The Road To Glory

by Advocate

  The saleswoman looked like she was ready to bolt and was already wearing a light coat of perspiration.

  "You know ..." Leigh tapped her chin. "This is what I think I’d like you to do." She paused. "It is your job to help two love birds like us find satisfaction with our lingerie choices," Leigh smiled sweetly, "isn’t it?"

  "I ... I ..."

  "Of course it is." Leigh moved right up alongside the woman, invading her personal space and intentionally making her even more uncomfortable. "My lover, the beautiful brunette you’ve already met, would like to buy me something. I’ve already selected something for myself, which is waiting for me at the register. But I think I might need to be measured for what she’d like to buy me." She turned to RJ, the mischief fairly dancing in her sky blue eyes. "Isn’t that right, baby?"

  "Oh, absolutely. Have to make sure it fits properly, don’t we, darlin’? Wouldn’t want you getting pinched in a ‘sensitive’ spot. Unless of course I’m doing the pinching." RJ leaned over to the saleswoman. "She really likes it when I bite her on the–"

  RJ couldn’t finish her sentence before Leigh’s lips crushed against hers in a passionate kiss.

  The salesclerk gasped, then paled as the kiss continued and several large women in the front of the store began hooting and clapping.

  "Mmmm ..." Leigh pulled away from RJ, her eyes still closed. She opened them slowly and shrugged one shoulder, a small smile playing at her lips. "I was missing you," she said softly. Truly meaning it.

  RJ wasn’t sure if her friend was playing or serious, but she placed her hand on the blonde’s cheek and replied sincerely. "I was missing you as well, Leigh Matthews." She stood up straight before the moment got too intense and turned back to the clerk who looked as if she were going to pass out at any moment. "See how sweet she is? Now I’m sure you can find it in your heart to help her out."

  The woman stood dumbfounded, simply staring at Leigh, who was staring at RJ, utterly charmed by RJ’s response to her kiss. She started to slip away when Leigh’s hand shot out and grabbed a tape measure that was barely sticking out of the saleswoman’s pocket. "I believe the dressing rooms are this way. And I just know I’m going to need some help." This woman is acting like my cooties will kill her. I love it! Leigh turned on her heel and began marching toward her destination. When she was almost there she stopped and looked over her shoulder.

  The saleswoman was torn. She couldn’t stand waiting on this kind. But she couldn’t afford to lose this job either. The woman reluctantly scurried after Leigh, taking the tape measure from her outstretched hand and walking past her into the dressing rooms.

  Leigh’s eyes were riveted on RJ. "Wait for me?"

  A nod. "For eternity if I must," she said quietly.

  * * *

  "Where is she? What’s she doing?" the female squirrel whispered loudly. Her mate was standing on her shoulders peering inside Fitz’s diner at the Glory Town Council meeting.

  "She was ranting about broken hearts and her daughter. But now they’re all just sitting around a table drinking iced tea."

  The female rolled her eyes. "Not the humans, dipshit! The cat. Flea. What’s she doing?"

  The male stuck his face up to the glass, pressing his tiny, wet squirrel nose against its dusty surface and fogging it up with his moist breath. "She’s lying on the table while Elvis scratches her belly."

  "Elvis! Really?"

  "No," he said dejectedly. "But that would be cool, wouldn’t it?"

  The female jerked to the side, sending her mate tumbling to the ground at her feet. "This is not a joke. That cat is after us! She’s toying with us, torturing us, watching us writhe and sweat just for sport."

  "Females," the male snorted. "You’re all alike."

  "True."

  "So what can we do?"

  "We can fight back. I’m not going to spend the rest of eternity running from that nasty feline. Just look at this." She pointed to the scratches on her back. Apparently, being dead didn’t make you immune from injury.

  "The cat didn’t give you those." He wriggled the skin above his eyes that would have been squirrel eyebrows had God not been preoccupied by Republicans that day — and other manner of hideous assaults upon nature. "I did."

  The female tackled her mate. She pressed into him, exciting him with her shapely squirrel form and her low, sexy rodent voice. "Is that a grain of rice in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

  The male squirrel purred happily and slid his hand between their bodies. "It’s rice!" He whipped out a single long grain and shoved it right in front of his mate’s face, forcing her to cross her eyes to look at it. "I’m hoarding for the apocalypse."

  "But we’re already dead!"

  "Oh, yeah." The male immediately popped the grain of rice into his mouth.

  CHAPTER IX

  "SO THIS IS where you stay when you’re in Seattle?" RJ sank down on the bed, taking in her surroundings.

  "This is it," Leigh confirmed as she tossed her bag onto her bed at the Piedmont Resident Suite Hotel. She had a standing reservation for the last week of every month. And this was ‘her’ suite.

  It was small, but well furnished, with one bedroom barely big enough to hold a dresser, standing mirror, and queen-sized bed. The kitchen was painted a stark white and filled with new, apartment-sized appliances. It connected to the living room, which had hard wood floors covered by soft, thick rugs and filled with comfortable furniture. The bathroom was tiny and completely overtaken by its deep, sunken bathtub. The suite’s long, narrow balcony had a view of the Puget Sound, and it housed two side-by-side chaise recliners, one of which always remained empty.

  The place suited her needs nicely. It was about the same price she’d pay for an apartment for the entire month; the view was costing her dearly and she knew it. But Leigh never had to do any cleaning, or pay utilities, or deal with a yard. And the management allowed her to use the laundry, pool, and gym whenever she was back in town, whether she staying at the hotel or simply going to turn around the next day and drive in the opposite direction.

  The location was perfect — within walking distance of East Pine Street where a thriving gay community added color and life to an already eclectic metropolis. It all was convenient and utterly uncomplicated. Just the way Leigh tried to keep her life.

  "It’s very nice," RJ allowed, shifting her position to look out the window. Her eyes went a little round at the magnificent view. What seemed to be a legion of sailboats dotted the ocean with splashes of color.

  Leigh nodded, parking herself next to RJ and peering out the window along with her. An unconscious smile crossed her face at the sight of a particularly quick boat skimming the water’s sparkling surface along with the breeze. "They look free, don’t they? They’re floating," she remarked a little wistfully.

  RJ frowned. "You’re free, too."

  Leigh’s head jerked sideways, and she gave RJ an annoyed look. "What are you talking about? I know I’m free." She stood up abruptly and marched toward the door.

  RJ followed Leigh out of the room. "You’re not tied to the road, Leigh. You can float along too if that’s what you really want."

  "Sure I can," Leigh snorted sarcastically. "I can’t even swim."

  "That’s not what I meant, and you know it." RJ stopped Leigh’s motion by gently placing her hands on her shoulders. She spun her around. "What’s your heart’s desire, Leigh?" Without warning RJ felt the breath rush from her body. Never before had she wanted to make someone’s dreams come true so badly and yet been completely helpless to do so. It was a slightly sickening feeling, and she laid her hand over her belly in stunned reaction.

  "My heart’s desire?" Leigh blinked. She was about to make an offhand comment that that involved sex and a hammock in Jamaica when she saw the look on RJ’s face. "Was that a serious question?"

  RJ didn’t answer.

  Their eyes met and Leigh distantly chided herself for allowing that to happen way too often. It was too easy to lo
se herself in those soulful emerald depths. "I … I can see that it was," she said more to herself than RJ. Her head dropped and she paused so long that RJ thought she wasn’t going to answer at all.

  The taller woman drew in a breath to change the subject when Leigh finally managed, softly, "I don’t know." She looked back up at RJ with such a painfully open expression that the pilot felt her heartbeat increase in response. In an instant the look was gone, replaced instead by a neutral smile.

  "Let’s get something to eat," RJ heard herself say, sorry she’d taken the conversation down this path to begin with. She reached down and took Leigh’s hand.

  "I could use a bite." Leigh’s smile became a little more relaxed as she focused on the reassuring grip of RJ’s warm hand. God, I need this time off. When did I become such a fucking mess? "I intend to keep you up way past your bedtime tonight, RJ. So we’ll need to fortify our reserves." Now a real, full grin appeared.

  "Oh, I imagine we do!" RJ patted her flat stomach. "Especially me. I’m used to consuming all that grease at Fitz’s. I’m starting to shake from withdrawal. Besides, your not an easy woman to keep up with." Though I’m getting stronger each day.

  "Seems to me that you’re managing just fine." There was only a second’s hesitation before Leigh blurted out, "I love it when you hold my hand," startling herself in the process.

  RJ bent down and brushed her lips across Leigh’s. "So do I, lass. So do I."

  * * *

  "Well?" There was a note of uncertainty in RJ’s voice.

  "Oh, my God."

  RJ fidgeted a little with her collar. "Is that good blasphemy or bad blasphemy?"

  "Oh, my God!" Leigh mumbled again, her eyes going comically round.

  "Leigh."

  As though in a trance Leigh stepped forward, her arms outstretched in a fair imitation of Frankenstein’s monster as she approached RJ. She let her hands land first on the slightly rough linen shirt, then headed downward, skimming them over the smooth, supple leather that was stretched tightly over RJ’s muscular thighs. She licked dry lips. "Have I said, ‘Oh, my God’?"

  RJ laughed, finally confident that Leigh’s reaction was a good thing. "So the prissy sales clerk was right then?" He said this would drive you wild.

  Leigh nodded furiously. "You look …" She bit her lower lip. Alan, the clerk, had taken RJ back into the dressing rooms with a few items that he insisted would be perfect. He’d insisted that the outfit would ‘work’ better as a surprise to Leigh. He was right. "You … um … you look…" Oh. My. God. I want her right this second! "Let’s stay here tonight," she said quickly, already in love with the idea.

  "No." RJ crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, but the very corner of her mouth was already beginning to curl upward.

  "Yes."

  "No."

  "Please," Leigh begged a little breathlessly.

  RJ’s stance instantly softened. "Well, maybe."

  Leigh smiled.

  Green eyes narrowed. "Oh, no. That’s not going to work." RJ firmed her resolve, though the hands on her thighs were doing their best to undermine her intentions. "You bought me these lovely black leather pants and this nice shirt," RJ squared her shoulders in the pristine white, linen shirt that was cut in the style of a loose-fitting man’s dress shirt. "We should at least take them out for a test drive."

  "We could stay in and I could take you for a test drive," Leigh growled, allowing her hands to drift back up RJ’s torso.

  The darker woman grabbed Leigh’s hands, catching a subtle whiff of perfume. "Your perfume," RJ inhaled again, "is lovely."

  "What perfume?" Leigh asked with devastating innocence. I’m so busted.

  "The perfume that you put here," RJ swooped down and kissed behind Leigh’s ear, laughing as the smaller woman began to squeal with laughter. Ticklish? Oh, you’re mine, now. "And here." RJ’s head shot lower and she happily buried her face in Leigh’s cleavage, licking as well as nipping, as the blonde squirmed, only half-heartedly trying to push RJ away.

  Satisfied she’d made her point, RJ eventually relented. But only because she was getting so horny she started to seriously consider Leigh’s idea of staying home. "Don’t be thinking I don’t notice that delicious scent, Ms. Macho Truck Driver. I’m quite aware that it’s calculated to drive me mad. Your wicked, feminine wiles are working quite nicely, thank you very much."

  Leigh looked up at RJ from behind fair lashes. "Is it really driving you mad?"

  "Very." Taking Leigh’s hand, she placed it over her heart. "Feel."

  A charmed smile eased its way across Leigh’s face as she pressed her hand to RJ’s chest. The tall woman’s intense body heat seeped through thin linen directly into Leigh’s hand. She long to repeat the process with her other hand, absorbing more of RJ’s sensual warmth. So she did.

  RJ’s felt her heart skip a beat and she knew that Leigh felt it too.

  "It’s beating awfully fast," Leigh said, a touch of wonder coloring her voice.

  "It always does when you’re near."

  Leigh sighed. "Keep up that sweet talk, RJ, and I won’t be letting you go when this week is over." Her face scrunched up into a happy grin. "I’ll be right back." She headed for the bedroom to pick up a light jacket. A faint drizzle had begun, and it looked like tonight was going to be a little chilly.

  RJ watched her companion retreat to the bedroom and whispered quietly, "I wish it were that easy, Leigh Matthews. I wouldn’t go."

  * * *

  The women sat in one of Leigh’s favorite Seattle haunts, The Doll House, a women’s club and definitely a local hotspot. Despite the predominantly lesbian clientele, nearly a quarter of the Doll House’s patrons were straight couples, who came to enjoy the wonderful dance floor, or ‘girl’s night out’ groups, who used the club as a refuge from the intoxicated men who tended to intrude on their private gatherings.

  RJ looked at another couple, openly kissing on the dance floor. Good Lord! "Interesting place you chose for us tonight." RJ held Leigh’s hand just a little tighter. The last thing she wanted to do was lose her friend in the crowd. That would be bad, she decided the moment she saw the woman dressed all in black with purple hair and things sticking out of her face that looked very painful. "You don’t intend to try to talk me into anything like that, do you?"

  "Not hardly," Leigh laughed. "Dance with me?"

  "But –"

  "I’ll take that as a yes."

  It was a relatively slow song, much to RJ’s relief. But she soon realized she didn’t need to worry about all this new music or how to dance to it. Leigh had wrapped her arms around her neck and was pressed tightly against her as they swayed to the beat of whatever played. The silk of Leigh’s rust-colored blouse felt cool against RJ’s hands.

  "Not so bad, right?" Leigh whispered a few moments later, lacing her hands behind RJ’s head. She had no intention of letting RJ flounder around on the dance floor, feeling uncomfortable. "Let me guess, they don’t have clubs like these in Glory?"

  RJ chuckled at the gentle tease. "No, they don’t. But after being in this place, I think that’s something we need to change."

  "Good." Leigh leaned forward and kissed RJ’s cheek and growing slightly bolder, moved a bit away from RJ for the next, only slightly faster dance. She placed RJ’s hands on her swaying hips, smiling when RJ’s movements easily began to mirror her own.

  It was nearly an hour later that they strolled off the dance floor, lightly perspiring and both in desperate need of drinks.

  "I’m really starting to feel the need to march across the room and poke her eyes out!" Leigh fumed as she all but snarled at the tall, stacked blonde who seemed to be fixated on her dance partner. The woman had been staring at and drooling over RJ all night. Leigh had seen her in the Doll House before, and even those brief visual encounters from afar were enough to set off the warning bells in Leigh’s head tonight. The woman was a predator. Not that Leigh or RJ were shy. But this woman was different.

  RJ looked
up from her companion for the first time that evening, trying to see who Leigh was glaring at. "Has she done something to you?"

  "No." Leigh’s jaw worked. "But she’d like to do something to you."

  RJ’s eyebrows popped up. "Who would like to do what to me?"

  Leigh smiled as the woman headed toward the door. "Never mind, RJ." She patted the pilot’s arm. "Thirsty?"

  "In the worst way."

  "Whew." She fanned herself. "Same here." Leigh pushed herself up on tiptoes and softly bussed RJ’s chin. As the evening progressed, the club had grown more and more crowded. The temperature began to rise, and Leigh felt a trickle of perspiration disappear down the center of her back. Mercifully, a slow song began and she leaned close to RJ, feeling the heat of her skin through her clothes. "I’m going for more drinks." She pointed to the throng of women, interspersed with a few men, around the bar. "Beer?" she asked, already planning her strategic route through the crowd.

  "Absolutely. Never turn down beer," RJ paused and winked, "or the beautiful woman you’re with." She wiggled her brows and allowed a roguish grin to appear.

  "God," Leigh laughed, rolling her eyes as she headed toward the bar. "There is no way I should find someone so obnoxious so completely attractive in every way." But I don’t think I have a choice.

  The woman near the door waited until Leigh disappeared from sight before making her way over to RJ, who was watching the writhing bodies on the dance floor with interest. "Hello."

  RJ looked up at the woman and quirked a brow. "Good evening to you." She tilted her head and gave her a friendly smile before going back to watching the dancing couples. In my day that would have gotten them arrested!

  "I’m Ali." She had to raise her voice above the pulsing music. "I haven’t seen you here before."

  "Never been here before." RJ tore her eyes from the dance floor and refocused on the tall, curly haired blonde, taking note for the first time of her considerable attributes. How in the hell does a skinny woman like this get those? "I’m RJ Fitzgerald. Nice to meet you."