SoloPlay (4 page)

Chapter Four

On Monday morning, Mark grabbed a box of freshly printed business cards from his office and headed down the block to Come Again, the first shop on his customer list. It had taken him a solid month of endless meetings with his lawyers, drinking gallons of coffee and trying to sound as rational as possible, but SoloPlay Enterprise’s newest division, Product Evaluation, was a go. Now he just needed to find applicants to test the SoloPlay Originals line.

He reached the door of Come Again and opened it. The bell tinkled and he ducked beneath it to enter the store. He scanned the room.

At Come Again, appearances were pleasantly deceiving. The shop itself looked more like an upscale greeting card store than an adult novelty shop, but Mark knew that the shelves didn’t hold cards. They held a wide-ranging selection of erotica. The store offered everything from exquisitely crafted, three hundred dollar blown-glass dildos to garden variety handcuffs. A customer could locate an inexpensive pair of edible underwear or a thousand-dollar portable bondage bench, all while enjoying the soft lighting, tasteful signage and plush carpeting of the luxurious store.

He spotted Bonita Pritchard, his favorite client, behind the counter. He liked her not only because she and her assistants, Crystal and Destiny, moved tons of SoloPlay items, but because he admired the classy atmosphere she had created at her store. In fact, if she had sold coffee, he would probably come here to have his frequent brainstorming sessions instead of the coffee shop down the street.

“Hey, Mark. I wasn’t expecting you until Friday. The order isn’t ready yet.” Bonita greeted him with a handshake and a welcoming smile.

He smiled back at her. The homey impression of the sex shop wasn’t the only misleading appearance at Come Again. If Mark could believe the rumors, the owner’s calm, green eyes and sleek, blond hair disguised a predilection for hard-core bondage. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Mark enjoyed the contradiction between Bonita’s tightly controlled, businesslike demeanor and her purported soul of true kink. In fact, he would have gone down that road with her in a minute if she had ever displayed the slightest interest in him.

“I’m not here for the order. I have a favor to ask. Are Crystal and Destiny around?” he asked.

Bonita shook her head. “Crystal has a client and Destiny went to lunch.”

“Too bad. I was hoping to talk to all of you.” Well, maybe not Crystal. She made him uneasy in a way he couldn’t quite define. It felt like she expected something from him and he couldn’t figure out what it was. It wasn’t sexual because Crystal liked girls, but it bugged the hell out of him to feel like she knew something he didn’t.

“What can I do for you?” Bonita asked.

Mark got down to business. “Willing bodies for pay. SoloPlay is launching an original line of toys, and we need some feedback.”

“Congratulations, Mark.”

“Thanks.” They shared another smile. “Can you help me do some discreet recruiting? I’m looking for dependable, adventurous sex enthusiasts willing to fill out online surveys. The toys are free, and we’ll pay monthly. Anonymity guaranteed. All responses will be confidential. My lawyers are going apeshit,” he confided.

“I can imagine.”

“So, do you think any of your customers would be interested?” he asked her.

She nodded. “I think it sounds like a dream job. Applicants are going to be crashing your server. The girls and I will make sure of it.”

“Excellent.” Mark handed her a stack of business cards. “Hand these out to anybody you think will be a good match. The url for the application is on the card. Response time will vary, but we’ll try to get back to everyone as quickly as possible. Please let everyone know we’ll have to collect some personal information to weed out the cranks.”

“Of course. Only serious sex toy lovers allowed, got it,” Bonita said drily. “Do I get a preview of the new line?”

“Nope, but you’re a shoo-in if you’d like to test the products.”

“No time for that. How about a hint?”

Mark gave her a smile he usually reserved for women he wanted to sleep with. “Let’s just say our new vibrator can do everything but scream.”

“Oh my.” Bonita’s green eyes glowed. “Sounds like a winner to me.”

“Sure hope so. Thanks for your help, Bonita. I’ll see you at the end of the week.”

Mark smiled his thanks and headed for the door, eager to make his next stop.

“Thank you,” Alisa murmured to the woman who held the door for her as she entered the shop. For the last month, she had been stopping by Come Again every night on her way home from work to see if Crystal was free for dinner. It had been so slow at the library this afternoon that Irene had been happy to let her go a few hours early. Alisa might be missing a few bucks on payday, but right now playing hooky felt wonderful. “Hi Destiny, Crystal in the back?” she asked.

Destiny looked up from the computer screen. “She’s with a client, but she should be done at 3:30. Last client too. You gonna wait or you want me to give her a message?”

“I’ll wait.” Alisa wandered over to the periodicals. The naked curves on the cover of a book entitled
What Every Bi-Girl Should Know
caught her eyes, so she tugged it from the rack and plopped down onto one of the sex cushions on the floor to read. Destiny laughed.

Alisa returned her grin and tucked another pillow behind her back. She turned her attention to her book and settled down to wait. When Crystal appeared above her sometime later with her purse over her shoulder, Alisa was deeply immersed in a chapter entitled
Fifty Ways to Love Your Lover
and her cheeks felt warm. She held up the book. “Is this even possible?”

Crystal’s slow smile was indulgent. “Sure—wanna try it? I think we’ve got something like that on the back wall.” She was already moving away from her.

Alisa stood and put the book back on the shelf, hurrying after her. “You don’t have to pay for it.”

“My treat, believe me.” Crystal returned carrying a U-shaped double dildo. “Put it on my tab, will you, Des?”

“You bet. Have a good time, you two.” Destiny gave them a cheerful wave.

Crystal held the front door open for her. “I missed lunch today. You want to grab an early dinner or are you too fired up to wait?”

“Hmm. I’m starving too. Let’s get takeout from Wegman’s,” Alisa suggested.

“Perfect.”

They took Alisa’s car to pick up the food and then drove back to her place where they settled themselves in front of the TV to eat. A month ago Alisa never would have believed such easy contentment was possible—but here she was calmly scarfing a sub while Crystal ate her sushi and they both planned to spend the rest of the afternoon having sex.
Good
sex.

Alisa finished first, so she gathered up her trash and flopped on the couch to unwrap the dildo from its plastic packaging. She held it up. “Gonna take some serious pelvic floor control to make this work,” she mused.

Crystal’s lips curved in a mischievous grin. “We might not even get it right the first time,” she warned in a solemn voice. Her dark eyes began to glow in a way that never failed to elicit a spark in Alisa, making her groan softly, deep in her throat, already getting wet in anticipation of their play.

Alisa grinned and flipped a switch. The dildo began to hum. “It vibrates too.” She ran her finger along the smooth ridges that lined each inner curve of the device, already imagining how good it would feel stroking her G-spot and thinking about how tightly she would need to squeeze her inner muscles in order to fuck Crystal with the clever toy.

“Are you done eating yet?” she asked impatiently.

Crystal chuckled. “I’ve created a monster.”

Hurt gathered inside Alisa and Crystal flinched. “Sweetie, I was just kidding. I love your enthusiasm. You know that.” She put her chopsticks down and moved closer to Alisa on the couch.

Alisa accepted her embrace, sighing softly. “I know.” She mentally shook off the insecurity that had threatened to ruin her mood and wrapped her arms around her friend. Her fingers brushed against the laces of Crystal’s tight black corset. Impossible to resist. She tugged at the bow.

Crystal smiled. “That’s better.” She arched one dark eyebrow. “So, you want to be on top or on the bottom?” she asked.

“Top,” Alisa replied instantly. “It was my idea, after all.”

“You got it, kid.” Crystal turned to gather her trash from the end table. She headed for the kitchen, loosening the rest of the laces as she walked.

Alisa quickly pulled her shirt over her head and shucked her bra. As she stood up, she pushed her black pencil skirt over her hips and stepped out of her pumps. “Last one naked has to make the coffee in the morning,” she called over her shoulder as she streaked down the hall toward her bedroom.

The next morning, Alisa awoke to the sound of her coffee grinder. She heard water running in the kitchen sink. Stretching, she rolled onto her back and hoped Crystal would bring a cup of coffee to her in bed. She glanced at the clock, glad it was only seven and she didn’t have to be at work for two hours.

A few minutes later, she heard Crystal padding down the hall. She sat up and greeted her with a smile. “Good morning. Thank you.” She accepted the steaming cup.

“Fair is fair.” Crystal returned her smile, but the expression in her eyes made Alisa pause before she took her first sip of coffee.

“What?” she asked. “You look awfully serious this morning.”

Crystal motioned toward the mug. “Drink up, sweetie. We need to talk.”

Alisa took an obedient sip, but she was suddenly wide awake.

Crystal set her own mug on the bedside table and joined her on the bed. Her bare thigh was warm against Alisa’s hip as she hooked one long leg over Alisa’s knee and pressed close. Crystal gave her a light squeeze. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be that bad.

Crystal sighed. “I think it’s time to call it quits, sweetie,” she said, patting her gently on the hip. “It isn’t fair of me to monopolize you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Alisa struggled to disentangle herself from Crystal without spilling her coffee. Could getting dumped while naked be habit-forming?

Crystal held on. “I’ve had a wonderful time with you. I love your sense of adventure and your openness to, well…everything.” Her wicked grin coaxed a reluctant smile from Alisa. “I’m honored that you began your journey with me, but I think it’s time for you to look for Prince Charming again.”

“I don’t want Prince Charming. I want you. I like this,” Alisa protested.

“I know, sweetie, I like it too, but I’m holding you back.”

“What about you? Why aren’t you out there finding
your
handsome prince?”

“One handsome prince was enough for me. Trust me. I’m way more into Cinderella than the ball.” Crystal flicked a dark eyebrow in Alisa’s direction. “But I have an interesting opportunity for you.” Crystal got out of bed and padded naked across the room. She rummaged in the pocket of her leather pants, discarded on the floor yesterday, and extracted a small card before returning to the bed.

Alisa stared at the black business card and raised an eyebrow. “SoloPlay Enterprises?”

“Mark Winters needs testers for his new line of original sex toys. It’s the perfect opportunity for you, sweetie. You can continue to explore your sexuality but you won’t have an excuse not to date.”

She stared at Crystal, remembering their first time together in the shop, thinking about how shy she had felt. She had been frozen by her desire, terrified to ask for what she wanted. That was certainly not the case now, but that was only with Crystal. What if her new confidence didn’t apply to other lovers?

“Exactly,” Crystal agreed. “You need to get back out there or you’ll be afraid forever. It doesn’t have anything to do with you and me. We’ll always be friends, good friends, I promise. In fact, if I see a handsome prince roll in the door of Come Again, I’ll send him straight to you, but until then, why don’t you let SoloPlay Originals pick up where we leave off?” Crystal tossed the business card onto the bedside table and took Alisa’s coffee out of her hands before she sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around her. “It’s time, sweetie.”

Alisa nodded, not convinced, but honest enough to admit that she wasn’t entirely miserable that Crystal was ready to set her free. Actually, a small part of her was relieved. The more time they spent together, the more it became clear that Crystal was searching for something too, something that she wasn’t finding with Alisa, although she was willing to look for hours on end and to the great satisfaction of them both. “All right,” Alisa said reluctantly.

“Good.” Crystal ducked her head to kiss her, playfully nipping her bottom lip. “Because I already applied for you.” Her lusty laugh took the sting out of the betrayal. “I’ll let you know when your first selection arrives at Come Again…Sologirl.”

“Huh?”

“Sologirl. I thought you might want to protect your privacy, so I gave you a code name and said you wanted to pick up your deliveries at the shop. It sounds like a great gig, by the way. You play with the toys, fill out an online survey, and they send you a check every month. I bet you won’t even miss me, and if you do, well, you know where to find me.” Crystal cupped Alisa’s cheek with one hand and kissed her. She pressed her down onto the bed and stretched out on top of her, chuckling. “How about one more time since I didn’t get to be on top last night?”

Alisa forgot all about SoloPlay until she got to work that morning and found Crystal had tucked the business card into her purse. It was hard not to feel rejected and abandoned, but it helped that Crystal was obviously trying to maintain a connection between them. Their sex this morning had felt different, though—more friendly than hot. She laughed out loud, reminding herself that a month ago even friendly sex would have seemed like a miracle. Now she was a connoisseur?

“What’s so funny?” Her desk mate looked up from the books she was discharging.

“Nothing,” Alisa replied. She casually shifted her monitor so that Beth couldn’t see her screen and typed
Mark Winters SoloPlay Enterprises
into her search engine.