CHAPTER 17
“Hey, are you going out tonight?” Enya asked Arlowe as they all ate dinner around the table.
“Probably, yeah,” Arlowe replied. “I’ve got everything I needed to do this week done, and I could use a night out to blow off some steam.”
“Does that mean we shouldn’t expect you home?” Sarai asked.
“I don’t know yet. Depends on where I go and who I meet.”
“Can you not bring them back here? Go to their place instead,” Sarai said.
“Why?” Arlowe asked.
“Because the last woman you brought home stole food from our fridge, Arlowe. She took our reusable grocery bag, stocked up, and left with it all while you were still asleep. I saw her heading to her car with a bag in hand, thinking it was weird, but I figured it was just the bag she shoved some of her clothes into or something. Then, I went to grab breakfast, and half of our food was gone. She took a whole gallon of milk, Arlowe.”
“It was a half-gallon. You’re exaggerating. And act like every woman I bring back here does stupid shit like that. It was just one time. Either way, I’m not even sure I’ll sleep with anyone tonight. I might want to just dance or grab a drink.”
“I should head out,” Violet said.
“Why?” Enya asked.
“I have plans tonight.”
“Again, Vi?” Arlowe asked.
“Again, what?” Sarai asked. “Oh. Again? Really? Three nights in a row?”
“She asked, and I was up for it, so yes, three times in a row.” Violet smiled. “I’ll probably just stay there tonight, so don’t wait up.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, Arlowe.”
“You brought her back here when you could’ve gone to her place. Why?”
“Why not? I’m an adult. Yes, I have roommates, but it’s not like none of us have ever had a woman stay the night before. You were all out, too, so–”
“Right, but you could’ve gone to her place. She doesn’t have roommates. I’m curious.”
“I… I guess I wanted to be, I don’t know, in my own territory. Is that weird? Like, we were in her territory on the first night, and I wanted her to be in mine.”
“Territory? You sound like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant,” Sarai said.
“I think there’s something to that,” Arlowe said. “Like, if they’re having the really hot, sexy sex, territory would come into play, right?”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever had the hot, sexy sex,” Enya offered. “Good sex? Maybe. Bad sex? Definitely. I’m very jealous of you right now, Violet.”
“Sorry?”
“Want to come out with me?” Arlowe asked Enya. “I could use a wingwoman, and maybe you’ll meet someone to have the hot sexy sex with.”
“No, I’m okay, but thanks,” Enya replied.
Violet squeezed her shoulder then, knowing her friend spent more time in her head than anywhere else.
It wasn’t just that Enya was good with languages.
She actually loved every language that she learned and had a passion for teaching them to people.
She’d been offered a professorship at a local university the previous year, and not an associate or one of those adjunct roles, either.
They’d offered her an outright professorship and with the possibility of tenure later because of her skills.
Violet was honestly surprised that Enya was still with the company.
Yes, it had been her idea to begin with, but she could’ve taken jobs elsewhere, translating, teaching, or even as a tour guide in just about any country.
Enya had options. Arlowe did, too. On top of any freelance work she wanted, she could work at just about any tech company and be a senior engineer there or even a manager if she wanted that.
Violet had met with a group of C-suite folks to network the previous month, and two of them had inquired after Arlowe.
Sarai, Violet supposed, had the fewest options because of her specialty.
Sarai had graduated with honors and had had several offers at age twenty-two, but since then, she had only worked at this company, which wasn’t exactly well-known, and since she was in marketing and responsible for building the brand, it would hurt her chances of getting a job elsewhere given their lack of progress.
Violet could always join the Russell Group.
She knew her father would give her a job in a heartbeat.
She’d have to work her way up, yes, but she’d be hired on a division of her choice.
She wasn’t sure she’d go that route if this didn’t work out.
She might try to apply elsewhere first, but she was still hoping it wouldn’t come to that.
◆◆◆
“God, yes,” Violet let out as she pressed Stella’s head down between her legs.
Stella had been licking her for the past seven minutes.
Violet knew that because of the clock on the TV’s cable box.
She wasn’t sure why Stella still even had a cable box that had a clock on it in her room, but it was staring back at her with blue numbers, and after prolonging her pleasure for that long, she couldn’t take any more of it. She needed Stella to make her come.
When she had arrived, Violet had walked through the front door of Stella’s house, headed straight back to the bedroom, and while still wearing her skirt with nothing on underneath it, she climbed atop the dildo that was standing at attention for her and lowered herself over it.
She’d come a few minutes later to the sounds of Stella’s own orgasm, and they had done that again before Stella had taken it off and had moved between Violet’s legs, where she was currently making her come a third time.
Violet had lost count of the number of orgasms she’d had in the past seventy-two hours, but it was definitely a record.
Even when she’d first discovered masturbation and had touched herself repeatedly every day for a while, it did not compare to how many times Stella Ross, of all people, had made her come.
“I don’t know about you, but I could use a break,” Stella told her, moving back up Violet’s body. “Want some water or something?”
“Water would be great, yeah.”
“Want to come with me? You can stay naked. I have ice cream in the freezer, and I’m willing to share.”
Stella kissed Violet’s neck before she climbed off her.
“That depends. What flavor is it?”
“Mint chocolate chip. My favorite. What’s yours?”
Violet swallowed because favorite things were a topic people who were dating talked about, not people who were just having sex. Great sex, but still only sex.
“I could go for some mint chocolate chip,” she replied instead.
Stella nodded, seemingly okay letting that go, and when she stood, she pulled Violet up with her.
“When we come back, want me to wear it again and put you on your hands and knees?”
“Maybe,” she said with a coy smile. “Depends on how good that mint chocolate chip ice cream is.”
“It’s from Davy’s Homemade,” Stella told her.
“Davy’s?” she said of the local creamery that still made their ice creams in small batches by hand, or as much as the process could be done by hand.
“Yeah. Why?”
“That’s the best ice cream in the world.”
“I know. Stay naked. Come on,” Stella said and patted her on the ass, which made Violet laugh as they headed out of the bedroom, down the hall, and into the kitchen she hadn’t yet seen.
“It’s nice,” she noted.
“It’s a pretty standard kitchen. Nothing fancy. I like it enough. And I haven’t seen yours to give you a compliment about it, but maybe next time.”
“I like how you just assume there will be a next time.”
Violet leaned back against the kitchen island.
“Oh, there will be a next time,” Stella said. “Sit.”
“Where?”
“On the counter.”
“I’m naked, Stella.”
“I’ll clean it tomorrow, Violet. Just sit your cute little ass on the island. I’ll get the ice cream, and we’ll eat it up there.”
“I have never sat on a counter naked.”
“Too good for it?” Stella asked as she moved into her and pressed her thigh to Violet’s center. “If you do this, after we eat, I’ll take care of you again.” She pointed to the counter. “Right there.”
“We’re going to have sex up there, too?” Violet asked, looking down at the empty counter. “That cannot be sanitary, Stella. Even if you clean it, it–” She stopped when Stella pressed her thigh a little harder.
“It’ll be fine,” Stella told her. “Relax.”
“I don’t relax.” She laughed.
“You don’t relax? Like, ever? What exactly would you call what we just did in there?”
“It’s relaxing, yes. For like a second or two.”
“Hold on. That’s it? Just a second or two? That’s insulting,” Stella joked.
“Not how I meant it,” she replied, wrapping her arms around Stella’s neck. “I meant that briefly, I let go of the tension. Then, it all comes back again.”
“Why are you so tense?” Stella asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Whole world on my shoulders?”
“You do give off that kind of vibe, yeah,” Stella replied with a little laugh before she moved out of Violet’s arms. “Island, Cute Butt.”
She pointed to the island again.
“What do you mean, I give off that kind of vibe?”
“You literally told me to unwind you the other night. You’re all sorts of high-strung, Violet.”
Violet lifted herself and sat on the counter, letting her legs dangle off the side.
“I’m not high-strung.”
“You didn’t want to sit on my counter naked because it was unsanitary, as if I don’t have cleaning products in this house.”
“That’s just… I’ve never had sex in the kitchen before, okay?”
“Do you want to now?” Stella asked after she removed a white ice cream tub out of the freezer and walked back over to her. “Spread your legs.”
“I thought we were eating ice cream first.”
“We are. The spoons are right under you.”
“Oh.”
“On second thought…” Stella added after she looked down and watched her spread her legs. “Can I eat you first?”
“No,” Violet said and pulled open the drawer beneath her.
Stella laughed, pulled out one spoon, popped the top off of the container, and scooped out a bite. Then, she held out the spoon.
“For you.”
Violet wasn’t accustomed to having someone feed her, but she leaned forward and went to take a bite just when Stella tipped the spoon and ice cream fell down to one of Violet’s breasts.
“Oh, no,” Stella said. “That’s Davy’s. Can’t let that go to waste, can we?”
Violet laughed as Stella lowered her mouth to her breast and licked the ice cream off her flesh before she sucked on Violet’s nipple for a moment and let it go with a pop. Violet then stole the spoon and took her own bite of the ice cream.
“Tell me. Why is the whole world on your shoulders?” Stella asked, jumping up to sit next to her on the counter.
“Not really the whole world, but the business and the house. All of that is on my shoulders.”
“The house?”
“I’m the one paying the rent.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a reason I was asking you to lower the price for Cerebral. It wasn’t just because I liked arguing or I’m a shrewd businesswoman.”
Violet took the spoon on offer, dipped out a bit of the ice cream, and ate it, which gave her a moment to stall.
She hadn’t wanted to tell Stella anything about the business or her life, for that matter, but here she was, after a few great orgasms, about to spill her secrets to the woman responsible for them.
Part of her wanted to hold back, but the other part of her actually wanted to tell Stella because she didn’t have anyone else.
She couldn’t talk to her friends without them worrying, and if she tried talking to her parents, they’d only suggest that she stop this silly charade, as her mother had once called it, and work at a real company.
“The business is primarily funded by me. We all live in the house together not just because it gives us a place to work, but because we’re not profitable yet and rent is expensive here, so we all share the house and split the cost.”
“You said you pay the rent, though,” Stella replied as she took the spoon from Violet and dipped it into the ice cream.
“I pay them from my trust fund that I’ve moved into the business account. That’s the only thing keeping us afloat now. They then each pay their share of the rent, so it’s like I’m paying myself.”
“A lot of companies aren’t profitable for years.”
“We’ve been at this for ten. Well, eight, really.
I worked on it part-time while I was getting my MBA.
But even still, it’s just not happening for us.
I don’t know if the idea is original enough.
I don’t know if I can keep using my trust fund to finance us.
I can’t get any more money out of the old investors, and no new ones will even talk to me, so pretty soon, I might have to tell my friends that our dream of working together on our own business is about to come to an end. ”
Stella passed her the spoon and said, “Can I help somehow?”
“No,” she replied.
“I know some–”
“No, Stella. That’s not what this is. I’m already buying your software, and we’re having sex. That’s a weird mix. I don’t want any favors, okay?”
“Okay. Fine,” Stella replied.
“Should I just go home? Have I ruined the rest of the night by bringing up personal stuff?”
“What? No,” Stella said, taking the spoon and pushing it into the ice cream. She then set it aside and climbed off the counter. “In fact… If you want to lie down, I could help take your mind off things for one or two seconds, at least.”
Violet laughed and said, “I’d rather go back into the bedroom and do that other thing you were talking about earlier.”
“Oh, really?” Stella teased, running her hands up and down Violet’s thighs.
“That would get me three to four seconds, at least.”
Stella laughed, and Violet liked the sound of it, which was confusing because whenever she had heard Stella laugh back in school, she’d always kind of hated it.
A few minutes later, though, Violet wasn’t laughing any longer. Stella was behind her, buried inside, and giving her a lot more than four seconds of tension relief.