unusual shape. “Is that—?”
“A dragon cock?” CeCe supplied. “Yes, yes it is. It's quite fun, too.”
Sophia turned her stare to the woman beside her. “You… have one?”
“Two, actually,” CeCe replied, causing Sophia to sputter nonsensically.
“What on earth did you say to leave poor Sophia so flabbergasted?” Tiffany asked.
“I told her I have two of these,” CeCe responded and motioned to the vibrator.
“That is… certainly unique. And adventurous,” Tiff commented.
“And so much fun.” CeCe grinned at them.
“Woman, you scare me sometimes,” Tiff said with a laugh.
There were a lot of things in the shop that Sophia had no idea what they were for, but the other ladies were very quick to answer any questions she had.
“Oh, these are amazeballs,” CeCe said, picking up a remote controlled toy.
“It's designed for long distances, so there is an app that you have to put on your phone. That way, the person with the controls can activate it from anywhere, controlling the speed, intensity, pattern, and length. They can literally be on the other side of the planet and be able to turn it on.”
“Oh. My. Gods. That sounds like so much fun,” Indi said, grabbing one. “Chaos will love it, so early Merry Christmas to me.”
Rose and Ivy both decided to get one as well, and by the time they finally left, Sophia knew exactly how to use everything the ladies had insisted on getting her.
After dropping Rose and Ronnie off, they made their way home.
“Thanks for inviting me today,” Sophia said softly.
“You're welcome. I just wish I'd done it sooner,” Hallie replied.
“It's okay. Better late than never, right?” Sophia laughed softly. “Seriously though, this was a lot of fun, even if you ladies did make me turn beet red when explaining all the different things in Secret Seduction.”
“That just shows you that you're one of us,” Hallie teased as she parked. “Listen, Soph. Don't wait too long to tell your dad. If he finds out accidentally, it might not go well.”
“I know. I won't,” Sophia replied before they carried their bags inside.
“You're later than usual,” her dad said as they entered.
“Sorry, babe. We just got to talking over dinner and lost track of time,” Hallie said soothingly.
“Next time, angel, send me a text so I don't worry.”
“Of course, babe. Little man in bed?”
“Yeah. He tried to wait up for you, but gave up the ghost about ten minutes ago. He might not be fully asleep if you want to go cuddle him.”
“You know me well,” Hallie told him, gave him a quick kiss, and headed for their son's room, leaving Sophia and Sinner alone in the living room.
“Hallie told us the news. Congratulations, dad. I can't wait to have another little brother or sister that I can spoil rotten,” she teased her father. “I'm going to take my stuff to the bedroom and relax to some music. Night, dad.”
With that, she made her exit, where she put everything away and set one of the wireless toys to charge while she showered. She figured, if she wanted to learn what she did and didn't like, there was no better time like the present to start.