Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (11 page)

"She," I said. "She was trying to help me, but I felt very helpless and it felt like she was being exceedingly mean."

"Had she tried other methods first?"

"Yes."

Andrea paused. "Maybe it would help looking at it like this. Imagine this dream woman sent the flowers as an apology for not finding a nicer way to help you. Can you forgive her?"

I looked at the flowers. They were especially lovely. I turned back to Andrea, took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a moment,
then
told her, "Yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome. What are you going to tell the real woman?"

"I don't know. I've been dodging her. I guess she figured out I was upset. So now I have to apologize."

"What does the note say?"

"It just asks, are we okay," I told her.

"So, tell her yes and invite her to coffee or something. You don't need to say anything else."

"Thank you," I told her again. "I'll do that."

"Good," she said, getting up. "Almost done with that?" she pointed to the paperwork on my desk.

"Yes. Would you like to go over it after lunch?"

"Perfect."

* * *

At the dojo, I found Petra and asked her to help me with a move she had taught me the week before.

"Of course."

We stepped to the corner and she told me to go through the move. "The flowers were lovely. Thank you.
May I have a ride home tonight?"

She smiled broadly. "Yes. Am I welcome on Sunday?"

"I hope you'll be there." But then I looked away. "It was my week to pick the movie, and I was in a mood. I picked Dracula.
The one with Gary
Oldman
and Winona Ryder.
In it, Gary
Oldman
as Dracula comes to women in their beds at night and seduces them."

Her expression darkened for a moment.

"But now I wish I'd picked something else. I'm not sure I'm going to be in the mood, but its one of our favorites, and Erika is all excited about it."

"Is this a serious movie for you or one you both heckle?"

"Heckle," I said. "Definitely heckle
. We get really campy about it. Dinner is just spaghetti. You know, for the red sauce."

She laughed. "I will definitely be there."

* * *

When we walked to her car, I asked her, "Are you in a hurry tonight?"

"Not at all," she said. "Want to cook?"

"I was going to ask you to take me to your favorite wine shop," I told her. "But cooking sounds fabulous."

I bought two cases of wine and a wine rack to store it. We picked up groceries.

Back at my apartment, Petra cooked while I made little signs to hang around the
necks
of the bottles. They said things like "spaghetti" and "wine and cheese". I set the wine rack up in the living room next to the
china cabinet and loaded it with bottles. We ate dinner and then watched a movie.

She left at eleven and said, "Sweet dreams."

"I hope so," I told her. "You too."

"I think I will," she said.

* * *

"I'm sorry," I told her the moment I saw her.

She leaned down and kissed me very passionately.
She had one hand on the back of my neck, the other cupping my cheek while she thrust her tongue between my lips, teasing me.

Her hand moved down and cupped my breast. I arched my back into her.

She pulled away and looked at me, then clapped with joy.

"More!" I told her.

She lowered her lips to my nipple. She nipped gently, and I arched my back again, shoving my breast deeper into her mouth.
Her hand moved to my other breast, and her fingers began tickling and pitching that nipple.

I felt like every nerve ending I owned was suddenly awake, and they were all screaming, "More!"

She pulled away and looked at me, although her hand was still on my breast. She looked at me squirming to her touch. She was smiling, grinning broadly.

She leaned over and kissed me deeply, her tongue probing. She licked my lips and kissed my nose playfully.

"More."

She kissed a line of kisses down my neck, shifted around so she was straddling me,
then
kissed a line of kisses down my body. She tickled my belly button with her tongue,
then
kissed my pelvis.

My legs opened for her, and she kissed her way to my vulva. Her lips parted me, and her clever tongue danced against my clitoris.

I almost came right there at the first touch.

And she pulled away.

"What?" I said. "Where are you going?"

She rolled off me, crawled up a little, and lied down on her side, her head resting in her hand, facing me.

I turned my head to face her. I was still squirming from the memory of her touch.

I rolled to face her head on. She lifted her head from her hand so she could clap.

"You did not just get me that worked up then stop."

She smiled. "Catch me."

Then I woke up.

* * *

"No!"

I swear I could still feel her touch, and I was so horny I couldn't stand it. I reached down and spent a few minutes finishing what she started. As my self-served organism burst through me, I felt cheated.

I lied in bed for a few moments, gasping, then climbed from the bed. The cats were nowhere in
sight
. I wandered out to the kitchen and found them eating their breakfast.

I was still horny as hell, so I headed to the shower. I ma
de use of the detachable shower
head for several minutes, which felt nice, but not as nice as
Dream Petra
's tongue had. Still, I achieved a second blood-burstin
g orgasm. I replaced the shower
head and slumped against the wall, allowing the water to rain down on me.

I stood under the water for an exceedingly long time, but eventually emerged feeling something resembling normal.

Saturday became my cleaning and errands day. I gave the apartment a thorough cleaning and made my grocery list.

Then I left the apartment, walked up two flights, and knocked on Petra's door.
She opened it after moment or two.

"Felicia, hello," she said. "Was I expecting you?"

"No.
I'm sorry
,
I shouldn't intrude
. I just wanted to ask one question."

"Quite all right," she said, holding the door open in invitation. I stepped inside and she closed the door. "I was just thinking about you anyway."

"Really?"

"I was wondering what wine I had to bring tomorrow night," she said. "What did you want to ask?"

"This is probably silly, but. How did you learn to cook? Did someone teach you?"

She nodded. "My mother taught me some basics. Things like boiling an egg. Believe it or not,
Renea
taught me more. But mostly I'm self-taught." She paused. "I presume you're asking because you want to become a better cook?"

I nodded. "Yes."

She led the way deeper into the apartment. "I have something for you then." She led the way into her kitchen. She had a single bookshelf on the wall. "These are my most basic cookbooks," she said. She pulled one down. It was very thick. "This book is one of two or three books that are considered the ultimate books for people learning to cook. I still use it from time to time. This copy is now yours, a gift."

"Thank you," I said.

She pulled out several copies of a thin magazine. "These are not a gift. I want them back. If you are serious about learning to cook, you'll subscribe to this magazine. I pick at least one recipe from every issue and make it, even when I'm exceedingly busy. When my schedule allows, I make several." She paused. "Don't worry if you splatter a little when making something from
these
. I do that all the time myself."

I cradled everything in my arms.

"Would you like some basic advice?" I nodded. "First, use quality, fresh ingredients whenever you can." I nodded. "Second, only cook with something your great grandmother would have considered food."

"I'm not sure what that means."

"No MSG, no high fructose corn syrup."

"Right, I understand."

"
Third
." She pulled another cookbook down and spread it on her counter. "This is my favorite right now. Notice the sticky notes." The book had tons of sticky notes. She opened the book to one of the pages and turned it to me. "Notice something else."

I looked at the page. "You write your own notes."

"The first time you start writing in a book can be traumatic. We're taught to revere books, and writing in them is almost sacrilege. But here, look. The recipe calls for a certain amount of
celery
."

"You wrote how many stalks."

"Right. Otherwise you have to measure. Celery is almost always the same size, so this recipe calls for four stalks. If the stalks are small, I might use five."

"Got it."

"Last," she said. "It's more fun to cook with someone else. Or for someone else."

I smiled. "Are you inviting yourself over?"

She laughed. "Yes. Or Karen. She'd love being invited." She paused. "I'm busy tonight. Andrea and I are attending an event. But you could invite Karen."

"It's my night to talk to Beth after dinner. Would Karen be offended if I kick her out after dinner?"

"No, just let her know your plans."

"Thank you, Petra. I'll get the
se
back to you tomorrow."

"Keep them for a week or two. You can pick up copies of the latest issue in the grocery store. If you like them, subscribe."

"I will."

* * *

My phone rang.

"That's my queue," Karen said. "Dinner was lovely! You can invite me any time." She kissed my cheek on the way to the door.

I grabbed the phone. "Hi Beth!"

"Someone sounds happy," she said.

"I am," I told her. "But I'm so horny I'm ready to hump this phone. If I hang up will you call me back so it vibrates?"

We talked until late.

* * *

Dream Petra
was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, a few feet away. I rolled over and looked at her. "Why are you way over there instead of over here kissing me?"

In response, she slid backwards away from me a few inches.

I lied back, staring upward, wondering if there was a ceiling somewhere above us. Everything was dark except the space immediately around us. The floor was stone, but somehow I wasn't uncomfortable lying on it. I stretched and was surprised to find my entire body working.

She clapped.

"Catch you?"

She nodded.

"If I catch you, I get to kiss you?"

She nodded.

I rolled over and got on my hands and knees. I didn't feel like standing was a good idea. I started crawling to her. She clapped quickly then slid further away. I crawled more quickly and she jumped to her feet and skipped away.

I sat back and looked up at her. "Seriously?"

She nodded.

I began climbing to my feet. I swayed, and she was immediately at my side, steadying me. I stood up, clasping onto her. She took a couple steps backwards, but held onto my hands. I took a cautious step towards her, then a second, then pulled her into a kiss. She kissed me deeply,
then
pulled away, holding onto my hands. The next kiss cost me four steps before she let me kiss her. The next one cost
four
less cautious steps. Then she dropped my hands and walked backwards away from me. She stood ten feet away and waited for me. I followed after her and she kissed me, her hands clasping my bottom.

Then she whispered, "Catch me," again and danced away.

This time whenever I got close, she danced away. I began moving more quickly, but still she danced away. She would wait until I was almost to her,
then
dash around me, giggling, humming, and singing her strange words.

Finally I caught her. She melted into my arms and kissed me, then pulled me to the floor.

I woke up.

* * *

I tossed a bathrobe on and wrote a quick note for Karen. "Going for a hike, leaving at eight if I haven't heard from you. Felicia." I made sure the door would
not
automatically
lock, stepped down to Karen's door, knocked loudly enough she'd hear if she was awake but not so loudly that I'd wake her, and slipped the note under her door.