A Study in Fragrance Pt. 14

Her skin lit up and she reached her hand to rub Caroline's fingers, screwing up one side of her mouth, not looking away. "I don't know. I don't know. What it's telling me I have to do...It's way more than...than what I did last night..."

"But he's going to treat you okay, right? He knows?"

Em nodded her head. "I can stop it. Any time. But the thing is, Caroline, I'm not fighting Abby on this." She waited, collecting her thoughts. "For you it's fighting your feelings, right? And for Steph it's guilt. But not for me. It's shame and humiliation, but I don't feel ashamed at being his fuck-toy!" She said it more loudly than she'd wanted. They both giggled a little. "That's the thing that's freaking me out. Last night? Last night was all about shame and embarrassment. Fuckkk." They both nodded, looking down at their work. "Fucking crazy last night.

"But this...this is scaring me. And Complicit doesn't fuck with me when I'm scared..."

"...scuse me? Complicit?" Caroline just stared at her.

Em nodded. "The fragrance. I call it Complicit. What?" She knew she was being a total freak, but she dragged it out, waiting for Caroline's reaction.

"You serious...oh! You're screwing with my head! Fuck you!" She laughed before turning back to fixing the platter.

"I'm serious, Caroline. Complicit doesn't give a fuck if I'm scared. Just if I'm ashamed. And I'm not. At least, not like I feel when I ask him to spank me..." She had to tell her. She had to make sure there wasn't anything she kept from her. "Isn't that totally fucked up? Letting him control me scares the shit out of me, but hesitating at being spanked and the fragrance is all up in my head!"

Caroline kept shaking her head. "I don't understand it, Em. Can't begin to explain it. I couldn't do what you're doing, that's for certain. Just tell me you're going to be safe."

Em looked at her friend and the urge to kiss her flooded up her throat. "Caroline?" She whispered it, looking at the window, the back stairs, reaching her fingers to pull Caroline's neck across the space between them. "Can I kiss you?" She stared at her, looking for any hesitation.

She nodded, her face lighting up, smiling. "What took you so long?" She leaned in, pressing their lips together, her hand sliding behind Em's head.

The kiss turned her on in ways so different from what she felt with Cos. Every brush of Caroline's tongue on her lips, across her teeth, hot and wet against her own, the faint smell of mint, none of it seemed to matter to the tendril at all. She didn't feel a drip of shame and that felt so weird! I never thought I'd be gay! But even that thought didn't register embarrassment or shame. She just loved the feeling of Caroline's lips: firm and soft at the same time, her fingers gently massaging her scalp. "Oh fucckkkk," she breathed out the words as she pulled away. "Fuckkkk." She saw Caroline's expression and melted.

"Oh my," Caroline inhaled. "That was amazing." She looked a little dazed, shaking her head. "You feeling...Complicit?"

Em laughed. "I know, right? It's a great name!" She shook her head. "But, nope. Not a thing. What'dya suppose that means?" What she was feeling was fantastic. The echo of their kiss vibrated down her chest.

"Hey! Hi!" Steph popped in the back door. "I brought a pasta salad. That okay?" She whisked into the kitchen, setting a fabric bag on the counter, looking at the two of them. "You guys...you..." she paused, "...okay?"

They both laughed and nodded, turning their attention to the preparations.

"But what about you, Steph? Are you okay?" Em pulled beers and wine out of the fridge.

Steph looked down and back up. "Yeah. I think so. You..." and she blushed. "Fuckfuckfuck. I'm fine until I come inside here. Can I just sit outside?"

Emily raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Of course! Shit, Steph. Go get the tables ready out there. Here." She pointed to the platter and the bag. "Take as much as you can carry. We'll be out in a minute."

She looked at Caroline after Steph had rushed out, widening her eyes, silently wondering how Steph was going to deal with Abby's fragrance.

"You know," Caroline said, as they gathered the rest of the picnic supplies. "If she's okay unless she comes over, maybe she just needs to stay away."

"Yeah." Em had already gotten there. "Let's see. Let's see what she and Robert figured out today."

"So," Steph looked up at them, "what are you thinking...about telling the gang?" She was nervous, her legs bouncing.

Em set down the beers into a cooler. "Before we get to that, Steph. We were wondering...in there you said you're fine until you come over here. Is that for reals?"

Steph looked at the two of them and nodded...and then shook her head. "I...it's really bad when I get here, but...fuckkkk, Robert is like...after last night...it's like...he comes up with ideas and...they...they make me feel..." She was struggling. "Fuck! What am I trying to say?! I feel so goddamn guilty if I don't do what he's suggesting!"

Caroline looked at her in alarm. "Steph! You don't have to do whatever Robert tells you...

"It's not that," Steph quickly interrupted. "I want to try everything he's suggesting. It's just that I need a little time to get used to the ideas, and then I feel the glow and the pressure and the guilt and then, fuckkk, it just overtakes me and there I am..." She swallowed the last part of her sentence, not willing to share exactly what she and he were doing.

Her friends nodded, exchanging glances.

"Okay," Caroline said, her voice calm. "And when you come here, it...what happens to you then?"

Steph looked up at the room over their heads, her hands gripping her knees. "I...uhhh...I'm starting to see things." She looked back at Emily. "Like you said happened to you. They're impossible. The things I'm seeing me doing with him." She inhaled sharply, exhaling with a whoosh. "No fucking way I'm going to do those things. And then...like now, just remembering what they are, and...and...knowing Robert will be so fucking turned on if I did what I'm seeing..." She wiped her eyes, her hands quickly returning to clutch her legs. "You sure you can help me, Em?" She looked freaked.

Em nodded. "I'm pretty sure I have it licked, Steph. Pretty sure it's like what we talked about yesterday: not opposing the urges and getting into your body." The thought that Robert might not be the best partner for her popped into Em's head, but she kept that idea quiet. And Cos is doing right by you? She stopped that thought train in its track, returning to Steph's original question.

"So, about what we tell the gang today. I've been thinking about it, since the other night. I say we just tell them the truth."

Caroline choked on her beer. "Hold on...fuck. 'The truth.' What, exactly, would you say that they'd believe was 'the truth?'"

Em smiled and shrugged. "The truth. I discovered a room upstairs. The woman who used to lived here prepared all sorts of perfumes in it." The memory of Caroline's kiss, the memory of her darkening at the top of her labia, the image of Cos taking her. She closed her eyes. "Sorry," she whispered. "Hold on."

"Jesus, Em," Steph said, worried. "You okay?"

She nodded, recovering. "Yeah. Yeah. It's just so fucking intense. I'm okay. Anyway. And she was an early women's rights activist..."

"Hold on." Caroline interrupted her. "What do we want them to do? Like, do we want them to not go upstairs, or do we want them to go upstairs?"

The other two women looked at her.

"Uhhhh...I thought that was the point?" Steph raised an eyebrow.

Caroline shook her head. "The point is to keep our friendship. Look at you. And you!" turning to Steph. "The question is whether they'll forgive us if we don't or if we do. Which do you think?"

Steph jumped in. "We give them the choice, obviously. Informed consent."

"Uh hunh. Yeah. Got it. And what, specifically, will we say that would inform them about what's going on ..." she waved her hand at Steph, "with...that? Or that?" She smiled at Em. "Seriously, ladies. What are we going to say that would give them informed consent?"

Em swigged a beer and nodded. "I think I've got it. Try this out." She offered her ideas and the three of them agreed, with a few changes, it was possible. Weird, but possible. "But we have to get the guys on board. Cos isn't sticking around, but Bobby and Robert can't be dicks about this."

Steph just shook her head. "Can't vouch for him not being a dick. If the fragrance..."

"Complicit."

"...what?"

"Complicit. The fragrance."

Steph turned to Caroline. "What the fuck? Has she named the fucking smell? Emily!" She turned back. "You're off the deep end."

Em shrugged. "I discovered it. I get to name it."

Steph shook her head again. "Fuck. Okay. If 'Complicit,' is fucking him up like it's doing us, there's no stopping him..."

"But it's not," Emily said, defiance mixed with confidence. "They're just testosterone-poisoned guys, with really horny girlfriends." She knew it was true. She didn't have proof. She just knew it. "I've grilled Cos on this. I've pointed out how unlikely a virgin would be so good at giving head or hand jobs or...fuck...whatever the fuck I put my mind to, and he's agreed it's the best thing that he's ever tapped."

"Em!" Caroline sounded shocked.

"I'm serious. Listen. I got through to him. I asked him if he'd ever done it like this with anyone else, or if anyone had ever done it with him quite this well, and he finally got it. He thinks we're all insane." She waved at the three of them. "He thinks he's getting old." She laughed. "The point is, he's not feeling weird about his own shit. He doesn't even feel weird about me. He's just taking advantage of what's fallen onto his lap. Literally."

The other two just stared at her, mouths open.

"What? Fuck. Listen. You heard me last night. I promised to be his sex slave, servant-cunt, whatever." She barreled through the ping of embarrassment, watching the tendril rise up. "We'd made a deal before, but last night was different. I either have to stop the game by pulling out, or I have to play it through, or, I guess I could renegotiate." She stopped to take a drink and thought about that. "And it went to a whole new level last night. Listen!" She saw them starting to protest. "Listen. To. Me. I. I did it. I did it. I made the deal. He didn't do shit. He just kept agreeing with me, keeping my fantasy alive. My. Fantasy. Get it? I want him to make me his servant-cunt." Saying the words made her squirm, but accepting the shame kept the tendril at bay. She looked upstairs. "Fuck you very much, Abby."

"So," Caroline said, recovering, "you're saying Abby's perfume, Complicit," she interrupted Em, "didn't affect him in any way. That he's just along for the ride," a smile on all three of their faces at the word, "and Bobby and Robert are just dogs?"

Em pursed her lips and shrugged. "Well, you don't know, right? They got their first taste last night. They say anything to you today?" She looked between them. "Ask 'em when they get here. Ask them if they feel any different today, other than how it feels to have two of the horniest girlfriends ever. But do it quietly off to the side. And tell 'em they won't get shit if they don't behave themselves." She smiled. "As if."

The two nodded.

"Fuck's sake." Steph looked at the beers and back to the house. "You mind?"

"Nah. But put it in an ice-tea glass or something. I don't want everyone raiding his cabinet. He'll get pissed for sure."

As soon as Bobby arrived, Caroline took him down the driveway, wrapping her arm around his waist. Em watched as she kissed him, surprised at how little it bothered her. She turned and almost ran into Cos.

"You done?" She put her hands on his hips, stopping him.

He smiled. "Yep. Closet is trimmed. Strike plate is in. Doors are closed. Final trim and punch list tomorrow, but there's not much to do."

She stared at his face, that look almost too quick to notice. "Hey," she held his eyes. "You're not..." but she didn't really want to know. Not right then. He is falling for me!

"What...?"

She shook her head and leaned in to kiss him, wanting to feel his arms around her, his chest against her. So different from Caroline. Her channel clenched, the memory of him opening her, filling her, reminding her she had new muscles to start training. Training! Fuck! "Nothing," she said, squelching the images that word brought to mind. "See you tomorrow."

She watched him get into his truck, her eyes moving to Allison's car driving up as he pulled away.

"Hey, hey!" Allison all smiles, holding a shopping bag, Sarah coming up behind. "Who was that guy?"

Em hugged her and greeted Sarah. "Cos. He's my tra...he's doing some work upstairs. It's what I wanted to show you guys."

Sarah looked at her, about to ask what she had been going to say, but decided against it. "Mmm hmm. Who's all here?"

"Hey!" Steph came around the corner. "Hey Allison! Sarah!"

"You guys can put your food on the picnic table. There's water, sodas, some beer and a bottle of wine in a cooler if you like. We're still waiting for a couple people...Oh! Hey Robert! Naomi! Jamie! Cool, come on up." Em watched nervously as Robert and Naomi joked, walking up the driveway, worried he'd say something stupid. Naomi was such a flirt. She didn't care who anyone was dating. Not that she'd do anything, but still.

Jamie's hug interrupted her worry, talking about how little they'd hung out since summer started. Em returned the hug, acknowledging she'd been distracted and promising to tell her all about it.

She turned to the others. "Hey Robert! Long time no see!" She gave him a look. "Naomi." She hugged her, wondering if her plan was really all that smart. She was most worried about Naomi.

Steph stole Robert away to the corner of the yard while Em chatted with the four women, making their way toward the tables.

"How come you didn't come to the lake! Em! It was amazing!" Allison's yellow shorts were a bright contrast to her legs, bronzed from tanning. Em noticed she'd added more to her tat: the initial seagull, so subtle it barely was visible when she first got it, now had a lighthouse behind it. A watercolor of white and grey and blue. Em remembered the rendering of the full sleeve Allison was getting done: a vignette of a beach she had frequented as a kid. It was going to be gorgeous. "C'mere, Sarah. You can share this with me." Allison waved Sarah over, patting the cushions on the comfy chair.

Em smiled, watching the two of them, convinced they were dating. Allison, full figured, rosy cheeks, her auburn hair framing her face; Sarah, slight, with a runner's build, arms smaller than Em's, her muscles ropy. Tennis scholarship. It was a rare day Sarah wasn't on a court. She wore cotton slacks and a sheer cotton blouse, her bra, lacy and white, visible through the fabric.

"Yeah," Em responded. "I've been busy. Ironman...a construction project."

Naomi snickered. "Iron-construction-man, more like it." She grinned.

"What?" Allison picked up on it, and Jamie wasn't far behind. "You...and...him?" She waved at the long-gone truck.

Em laughed, covering her reaction by grabbing a beer. "Now now ladies. So much to discuss today. But do tell about the lake. I saw some provocative pictures..." She raised her eyebrows at Allison and Sarah, waiting for a reaction. Nailed it in one. Allison's eyes flickered, and Sarah's cheeks colored just a shade. "And that's something else we'll want to hear about." Winking so only the two of them could see, she turned to the others. Bobby and Caroline had returned from their walk.

"Could everyone grab a seat for a minute? There's something Steph and Caroline and I wanted to talk to you about." She glanced at them to make sure they had their guys under control. The two women nodded, finding a spot to sit down.

"So," she began, distracted again by the emerging lighthouse on Allison's upper arm, "none of you will be surprised to hear that I may have done something really stupid."

Sniggers and laughing, except from the two couples.

"Yeah. Well. Here's the thing: Caroline and Steph and I kinda tripped over something, and as soon as we did, we thought we couldn't keep it a secret from any of you.

"Now hold on. Hold on." Em lifted her hands. "It's really juicy. It's really really juicy." She caught Naomi's eyes, brows raised, wondering. Jamie narrowed hers. "But here's the other thing: it's really really dangerous." She took a drink, drawing out the revelation with dramatic effect.

"What the fuck, Em?!" Allison.

"What!?" Naomi, looking between the three of them, her neck twisting across the back area.

Sarah and Jamie just stayed quiet, waiting.

"We'll tell you the whole thing in a minute. But the most important thing is, no matter what, our friendship is more important than anything else. No matter how stupid we've been, or how dangerous a thing we've been doing, we needed to tell you about it as soon as we ccould." She sat down gingerly on a corner of the table, her feet resting on the bench.

"This sounds enticing," Allison put her arm on the back of the chair, her hand resting on Sarah's shoulder.

"We're struggling, though," she waved at Caroline and Steph, trying to keep her voice even. "We're struggling because we didn't feel right keeping it secret from you, just like I didn't feel right keeping it a secret from them when I tripped over it."

Puzzled looks from all four friends, waiting.

"So, when we tell you what's happened to us, I can pretty much bet you're not going to believe us," waving at the others. "You're going to call 'bullshit.'" She took a swig, watching them shake their heads. "Which, actually, both Caroline and Steph did, just this past week, right?"

The two women nodded, no smiles.

"What the fuck, girls?" Naomi looked around. "You're fucking with us. What are you playing at?"

Allison joined in, assuming they were being pranked.

"Okay. Okay. Before I get to the next part, I have to say one more thing. Steph thinks that when we explain what's going on, you can make an informed decision. Caroline was doubtful, am I right?" She turned to the couples, waiting for them to agree.

"Hold on, Em." Sarah interrupted. "Informed decision about what?"

Allison jumped in. "Yeah, Em. It sounds like you guys starting doing some weird drug or something."

Jamie gasped at that suggestion, looking uncomfortable. Of the gang, she was the most conservative. Her big act of rebellion was hanging around with them at all.

Em exhaled, gathering her thoughts.

"What Em is trying to say," Caroline spoke over the others, "is that we ignored her, even when she told us she thought it was dangerous, and we're now in the same place she was. In spite of the danger, we want you to decide for yourself, but just know, that if you think you're being pranked, and don't believe what Em's about to say, you will be pwned...like we have been."

This prompted another burst of comments and questions, Naomi and Allison talking over each other. "Who did this...what the fuck...you mean pwned!..Stop fucking around..."

"You remember Ms. Fromier's class from last winter?" Em interrupted, her tone quiet but authoritative. "Well, I took that assignment seriously, and as part of it, discovered a secret room..." she paused, pointing over her head, "upstairs."

Naomi stopped. Allison looked at Sarah and then back at Em. "If you're trying to scare us, Em..." Sarah shushed her, brushing her hand down Allison's arm to quiet her.

"Abeline Baker Crewitt lived in this house from the late 1800s until she died, just before World War I. She was a women's rights activist, a botanist, a perfume maker, a master gardener, artist and counselor on matters of the heart and women's health." Emily could hear her father's voice as she spoke, getting into the story. "She was also an occultist. The room upstairs wasn't secret when she lived here. My 'rents knew nothing about Abby until I told them last weekend, and they still don't know about the room. It was Abby's lab, or apothecary. The drawings of the house labeled it 'The Study,' and that's what I've been calling it."