Chapter 6
The bar that Mariana messaged her was somewhere that Helena had been meaning to try since it had opened, occupying the ground and first floor of a renovated townhouse near to Mariana’s apartment.
The decor was exposed brick and low lighting, with music that was uber-cool but mercifully not so loud that you couldn’t hold a conversation over it.
It was the sort of place you dressed to impress, and Helena had changed into a knee length dress that she hoped was the right blend of effortless and glamorous.
Mariana’s usual posse had colonised a cluster of low sofas near the back. Helena knew all of them well already, of course. They were the sort of good-looking, well-dressed, effortlessly affluent young S?o Paulo crowd that Helena had grown up around, not too dissimilar from her own friends.
“Helena!” Lucas, Mariana’s sometime on-again-off-again not-boyfriend stood and kissed her on both cheeks. “We never see you anymore. Are you too important for us now?”
“I’ve always been too important for you,” Helena replied with a smile, accepting the gin and tonic that Mariana had already ordered for her. “Some of us have careers.” She glanced at Mariana and gave her a look, getting a shrug back in return… clearly Lucas was on again at that precise moment.
“Ouch.” Lucas clutched his chest. “I have a career.”
“Managing your family’s money is not a career, it’s a hobby.”
The group laughed and Helena settled into the evening, letting the conversation flow around her. She was mid-conversation with Fernanda about a restaurant they’d both tried recently when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Room for one more?”
Helena looked up to see Juliana standing behind the sofa, wearing a black dress that Helena hadn’t seen before: short, fitted, with thin straps that showed off her toned shoulders.
Her wild curls were loose and she’d done something with her makeup, darker around the eyes, that made her look older, maybe even a little sharper.
She looked, Helena thought, shifting in her seat, really good.
“Juliana!” Mariana jumped up and hugged her. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
Helena disguised the grin that came to her face at Mariana’s attempt to keep up the pretence that she hadn’t told Helena about Juliana’s request of her.
“Changed my mind.” Juliana’s eyes found Helena’s over Mariana’s shoulder, and there was something in them, a glint, playful and knowing, that made Helena’s pulse quicken just slightly. “Hi, Helena.”
“Hey.” Helena kept her voice casual, gave nothing away to the group. Just her sister’s friend, joining them for a drink on a Sunday night. Some of them knew about her and Juliana, of course, but she didn’t think all of them did and it wasn’t her place to be the one to tell them.
Juliana settled into the spot next to Helena on the sofa, close enough that their legs touched.
That wasn’t unusual, the sofas were low and their group was growing by the hour, but Helena could feel that it was deliberate, the way in which Juliana was angled towards her, the pressure as if she wanted to remind Helena constantly of her presence.
“How was lunch with your parents?” Juliana asked during a lull in the conversation.
“The usual. Good food, my mother asking when I’m going to settle down, my father being wise about everything.”
“Sounds perfect.” Juliana’s hand was resting on her own knee, inches from Helena’s thigh. “I love your family. Your mother tried to feed me for twenty minutes straight last time I was there.”
“That’s how she shows love. If she ever stops trying to feed you, be worried.”
Juliana laughed and the joy in it made Helena smile. This was what Helena liked about her, this easy ability to switch between the intensity of what they’d been doing in private and the relaxed fun in simply enjoying each other’s company.
The evening continued, the group expanding and contracting as people came and went. Helena had a second drink, then a third. Juliana and Mariana were a great double act, the joyful fun mixing with the hurricane and everyone else trying to hang on for dear life.
Through it all, Helena was acutely aware of Juliana’s proximity… the occasional brush of her hand, the way she leaned in to say something that was just for Helena, the looks that lasted a moment or two longer than necessary.
It was around nine when Juliana leaned close, her lips near Helena’s ear, and said quietly, “Come outside with me.”
Helena looked at her. “Why?”
“Because I need some air.” Juliana’s expression was innocent but her eyes told a different story. “And I want you to see something.”
Helena hesitated. They were in public, surrounded by people they knew. Whatever Juliana had in mind, and Helena was fairly sure she had an idea of the shape of what Juliana had in mind, was risky in a way that their private sessions weren’t. Everything so far had been in private, everything.
But the look in Juliana’s eyes was compelling.
More than that… it was commanding.
Juliana wasn’t asking. She was telling, and the confidence she was suddenly showing took Helena’s breath away. This was new.
“Ok,” Helena said, and followed Juliana through the bar, past the front door where a small group was smoking, and around the corner onto the alley down the side.
The night air was warm, the sounds of the bar muffled behind them. The alley was narrow, lined with the high walls of residential properties, a few parked cars, the orange glow of a streetlight at the far end. It was quiet on that Sunday night. Private.
Juliana walked a few paces ahead, then stopped when they were out of sight of the main road and turned to face Helena.
The confidence Helena had glimpsed inside was fully present now: shoulders back, chin lifted, eyes direct.
She looked like a different person from the nervous student whose voice had broken the first time she tried to command Helena.
“What are you…” Helena started to say, but Juliana stepped forward and placed a finger on her lips.
“Quiet.”
That single word wasn’t a request. It was a command, delivered with a domineering certainty that Juliana had been building towards for months but had never quite achieved.
Until now.
Juliana’s hand moved from Helena’s lips to her jaw, tilting her face up slightly… not roughly, but firmly. “You’ve been looking at me all evening, Leoa.”
Leoa? Helena tilted her head in question, that name new to her.
“That’s right, my Leoa. You’re my lioness. Tamed. You’re mine, my powerful, fierce, obedient Leoa.”
Something inside Helena melted at that… she gave other people pet names, not the other way around. She shifted her stance, very aware of the effect that this sudden turn of events was having on her.
“And don’t pretend you haven’t been looking at me since I got here.”
“I wasn’t going to pretend.”
“Good. Because I’ve been looking at you too.” Juliana’s other hand went to Helena’s hip, her grip tight and possessive in a way that was new. “I’ve been thinking about this since I got dressed for tonight. About what I was going to do to you.”
Helena’s breath caught. This wasn’t the Juliana who asked permission, who checked whether she was doing it right, who needed coaching through each step. This was someone else: still Juliana, still playful, but with an authority that came from somewhere genuine. This wasn’t a performance.
“Juliana, we’re in…”
“I know exactly where we are, Leoa.” Juliana stepped forward, and Helena stepped back instinctively, her shoulders meeting the cool stone of the wall behind her.
Juliana followed, pressing close, one hand still on Helena’s jaw, the other on her hip.
“And I know that anyone could walk round that corner at any moment. That’s part of it. ”
Helena’s heart was hammering. She could feel the wall rough against her bare shoulders, could feel the familiar shape of Juliana’s body pressed against hers, could smell her perfume.
“Hands behind your back,” Juliana said quietly. “Against the wall. Don’t make me tell you twice.”
Helena obeyed without question. The stone was rough against her knuckles, the posture exposing, her chest pushed forward slightly.
She looked at Juliana and saw something she recognised, the expression she herself wore when she was in control.
The focus. The care masked as command. The careful watching and reading of every micro-expression on the other person’s face.
She’s ready, Helena thought, even as her body responded to being pushed against a wall by someone who, just a month ago, couldn’t hold eye contact while giving a simple instruction.
“You look incredible tonight,” Juliana said, her voice low. “Do you know that? Every man in that bar was looking at you. Half the women too.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“Liar.” Juliana’s hand tightened its grip on Helena’s hip, holding her tight. “You always notice. You notice everything.” She paused. “But tonight you’re not in charge of noticing. Tonight, Leoa, you’re just going to feel.”
She kissed Helena, and Helena felt any resistance melt away in the face of the absolute confidence in that kiss, her lips assertive, her tongue finding Helena’s and making it very clear who was dictating the pace tonight.
Helena pressed instinctively towards her.
She was acutely aware of their surroundings…
the bar around the corner, their friends just yards away, the risk of someone walking past.
“I can feel your heart racing,” Juliana murmured against her lips. “You like this.”
“Yes,” Helena breathed, because she did. The risk, the unexpectedness of it, Juliana’s transformation… all of it was doing something to her that their safe, controlled sessions in her apartment hadn’t quite managed. This felt raw. Unscripted. Real.
Juliana’s hand moved from Helena’s hip down to the hem of her dress, her fingers finding bare skin and sliding up along the outside of Helena’s thigh. Helena’s breath caught.
“Keep your hands where they are, Leoa,” Juliana said. “Don’t move them.”