In Plain Sight

by Sherryl Hancock

  “I would marry you,” she said.

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “You wouldn’t do it anyway, would you?”

  “No, I wouldn’t.”

  Carmalina move her body sensually over Memphis’, making her gasp.

  “You will miss this…” Carmalina said, her lips touching Memphis’ skin over and over again.

  “Yes, yes I will…” Memphis said, her hands grasping at the other woman.

  “I will miss you more.” Carmalina captured Memphis’ lips with her own.

  For Carmalina it was a first. She’d truly become addicted to the girl, not the other way around. Usually Carmalina had to scrape women off, but Memphis had remained exactly as she had started, but had also learned quickly both in the bedroom and in the DJ’s booth.

  In the end, Carmalina came back to Los Angeles as often as possible. She’d found a couple of times that Memphis was involved with someone, but it rarely lasted long, and she’d wait. Other times she’d been out of town. It was frustrating; even after six years, she still craved the woman like no other.

  “You’re taking me home tonight, aren’t you, mija?” Carmalina said as she slid her hand up Memphis’ side.

  “Mmm,” Memphis murmured. “Yes, I am.”

  “Buena,” Carmalina said, glancing to her side. “You know that your blue-eyed English girl is watching us, right?”

  “She’s a friend, Carma.” Memphis closed her eyes at the sensations Carmalina was causing, her hand caressing so close to a very erect nipple.

  “Does she know that, mija? ’Cause she is caliente for you…”

  Memphis laughed. “Jesus! Stop that! You just made me fuck up!”

  “Don’t say fuck right now, Memphis… or I just might have to, right here, right now,” Carmalina said, pressing closer.

  “Don’t make me kick you out of my booth,” Memphis said, her voice a low threat even as she gasped again.

  “You wouldn’t dare…”

  Memphis finally had to step away from the other DJ to concentrate.

  “Go over there,” she said with a grin, pointing to the other side of the booth, as far away from her as possible. “And stay there.”

  Carmalina did as she was told, but spent the next ten minutes giving Memphis any number of come-hither looks.

  “I don’t remember you being quite this evil,” Memphis said.

  “It’s been too long.”

  Memphis simply shook her head.

  On her next break, Memphis went to find Kieran. She found her dancing with Natalia and the girls. She joined them, leaning in to kiss Kieran on the forehead, smiling. As always, Jazmine and Natalia started to dance with Memphis; they always loved it when one of the bois joined the group. Memphis had left a playlist running on the system; the current song was one of her favorites. Between that and the alcohol running through her veins, she pretty much let go of all her inhibitions and just danced. That was when Kieran saw how incredibly well Memphis McQueen could move—and those moves had the rest of the dancers joining in. Kieran couldn’t even begin to count the women who made a point of grinding with Memphis, some of them face to face with her, others with their backs to her while she held their waists.

  When one song ended and another began, Memphis reached out and grabbed Kieran’s hand, pulling her over.

  “Dance with me,” she said into her ear, making Kieran shiver.

  Kieran bit her lip, nodding as she looked up at Memphis. Memphis slid her hand around Kieran’s waist, pulling her closer. She reached down to take Kieran’s arm and put it up over her shoulder. She started to move her hips, sliding her knee between Kieran’s legs and shifting lower to be at her eye level.

  “Now, move with me,” Memphis said, her lips grazing Kieran’s. “Relax, just have fun.”

  Kieran wondered if Memphis had any idea how incredibly attractive she was at that very moment. She was dressed almost all in black, her eyes were bright with black liner around them, and her vibe was that of the most popular person on the planet. It all combined to make Kieran feel like the luckiest woman alive. So she forgot everything that had been in her head the past few weeks and thought of herself as attractive to Memphis McQueen. That made her feel beautiful, and that made her dance even better than she had before.

  Memphis was pleasantly surprised by Kieran’s responsiveness; she seemed like she was completely in tune with every move Memphis made. Memphis couldn’t think of the last time she’d had a partner who fit so perfectly in her arms, or against her. Kieran was just the right height, her body curvy, but she definitely had enough muscle to allow her to respond to Memphis’ moves. Memphis found herself sliding her hands over Kieran’s back, ass, and thighs. She had no idea, but hoped that she’d thrown a slow song into the mix after this one, because she wanted to get close to Kieran.

  When the next song cut in, Memphis’ head snapped up to the DJ’s booth. It was Adele’s “Send My Love,” and she knew she hadn’t put that one in. She saw Carmalina smiling broadly and winking at her. Memphis shook her head even as she held Kieran fast, before the other girl could move away.

  “No,” Memphis said to Kieran. “Stay right here,” she added, her lips right next to Kieran’s ear.

  She felt Kieran’s sigh and slid her hands around her back. Kieran put her head against the hollow of Memphis’ shoulder, one hand around her waist, the other hand on her shoulder, brushing back and forth under the hoodie Memphis wore.

  “You didn’t tell me you could move like that,” Memphis said.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever moved like that before.” Kieran turned her head up to Memphis’. “You brought that out.”

  Memphis smiled, her tongue at her teeth as she waggled her eyebrows.

  “Are you having fun?” she said.

  “Yes.” Kieran nodded. “I am. Thank you for bringing me tonight.”

  Memphis smiled. “I’m glad you came.”

  “You and Carma seem rather… close,” Kieran said, careful not to sound jealous.

  “Yeah, we were a couple for a long time, way back when. We get together when she comes to town—she just didn’t tell me she was coming this time.”

  Kieran nodded. She knew Memphis likely meant “together” literally—she’d seen them making out in the booth a few times. It wasn’t hard to figure out where that was headed. She put her head against Memphis’ shoulder again, just wanting to enjoy this moment of closeness with her. Memphis turned her head and kissed Kieran’s temple, hugging her close.

  As Kieran had expected, Carmalina followed them back to the house in her car. Kieran was very careful to be understanding, aware that any show of jealousy at this point would likely put Memphis off. She got out of the car and glanced back at Carmalina’s Mercedes as she pulled up into the driveway. She smiled and turned to Memphis.

  “Have fun,” she said, grinning. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “You gonna hit Natalia’s class?” They’d talked about it on the way home.

  “Yeah, I think I’d like to, if you’re going.”

  “I promised, so I’ll be there.”

  “Then I can drive with you?”

  “Of course. We’ll leave around 8:30, okay?”

  “I’ll be ready.” Kieran winked at Memphis, then went into the house as Carmalina walked up.

  Kieran went into the bedroom she was staying in with Oliver, unfortunately right next to Memphis’. Oliver had gone out himself that night and wasn’t home yet. Kieran got changed and took off her makeup, then lay in bed and tried to sleep. She had no luck; she could hear Memphis and Carmalina in the other room, and it was difficult not to imagine what was happening.

  Fortunately, someone, likely Memphis, thought to put music on, which definitely helped to mask the sounds of their lovemaking, but it didn’t stop Kieran’s mind from imagining things. She’d never been attracted to a woman before, but Memphis had hooked her in chat, and her being female didn’t seem to matter in the slightest to Kieran’s body. I
t was a surprising turn of events to be sure, but not something she wasn’t willing to explore. The problem was getting in line with all the women who apparently wanted to be in Memphis McQueen’s bed.

  Memphis made it very clear with every woman she slept with that she did not do relationships, so if that was what they were looking for, they should definitely look elsewhere. So either there were a lot of women not looking for relationships either, or just a lot of women willing to enjoy Memphis when they could get her. Kieran wasn’t sure she was either of those. That was the main problem.

  Chapter 5

  The morning after their reunion, Memphis woke at the touch of a hand on her lower abdomen. She felt it tracing the tattoo there and knew before she opened her eyes that she was about to deal with something she didn’t want to. She looked up into Carmalina’s dark eyes; they were trained on the tattoo she was tracing.

  “You still have this,” Carmalina said, disappointed.

  The tattoo was a capital A in cursive, the left leg curled around to circle the letter. It was the symbol for atheism.

  Memphis nodded, rather than answering. Carmalina’s hand slid up to the side of her torso.

  “And you’ve added this,” she said disapprovingly.

  The tattoo she was touching now said “Gods don’t kill people” in black cursive, and “People with gods kill people” in red.

  Memphis nodded again, her expression expectant. Carmalina was a hardcore Catholic; even though her own religion told her she was an abomination before God, she didn’t care. She believed all the same. It had been a source of more than a few arguments. Carmalina had hated the fact that Memphis refused to even discuss religion with her—she’d accused the younger woman, five years her junior, of being closed-minded. Memphis had only grown colder and colder whenever she’d try to talk to her about God.

  “You still don’t believe in God?” Carmalina said.

  “I still don’t believe in God,” Memphis said offhandedly, though her eyes reflected encroaching ice.

  “Memphis…”

  “Stop. Now.” Memphis sat up.

  “I just want—”

  “I fuckin’ know what you want, Carma!” Memphis stood. “And it’s never going to fucking happen. So unless you want this to end right here and right now, stop pushing me.”

  Carmalina looked at her searchingly. Memphis took a few slow, deep breaths, but then shook her head and headed for the bathroom, where she threw up. After a few minutes she got up from the floor, went to the sink to rinse out her mouth and brush her teeth, then walked back into the bedroom. She looked at Carmalina questioningly.

  “Ay, dios mío,” Carmalina said, putting her hands up. “I give up.” She shook her head. “I have never met someone so stubborn in all my life.”

  “You ain’t that old, Carma.” Memphis climbed into bed again, glancing at the clock.

  “You still get sick when you get freaked out, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Memphis lay against Carmalina’s legs, sliding her hands up them slowly.

  “Mmm…” Carmalina murmured, putting her hand in Memphis’ hair.

  Minutes later they were making love again, but Memphis remembered that she’d promised to go to Natalia’s class. She kissed Carmalina and got dressed.

  In the car on the way to the class, Kieran looked over at Memphis a few times; she’d noted a couple of marks on her neck. Memphis caught the second look.

  “What?” she said, laughing.

  “You, uh, got something…” Kieran grinned as she touched the hickey.

  Memphis pulled her visor down and looked at her neck. She shook her head, rolling her eyes.

  “I always forget she likes to do that. Damnit,” she said, grinning all the same.

  “You two definitely had a good time.”

  “Oh.” Memphis looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry?”

  “Not to worry—I heard her screaming way more often than I heard you.” Kieran winked.

  Memphis laughed, shaking her head and clearing her throat in embarrassment.

  Kieran had indeed heard Carmalina way more often. It made her wonder what kind of superwoman Memphis really was in bed. It didn’t help the sense of jealousy she was desperately trying to squash. It was made worse when she realized a number of the women in class were not only gay, but a few of them had already been with Memphis, if the looks they gave her were anything to go by.

  Kieran was greeted by the group, of course, and given hugs by several of them. She felt very happy to be included. The class started and Kieran saw quickly how the people Natalia taught got into shape—she was an energetic instructor, and her class was far from easy. Regardless, Kieran loved it—the music, the dancing, everything. She left that morning promising Natalia she’d be back as often as she could. Natalia gave her a schedule.

  “Liked it, huh?” Memphis asked.

  “Yes, what an amazing class!” Kieran laughed. “I feel lighter already.”

  Memphis smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

  Later, after they’d taken a shower—which included a lovemaking session—Memphis and Carmalina went downstairs. They found Kieran and Oliver watching TV, looking fairly chummy. Memphis lay down on the couch, opposite from Oliver and Kieran. Carmalina got coffee for herself and Memphis and sat down near Memphis’ head, handing her the drink as she sat up.

  “So what are we watching?” Memphis asked.

  “Orange is the New Black,” Kieran said.

  Oliver shook his head. “She’s never seen it.”

  “You’ve only seen it because you live with a lesbian,” Memphis said, laughing.

  “Probably true.”

  “Probably, my ass.”

  “The important question here is whether or not this is the third season,” Carmalina said.

  “Why?” Kieran asked.

  “Because that’s the season Ruby Rose is in, and she’s so fucking hot it’s not even funny.”

  Kieran checked the episode they were on. “Nope, still season two.”

  “Trust me,” Carmalina said, “skip to three. Ruby Rose is totally worth it.”

  Kieran did, and when she saw Ruby Rose’s character, Stella Carlin, she looked over at Memphis. “She looks a lot like Quinn.”

  Memphis laughed. “Yeah. Yeah, she does, except Quinn wouldn’t wear makeup.”

  “No, I didn’t think she would,” Kieran said, smiling.

  It turned out to be a fairly nice day. Kieran couldn’t help but watch the way Memphis acted with Carmalina; they obviously had a lot in common. They’d talk about this track or that track, and discuss new ways of fading and crossing over music. It was hard to follow. Later that evening they all decided to go out to dinner together. Carmalina took them to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with the most incredible food Kieran had ever tasted.

  “So how long have you two known each other?” Kieran said, getting bold after two shots of tequila.

  “About six years,” Memphis said, grinning.

  Carmalina winked at Memphis. “She used to stalk me in bars.”

  “And she left me for Mexico.”

  “You stalked her?” Kieran said.

  “I watched her DJ a lot—I wanted to learn. I’d picked up all the technical stuff at AI, and I wanted to learn at the hand of a master.”

  “AI?”

  “The Art Institute. It was the fastest way to get my degree.”

  “Degree? In…”

  “In Audio Engineering.” Memphis held up a finger to the waitress for another round of shots.

  Kieran noticed that Carmalina’s expression had flickered as if she’d just recognized something, and she wondered why.

  Carmalina had realized Memphis was getting edgy, talking about college, and knew that was why she’d ordered more shots. It made her wonder what was going on in the little blond’s head. Still, it was a nice evening.

  Carmalina left Los Angeles the next morning, kissing Memphis in the driveway for more than an hour and leaving yet a
nother mark on her neck, which Kieran did her best not to point out the whole day. She and Memphis spent the morning watching more Orange is the New Black and hanging out while Oliver was at work. It was the day before Memphis was heading back to the tour.

  “Where is the first show again?” Kieran asked at one point.

  “Vegas.”

  “Ohhh…” Kieran grinned. “Are you all getting a night there, at least?”

  “Actually, BJ gave us two days and nights there.” Memphis smiled. “A single bright spot in the whole tour. He even rented out a floor in the MGM Grand.”

  “Really? I imagine Las Vegas to be so glamorous!”

  Memphis looked at her for a long moment. “Do you want to come?”

  “What?” Kieran looked shocked by the question.

  “To Vegas, with us. I could fly you back—it’s not a big deal. I’m sure a few of the group are coming, just to hang.”

  “I couldn’t possibly. I’m supposed to start with BJ the next day.”

  “I can talk to Beege—he’d be cool with it.”

  “Memphis, I don’t want to intrude…”

  “It won’t be. You’ve never been there, and this will be the chance of a lifetime. You’d be there with rock stars…” Memphis was making it more and more tempting.

  “Do you really think BJ would be okay with it?” Kieran looked hesitant.

  “Let’s find out.” Memphis grinned as she pulled out her phone.

  “You are not serious!”

  “I am, as a matter of fact,” Memphis said as she dialed.

  Kieran could only hear Memphis’ half of the conversation. “Hey, Allex, it’s Memphis. I’m good, how are you, beautiful? You ready to leave Sparks yet? ’cause if you are…” She laughed, shaking her head. “Yeah, he must be good… Uh-huh, that’s what I hear. Is he around? I have a quick question for him. Ah, I just love you. Thanks. Hey, Beege, it’s me—got a favor to ask… No, no, not about that. I want to bring Kieran with me to Vegas, she’s never been… I know, but you’re gonna be in Vegas with us, aren’t you? So she’d just spend the day sitting around in the office without you there, right? This way she can see how things work.” She smiled widely, laughing. “No, I’m not… Well, no… not… no…” She grinned and winked at Kieran. “You are a prince, Beege, thanks! No, no, she can stay in my room, it’s not a problem… No, that’s not… no, that isn’t… Jesus Christ, Beege! Put Allex back on the phone—I need to convince her to leave your ass.” Again, she laughed. “Thank you, BJ.” She hung up a moment later.