A.O.E.M.: Taboo

by Stephanie Burke

  She ran eight miles every day, even if it was on her treadmill in her bedroom while making business networking calls, reading the financial section and watching the Dow Jones reports. But the result was a great pair of gams, which everyone would see if they stopped pointing at her frigging hairy legs!

  Hiding her annoyance with a stiff smile, Knight sat back and watched the colorful parade of happy, tanned, and hairless-legged people frolic on the beach.

  “There must be a masquerade,” she muttered out loud, her attention caught by the plethora of people walking past.

  There was a woman with Faerie wings like Tinker Bell. Only this Faerie was about seven feet tall and wore nothing over her green skin but what appeared to be glistening body paint. Turning toward the beach, Knight could have sworn she saw a Dragon sipping on one of those coconut drinks with the umbrellas hanging out of it.

  “Uh, Chimera Island?” she said. “Wasn’t a chimera a beast with the tail of a snake, the head of a lion, and the body of a goat?”

  “No, miss,” the driver called back to her. “Chimera means illusion. It’s an island of illusion.”

  “Oh!” Knight smiled as she settled back in the cushioned seat. It all made sense now. Island of illusion. They must have a masquerade and parade every day, like they had New Year’s daily at the place in Disney World. “That is… interesting.” But inside she was thinking that the creators of some of these costumes needed to go into business. They would make a fortune in the special effects industry.

  She nodded, checking out a demon man riding a unicorn and a bird man and cat lady kissing on the beach. And over in the water, she could have sworn she saw a pair of mermen frolicking in the surf.

  “Well, I am supposed to be relaxing and enjoying myself…”

  “And going to the spa will be a big help,” the driver cheerfully called back. “Terez knows what she is doing. Getting all that fuzz off your legs can be a first step. And here we are,” he added before Knight could tear him a new one.

  Still grumbling, she slapped the fare into the man’s hand and stormed to a huge glass door that had, of all things, dancing demons and musical notes painted all over.

  “Get Your Groove On Salon,” she read, and chuckled, her mood lightening.

  She pushed open the door and was hit by a blast of air-conditioned air that, after the heat of the island, made gooseflesh pop up on her arms. The next thing she was hit with was the massive amount of noise that filled the place.

  Music blasted behind the whirl and scream of equipment as people raced from one station to another. In the far back of the room stood several huge, throne-like chairs with built-in footbaths. Along the side were tables set up for manicurists to work, which they happily did, faces covered with little paper masks.

  All along the main floor itself sat booths where men and women, some in costume, some without, sat and were waited on. Hell, there was even a toucan-crested female with rollers in her hair about to go under a dryer! Wild! Off to the left, behind a curtain of beaded pitchforks -- that had to be the piercing parlor. Well, the sign above it spelled out in bright red letters, Seventh Level of Hell Piercing and Tattooing.

  “I need some help.” Knight looked around the organized confusion that made up the front rooms of the spa.

  “You can say that again!”

  Knight jumped as a short blonde woman with the most amazingly even sunburn approached, a smile on her face. She only came up to Knight’s collarbone, but so much energy appeared to be packed into that tiny body. Her eyes were a sparking hazel and her smile was infectious. Almost instantly, Knight felt at ease around the other woman.

  “You must be Knight. Funny, you don’t look like you need a suit of armor. But you definitely need some wax!”

  Knight grumbled and stuck out one pale leg, turning it from side to side. “It’s not that bad,” she muttered.

  “Of course not,” the lady agreed. “Especially if you are a Werewolf or a Werecat or something with were in the title.”

  Knight could say nothing about that, but her pout was worth a thousand words.

  “So…” The woman giggled. “If you are through glaring at me, I can tell you that my name is Terez and I am the head demon in this level of hell.” She waggled her eyebrows and stuck out her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Knight.”

  “I’d hate to see how you would greet me if you couldn’t stand me,” Knight sighed, shaking the proffered hand, noting how small it was compared to hers.

  “Then I wouldn’t let you inside the door,” Terez giggled. “And now that I see what we are working with, it is time to work a little magic.”

  Terez clapped her hands twice. Knight jumped as she was suddenly surrounded by other small females, all affable in character and short in stature.

  “You signed on for the works, that is what you’re going to get!”

  “To be pampered and pleased,” another short, sunburned female sang.

  “To bring your mate to their knees,” another joined in, and soon Knight was surrounded by a chorus of short, sunburned females with pretty decent singing voices.

  “To make ’em move fast,” still another sang, taking her hand and leading her back toward a station.

  Knight expected the whole place to break out into song, the other patrons being the back-up singers, but that never happened. Instead, still more small women appeared, circled her, and began to sing.

  “To get a piece of ass!” Terez and the group of short, sunburned females, who had to all be related to the proprietress, giggled. The sound was like tinkling little bells, and made Knight’s heart feel light and merry, while another part of her, the larger part, wanted to scream in fear and hightail it for the hills.

  Fear now taking over, Knight looked around wildly, seeking an escape and seeing none.

  But she did see a tall, statuesque woman, caramel skin shining in the sun that poured from the open door. Her big brown eyes grew larger as she stared at Knight, who was being forcibly sat in a beautician’s chair -- one with leather arm and leg restraints. The tall woman took a step back, her cinnamon colored curls flying in her face as she shook her head in denial.

  In desperation, Knight warned the woman off, seeing that there was no escape for her. At least one woman would go free. “To avoid this strife, run for your life!”

  Um, did she just rhyme? Yes, she did! They were doing something to her brain! There had to be drugs being pumped through the air-conditioning vents! She looked back and saw the ample backside of the female going out the door, and sighed in vindication. The short, sunburned posse may have Knight, but that other woman got away. There would be no bloodguilt on her hands when these women sent her to her maker.

  “You came to the right place.” Terez nodded as Knight was pushed into the seat, her arms strapped to the armrests, her chair tilted back over a sink and warm water washed over her hair.

  “Now nails, skin, and face,” the shampoo shorty chuckled, slathering Knight’s head with some sweet smelling stuff, unlike the industrial, get it by the gallon stuff she was used to. It smelled so good, Knight thought she would have to spring for a bottle. How much could it cost if they were slapping it on her head like a bricklayer used mortar?

  The nail chick tsked at the condition of her fingernails and turned away to retrieve something.

  “Wax that hair off those legs,” another insisted, whipping off Knight’s sandals and pushing up the hem of her skirt to mid thigh. “We’ll make sure that he begs.”

  Warm wax was applied liberally to her legs, a linen strip placed over that, and two of the other females moved to hold Knight down. Now she was getting nervous, and the sunburned chorus grinned evilly.

  “He will find you the perfect lay,” Terez sang, moving her index finger as if she were some short, red conductor, to the beat of some music that obviously only she and the sunburned army could hear.

  “Not a him,” Knight called, her sense of the absurd taking a beating. “I think I’m gaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!”
She wailed the last word as the first strip of hair was ripped from her flesh by the sharp movements of one of the sunburned posse. She didn’t even know she could hold a note for that long. And damned if it wasn’t right on key! Gradually, the burning tear-jerking pain faded to a tiny ache.

  At her disclosure, the whole shop quieted for a moment, then the others moved to continue whatever they were doing before her announcement.

  “Whatever.” Terez shrugged, clapped her hands twice, and the sunburned alliance continued as if nothing had happened.

  “Male or female, you’ll make the grade,” the mad waxer sang as she applied more of the sticky stuff to Knight’s legs and patted a linen strip on top of it. “You don’t get laid, we don’t get paid!”

  “Time to get to brass tacks!” Terez sang, moving in close and examining the work of the two manicurists. They were holding Knight’s hands in a container of solution guaranteed to remove calluses, stray hairs, fungal infections, and three-year-old fingernail polish flecks that managed to hold on to the cuticles of her bitten nails.

  “How about a Brazilian wax?” Knight muttered, then wanted to slap her hands over her mouth, but the damned manicurists were rubbing her fingers. Dammit, she rhymed like the rest of the loonies! This was getting surreal! “I’ve never had one, you see.”

  “Just relax and trust me,” Terez sang, the wicked look back on her face, but Knight only saw it for a second as another strip of hair was forcibly removed from her body.

  This was going to be a long day!

  * * *

  “I need a drink,” Knight mumbled. She collapsed, a stressed out boneless heap, into her chair.

  A Brazilian wax was not fun! And she had to be at least bi to let the ladies spread what they’d spread and touch her body in some very private places.

  “Plucked clean as a ready to bake chicken,” Terez sang as the shaking mass of what was left of Knight settled deeper into her chair. “You’re on your date, there will be no hair pickin’!”

  “Stop it with the rhymes, I’ve had enough!” Knight managed, her voice rough with all the screaming she had done.

  Her eyebrows had been plucked, her cuticles cut! Her hair washed and dried, and then it was dyed! She paused, then clenched her fists as tightly as she could, but not too tight. It wouldn’t do to muss her polish. “Now you’ve got me thinking in rhymes!”

  Waving that worry away, Terez grinned, and Knight felt her insides melt. Damn. The more she was around the woman and her singing sunburned people, the hotter she became. In fact, all the females who worked here exuded sex like most people radiated anger. It was palpable and thick, and surrounded the short females like an aura.

  They would flash those ever changing eyes and she was putty. It was how they talked her into getting her eyebrows dyed to match her hair, the hot rock massage, the mud bath, and the colonic -- not that she would ever mention that again. That particular experience would be stowed away in her nightmare drawer. More evidence that she was, indeed, gay.

  “It’s time for your piercing.”

  Had she heard the woman correctly? There was no way she was getting pierced!

  “Yes, you agreed to do the tongue,” Terez reminded her, gripping her hand and pulling her out of her chair. “After it’s done, you can get a good look at what you look like now, and go get your lady, and make her sing wow!”

  “That was lame.” Knight rolled her eyes, but that damn voice again sapped her inhibitions and she was easily led to the Seventh Level of Hell.

  “Well, we all can’t be Shakespeare, can we?” Terez adjusted the brass torque around her neck.

  Knight was prevented from speaking because they were passing through the curtain and a mouthful of plastic pitchfork was the last thing she wanted or needed. Once past the beaded barrier, Knight was led to an even tinier version of Terez. This version had long, dark blonde hair and engaging brown eyes.

  “This is Nicole,” Terez chirped happily.

  “Hail, darling mother, mistress of all she surveys, proud and passionate leader of our people, wise in the ways of life, sage with advice, tutor, teacher, leader of men and women, perfection on two legs, bearer of the light of truth, possessor of --”

  At this point, Knight had to cut in. “Um, mother?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Terez smiled as her daughter paused in her litany to shoot cutting eyes at the woman who dared interrupt her.

  “Do you mind?” Nicole snapped, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. “This takes a while to get through and I have to go to the bathroom. Now that you interrupted me, I have to start all over again.” Sniffing at the stunned Knight, Nicole turned once again to her mother and began. “Hail, darling mother, mistress of all she surveys…”

  “Oh, you can skip that today,” Terez interrupted her daughter, who let out a relieved sigh and blew out the breath she was holding to get through the greeting. “I have a bail bond special.”

  “Bail bond special?” Knight repeated, feeling lost. “What is a bail bond special? I don’t remember you mentioning it.”

  “Explain, Mother, while I go to the john,” Nicole said, shooting them both a look that said she would rather be anywhere else than here, before going through a door marked “Private.”

  Knight took this time to look around, admire the furry red furnishings and the huge Dragon mural painted on the far wall. The most interesting bits of metal were prominently displayed. Playing on a large screen plasma TV was Japanese animation of the violent kind.

  “You,” Terez chuckled, drawing Knight’s attention from the exploding Mechanoid on the screen, “are a bail bond special. No bail bondsman would touch you because you are a run risk.”

  “Run risk?”

  “Hon, you are so skittish, if I turned my back, you would be outta here before you could say flee.”

  Knight blushed a bit, because fleeing was on her mind, but she turned and faced the other woman.

  “Look, I am here to discover if I like females and I don’t see what a tongue ring has to do with anything.”

  “What about an enchanted tongue ring?” Terez asked.

  “Enchanted… Okay! Have you been sniffing too much hairspray?”

  “Enchanted, as in it will lead you to the one you are destined to be with.”

  As she spoke, Terez’s eyes glittered, and Knight felt an answering twinge between her newly hairless thighs. In fact, her bald pussy was starting to become noticeably slippery.

  “I guess I like females,” she said on a sigh.

  “Besides, tongue rings are fun,” Terez giggled, and even that sent a shiver down her spine.

  “I find you attractive,” Knight, always honest, admitted.

  “Of course you do.”

  They both turned as Nicole returned to the room. “Everyone finds my mom attractive. It’s just the way things are. And I am impressed that you haven’t hit the exit by now.”

  “Nicole is the piercer,” Terez piped in with a grin. “When I retire, she will own all of this.”

  “Wonderful.” Nicole rolled her eyes, taking Knight’s arm. “Now get in the chair.”

  “Wait!” Knight opened her mouth to protest, but that gave Nicole the advantage she needed. Moving with inhuman speed, the young female clamped her forceps dead center of Knight’s tongue -- the perfect place for piercing.

  “The enchanted doohickey,” Terez recommended.

  “Ah.” Nicole nodded, moving to straddle Knight’s thighs. “Perfect choice, Mother.”

  Knight tried to speak, but hadn’t realized how important the tongue was for that until it was clamped and gently pulled out of her mouth.

  Before she could blink, Nicole whispered to her, “Brace yourself,” and then the biggest fucking needle she had ever seen seemed to be produced out of thin air!

  She squeaked, but Nicole, in her prime position, held her in her place. Knight closed her eyes, praying to anyone who happened to be listening to get her out of this!

  Then there was a pinch, and Nic
ole was grinning.

  “Hand over the enchanted doohickey, Mom.” She reached out one hand and Terez reverently placed the long bar in her hand.

  “Ohh! You have a latex spike tip on this one!” Then to Knight, “The cap comes off, but the enchantment is in the metal itself. Your girlfriend will enjoy the texture, though.”

  Then there was a tugging at her tongue, and Nicole released the clamp.

  “See?” Nicole smiled, the first smile that had crossed her lips since they entered her domain. “That wasn’t so bad.”

  “That’s what you say,” Knight groused, opening and closing her jaws a few times, trying to rid herself of the uncomfortable weight on her tongue or the tickling at the top of her mouth.

  “There will be no swelling,” Nicole went on as if Knight hadn’t spoken. “There will be no pain, just a bit of time to get used to the feeling and to the latex tip. Wanna see?”

  Before she could answer, Nicole was off her lap and was spinning her around in her chair to face a fully mirrored wall.

  Knight, for the first time since entering this shop, got the chance to see herself. “I… is that… Is that me?”

  She was a vision. Her skin nearly glistened with health, and her dark hair shimmered with deep violet highlights. Her eyes appeared luminous and large in her face, her lips full and lush. She looked down and both her arms and legs were hairless, so that all could see the shape of her well-defined legs. The look of exhaustion that had plagued her for the past few years was gone.

  Suddenly, her out of the catalog short set was looking quite plain and unworthy.

  “You are beautiful.” Terez’s form appeared beside that stranger in the mirror who looked something like Knight and was wearing her clothing, and smiling her crooked smile.

  Looking up at the shop owner, Knight said earnestly, “Thank you.”

  “Just doing my job.” Terez grinned. “You don’t get laid, I don’t get paid.”

  Impulsively, Knight reached up and pulled the other woman down to her face.