“That’s up to you, isn’t it?” the woman said softly, cupping the flame in her long tapering fingers.

Kyle frowned slightly as she pulled on her cigarette, drawing the smoke deeply into her chest. She exhaled slowly, searching the perfectly sculpted, perfectly remote face. “Somehow I thought you were the one calling the shots.”

The blond nodded, touching the match to her own cigarette. “Very good - but only if you want me to. Only if you let me—understand?”

Kyle sighed, looking directly into the blue eyes that were calmly searching her face. “I’m afraid that I’m going to disappoint you.”

Suddenly the woman smiled, a flickering luminescence that dispelled the aura of aloofness surrounding her until now. Just as quickly, it was gone. “I don’t think so.”

Kyle felt foolish. This was a woman like her, a woman in a bar filled with other women, all of them linked by a single common bond. What had she been expecting, she wondered, that these women would be so different from all the other lesbians she had known? She had been so caught up in the mystique of the dress and the attitude of these leather-clad figures that she failed to recognize the women beneath the costumes. Her body relaxed as her old confidence returned.

“My name is Kyle,” she said.

“I know.”

Kyle raised her eyebrows slightly.

“Chris informed me.”

“I’m slow tonight,” Kyle said, shaking her head.

The woman was standing only inches away from Kyle, and her next words were spoken so softly only Kyle could hear them. “I’m not rushing you.” She had not changed her stance, still standing boldly in Kyle’s view. Kyle realized that this stranger was presenting herself to her, a gesture at once arrogant and vulnerable.

Kyle took advantage of the moment and appraised the figure before her. She had the lean look of a runner as opposed to her own more muscular build. The blond hair which had first caught Kyle’s eye was subtly layered and fell naturally back from her forehead, outlining the clean lines of her face. Her cheekbones were sharply sculpted, accentuating her nearly perfect features. Her blue eyes returned Kyle’s gaze with penetrating directness.

Kyle forced herself to continue her slow survey, despite her natural urge to look away when she found the stranger watching her. The woman’s slim torso was covered in faded denim, her collar and the first several buttons opened to reveal her upper chest. The merest suggestion of breasts pushed against the worn fabric. The shirt molded to her slim waist and her jeans outlined her hips and slender thighs. A well-worn black leather belt rode low over her pelvis. Kyle took note of the few keys hanging from a leather strap on her left hip and a leather band buckled around her left wrist. Kyle’s study was interrupted by the woman’s steady voice.

“Like what you see?” Her voice was low, intense, intimate.

“Yes,” Kyle answered honestly.

“Come dance with me then.” It was not a request.

The room came sharply into focus as a low, pulsating beat filled the air. This is it, Kyle. Do you really want to do this?

Without a word, she followed the woman onto the dance floor. There were other couples there, but they quickly faded from Kyle’s awareness as the stranger stepped close, taking Kyle firmly into her arms. As they moved easily together in the crowded space, Kyle felt for the first time the strength contained in her companion’s deceptively lithe body. The sheer physicalness of the other woman’s embrace awakened her desire. The hand in the curve of her back held her confidently while the woman insinuated one tight thigh securely between Kyle’s own. As they danced, the woman’s breasts molded to hers, the nipples hard beneath the fabric of her shirt. Kyle’s nipples stiffened in response, painfully taut and aching. The hand on her spine pressed Kyle’s hips rhythmically against that slow-moving thigh, seemingly focusing all the heat of their two bodies into one point between Kyle’s legs. She moaned without meaning to. Kyle could almost feel those long fingers on her skin. Never had she responded so quickly nor so certainly to another’s touch. Her mind lost contact with the sounds and forms around her as their bodies sought to fuse, pulsating inwardly to the beat of the music. As Kyle slid her hands down to the woman’s hips, striving to pull her closer, hoping to ease the aching pressure, the woman’s voice penetrated her swirling thoughts.

“You don’t get it for free,” the denim-clad stranger whispered. Her breath was hot against Kyle’s ear.

“Tell me the price then,” Kyle responded instantly, wanting only for the exquisite torment not to end.

“Later,” came the reply. The woman reached one hand up into the hair at Kyle’s neck and spread her fingers in the soft curls there. “Come home with me. Now.”

For an instant reality intruded. Kyle knew nothing of this woman except the sensations her presence instilled in her body. The blond slipped a hand between them, grasping Kyle’s nipple, sending a flood of arousal directly to her clitoris. Oh, Jesus, god! Kyle’s eyes nearly closed with the sweet torture. The demands of her body obliterated any thought of caution, and she answered to it.

“Yes.”

Kyle allowed herself to be led from the bar by the woman’s touch on her back. She followed her out into the night on shaky legs.

“What about my bike?” Kyle asked hoarsely as they reached the street.

“We’ll take it. I’ll tell you where to go,” the woman said.

Kyle took a deep breath of the cool night air, hoping to clear her head for the drive. She was uncomfortably swollen inside her tight leather pants. She unlocked both helmets and handed one to the woman.

“What’s your name,” Kyle asked quietly.

The woman stared at her for an instant, and for a moment, Kyle thought she wouldn’t answer. “Dane.”

Kyle nodded wordlessly as she straddled her motorcycle. She kick started the engine and felt Dane climb on behind her.

“Do you know where Church is?” Dane asked, her voice cool once again.

Kyle nodded in acknowledgment.

Dane reached around Kyle’s waist and placed both hands in the angle formed by Kyle’s thighs and pelvis, commanding, “Drive.”

As Kyle maneuvered her bike quickly through the nearly empty streets, she was aware only of the engine throbbing rhythmically beneath her and the pressure of Dane’s hands. By the time they reached Church Street and Dane signaled for her to pull over, she was trembling. She needed Dane’s hands against her naked flesh, unencumbered by the barrier of leather and denim.

She followed Dane into the vestibule of one of the buildings, scarcely taking note of her whereabouts. Dane led her up a flight of stairs and into a darkened apartment. Once inside the door, Dane said, “Wait here.”

Kyle was aware of lights being turned on in other rooms and the sound of soft music. She stood and waited, not thinking at all. When at last she heard Dane’s sure footsteps approaching, she body stirred in anticipation. The effect this woman had on her was inexplicable, and in the moment, she didn’t try to understand. She was responding purely with her senses, and she liked it. She didn’t want to think.

Dane took her hand, saying, “This way.”

Kyle moved behind her into a bedroom lit solely by a soft blue light in a recessed ceiling track. She could make out a small table next to a large rectangular bed which dominated the otherwise bare room. When Dane turned suddenly to face her, Kyle stood absolutely still.

Wordlessly Dane reached for the buttons on Kyle’s shirt and began to slowly unbutton them. She was careful not to touch the skin laid bare by her motions. She pulled the shirt out of Kyle’s pants and stripped it off her arms.

“Your boots,” she said. She stepped back to give Kyle room to bend over. Kyle hesitated only for a second, and then she unbuckled each of her heavy black boots and pulled them off. Naked except for her leather pants, she stood before Dane, waiting. Dane reached out a slender hand and traced the muscles in Kyle’s shoulders and arms with a finger. She placed both palms flat against Kyle’s chest and pressed, softly massaging the muscles beneath the smooth skin. Her hands moved down to Kyle’s abdomen, carefully avoiding her breasts, until she stood with her thumbs together in the middle of Kyle’s firm body, her fingers splayed out against Kyle’s sides.

The slow, wordless survey of Kyle’s body rekindled the fire simmering in her belly. Kyle felt herself swell and flow in response. Her chest was covered with a thin film of sweat. Still, she waited silently.

“Lie down on the bed,” Dane instructed, her voice perfectly controlled. “Face me.”

When Kyle complied, Dane came to stand at the foot of the bed, her eyes traveling from Kyle’s leather-bound crotch slowly up to her face. Her eyes locked onto Kyle’s, and she could read the wanting there.

“You can say anything you want to me right now,” Dane said, “but after this, no more. I won’t hurt you, but I won’t stop until I’m done.”

Kyle looked back at her steadily, searching for a clue as to who this woman was. Dane’s face was clear and strong, and Kyle sensed only honesty.

“I’m all right.”

Dane nodded once and then moved purposefully to the side of the bed. She reached somewhere beneath the frame and pulled out soft padded leather shackles attached to short chains. She deftly bound Kyle’s left hand and ankle, and then moved to the other side, repeating her actions. When she was done, Kyle was securely but not painfully bound with her arms and legs spread.

Dane stood once again at the foot of the bed between Kyle’s outstretched legs. With her gaze fixed on Kyle’s face she unbuttoned her own shirt, slowly baring her upper body. Small high breasts accentuated the finely muscled torso, and a pulse beat close to the surface in her throat. Silence enclosed them in the cone of blue light.