Dark Eden: Gone to the Dogs

Alice smiled. She liked this girl. "I'm a songwriter. Liz is an aeronautic engineer," she said, feeling she needed to promote her girlfriend over herself. It didn't work.

"Cool. Have you written anything big?"

"A few things. I pretty much wrote everything on my friend's band's debut album. I used to be in the band, but I really wasn't interested in touring. I just love to write, so I'm going to concentrate on that."

Torrie glanced sideways. "That's cool. What songs did you write? Anything I might have heard of."

Alice got a little embarrassed when she talked about this stuff, but Torrie seemed cool enough. "I don't know. Pretty much everything off the 'Lost In Texas' album and I wrote a bunch of songs for the new . . ."

Torrie had pulled over and parked the car in another hotel parking lot. She stared at her steering wheel.

"You . . . you're in . . . were in . . . Lost In Texas?" she asked calmly. Lost In Texas had been the biggest thing on the rock music scene for almost two years. Their first album had been in heavy rotation just about everywhere and they had opened for some of the biggest acts in the country. And Torrie had always thought that the lead singer had the single most perfect ass in existence. It was an all-female band with a lesbian lead vocalist, and they had basically revitalized a stagnant rock music industry, bypassing the "pop" scene entirely.

"Yeah. We just got done finding my replacement, and everyone is in the studio working on the new album." Alice was a little nervous.

Torrie just shot her another shit-eating grin. "I have GOT to get an autograph before you guys leave. My friend Jeremy is ga-ga over Lost In Texas. And you're quitting? That takes some balls," she said, starting up the car again.

"I . . . I just don't like the lifestyle that much. I mean, everyone wants to be in a rock-and-roll band when they're young, but it's just too much time on the road, too noisy and too much time away from Liz. That's just not who I am."

"Hey, I respect that. Knowing who you are . . . that's important," Torrie said, her voice taking a sad tone for just a moment. "Anyway, so what is this stuff we're dropping off?"

"I just had some contract stuff involving my change in status in the band. I'll still play some dates when the band goes through Texas, but otherwise I'll just be writing. Apparently, there's some other talent looking for material." Alice had noticed Torrie's brief shift in attitude, and was wondering what it had been about.

The two of them chatted all the way to the offices of Mega-Global Records, which was a pretty impressive building. Rather than dealing with a bunch of intermediaries, Alice was sent straight through to the office of the president of the company. The woman, a Hispanic hottie by the name of Sandra Lopez, seemed disappointed in Alice's decision for professional reasons but sympathetic for personal reasons.

"So, is Shannon around?"

"No," the woman said dejectedly. "She got called in on a homicide in some little town in the middle of nowhere. She won't be back for a couple of days. You'll be in town for a week though, right?"

"Yeah. I definitely want to see her, and Heather wants me to tell her 'hi.' You're both coming down for the house-warming party though, right? Heather will be PISSED if you flake." Alice turned to Torrie.

"Definitely. Listen, I'll have to take a rain check on lunch. How about Friday? Sorry, but the board of directors just called an 'emergency' meeting."

"Friday's cool, and we'll get to see Shannon." Alice gave Sandra a hug, then she and Torrie were ushered out.

"She seems nice," Torrie said.

"She is," Alice said enthusiastically. "She took a chance on the band when no one else would. Now, everyone in the company kisses her butt. She's dating a cop who's REALLY sweet. They met when a security guard was killed in Sandra's house. Since my friends Heather and Laurie just got a big-old ranch house built, and Laurie wants to show it off, they decided they needed to invite the woman who made it all possible, and Sandra wouldn't go anywhere without Shannon."

Torrie grinned. "Okay, you need to tell me everything there is to know about you!"

For the rest of the afternoon, Torrie had Alice chatting about everything, from the beginnings of the band to her introduction into the world of submissive sex. Alice had gone from being a puritanical, straight-laced wallflower to a lesbian and sexual submissive in less than a year, and she seemed to be coping admirably. Torrie took the girl to see all the sights of Springfield, including the ever-present fair down on the boardwalk. They were sitting on the cool beach, watching the waves caress the shore while they consumed ice-cream cones when Torrie got a call.

"Hey!" she said, then mouthed the word "Isabel" to her guest. "Still?" She sounded disappointed. "But we're still on for dinner, right? Great. No . . . crap, I'll have to go back to the apartment to take it. Sorry. I . . ." A shy smile crept over her face. "I love you too," she said.

Alice smiled. "So I'm not the only romantic around here." She cocked her head as they stood up and headed back to the car. "So what do you need to do?"

Torrie looked a little uncomfortable for a second. "I've got to take my medication. I was supposed to take it at lunch, but I forgot to bring it."

"Medication? For what?"

"Depression," Torrie replied.

"I'm sorry," Alice said, feeling as if she had tread on sacred ground. "I didn't mean to pry."

Torrie smiled. "It's okay. It's mostly for maintenance. I'm not psycho or anything. As long as I keep active, there won't be any more problems."

For some reason, Alice couldn't keep her mouth shut. Something about Torrie's forthright and honest nature inspired Alice to talk.

"Is it like manic or . . ."

"No it's . . ." Torrie tried to think back to the explanation she had been given. "You know how you get an adrenaline rush sometimes when something exciting happens? Imagine the reverse. My body was slipping into a kind of low-level of physiological arousal."

"What was that like?" Alice said.

"Nothing. I mean, most of the time, I just . . . I just didn't feel anything. Every now and then, something would get me excited enough to feel normal, but . . ." Torrie stopped and looked away. "God, you'd think it would've gotten easier to talk about. You probably don't want to be hearing this anyway."

"No . . . I mean, if you're not comfortable . . . but I'm glad. You're really honest, and I like that."

Torrie gave a wry smile at that. Finally, Alice got her talking about it again. Torrie had taken a year off after high school to try and figure out "who she was," which had actually masked the onset of her condition. After slipping further and further away for years, things had come to a head shortly after she had met Isabel. After a bad argument, which Torrie didn't want to talk about, her mind had snapped and she had wandered into oncoming traffic and had been narrowly missed by an SUV. After a week in the hospital, including several days under suicide watch, she had gotten the help she had needed. With the assistance of her friends, her psychiatrist, an active lifestyle and her lover, Torrie had made a full recovery and was enjoying the heck out of life.

Alice was surprised at how smart the girl was. When they dropped by the apartment Torrie and Isabel shared, there were stacks and stacks of books, all of which the girl had read two or three times. She was even more surprised when she found out that Torrie had never gone to college. She was getting multiple certifications in welding to help improve her employability. Torrie said that she didn't need a college degree to validate her intelligence.

As Torrie was digging out her pill bottle, Alice looked around. It was a comfortable looking apartment, with a mix of fine art and fancy accoutrements as well as used books, leatherworking supplies and a long surfboard hanging on the wall. Alice noticed some . . . interesting pictures . . . scrolling across the computer screen.

"Oh God! Is that you?!?" she gasped.

Torrie wandered over, washing her pill down with a glass of orange juice. "Oh crap!" she said, actually blushing. There was a picture of Torrie, tied up and on her hands and knees, with a large black cock spewing jizz all over her face. "I REALLY need to talk to Isabel about getting a new screen saver." She powered down the computer.

"You have sex with . . . guys?" Alice said, feeling a little queasy.

"Just when Isabel wants me too. It's not as bad as it sounds. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with it. People do it all the time . . . sometimes they're just experimenting. For Isabel and me . . . well, it's part of the scene."

"Do you . . . like it?" Alice asked.

Torrie shrugged. "Sometimes. I'm a lesbian . . . don't get me wrong on that. Guys are just kind of . . . toys. It can actually be kind of fun if it's a guy who gets it. That guy . . . the one in the picture . . . was my friend Jeremy. He'd had a crush on me for years, made worse by the fact he knew he couldn't have me. When Isabel decided she wanted to take me to Dark Eden, she knew I might be in a position . . . so to speak . . . to be taken by a male. She wanted to make sure I'd be okay with it, so she let me pick the guy for the trial run. Jeremy was the only one I trusted enough. We actually get along better now than we did before."

"That's sweet . . . in a perverted sort of way," Alice said. "I don't know what I would do if Liz every wanted me to do . . . that. I've only been with a couple of other people besides her . . ."

"I wouldn't stress it," Torrie said. "There are a lot of people in S&M that don't swing at all. Personally, I like the bondage part best . . . and getting spanked . . . especially the spanking. As long as we kept those things, I really wouldn't care if I we didn't bring anyone else in anymore. What about you? What's your favorite part?"

Alice chuckled. "This will sound lame but . . . I just really like going down on her," she said.

"Lucky girl," Torrie said. "I don't think that's lame at all. But so you and Liz never swing?"

"A few times. I'm . . . I still get really nervous sometimes, so both Liz and I have to REALLY trust someone before going that route. I don't see how you can . . . sorry, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I don't get how you can be with all these people."

"It's actually not as hard as you think. The only time I have sex with people I don't know is at the club, and Isabel DOES know them. And there are really specific rules the club has to protect the health of the submissive, from required bloodwork to heavy security. Outside of the club, the only people we 'share' me with are our friends. Except the time I jerked off those guys at the strip-club. Does that count?"

"Why did you do that? Did you just walk up and say, 'Hey, want a hand job?'"

"No. I was dancing that night, and Isabel recognized them, so . . ."

"Wait! You were dancing? You're a stripper too?"

"Once a week. It's fun, and it gives me some extra spending money."

Alice sat down on the sofa. She felt horribly boring next to this wild and sexy woman. Then, it was Alice's turn to get a call on her cell phone.

"Hey. No, we're over at their apartment," she said, glad to hear her lover's voice. "So, did you guys work everything out? Great! No, dinner and a show sounds fun. Okay, I'll tell her. Love you." Alice hung up. "It looks like we're going out tonight." She scrunched up her eyebrows. "Unfortunately, she sounded . . . amused. I think our mistresses may be up to something."

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Across town . . .

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"She suspects something," Liz said after hanging up the phone. "I'm really not good at hiding stuff from her," the tall woman said lovingly.

Isabel smiled. "Hey, I had you call because I never even TRY to slip stuff past Torrie. She's a hell of a lot smarter than I am. But hey, if you've changed your mind . . ."

"Well, I'll give her a chance to bow out," Liz said. "We actually don't do this sort of thing very often. I just . . . sometimes I think she wishes she could be more exciting. She doesn't accept that she's all I need."

"They seemed to be having a good time when I called," Isabel replied. "But if you want to take a little more time . . . I mean, I think it would be fun, but if you think Alice needs more time . . ."

The two women had actually concluded business much earlier in the day, with Isabel acting as Torrie's business agent. Afterwards, they had just been shooting the shit. Liz didn't have a chance to talk shop very often, and Isabel realized she didn't have very many friends. A lot of colleagues, yes . . . but few friends. The two women were already quite comfortable with each other, and had discussed many of the same topics as their submissive counterparts. After hearing what a genuine and honest person Torrie was, Liz thought that her lover might enjoy the girl's company.

"We'll see," Liz said. "Alice . . . she got burned kind of badly once. This girl named Jamie who took advantage of her naiveté . . . Alice has been really careful about opening up to people ever since. If she trusts Torrie, then I think things could be fun."

"Torrie . . . I don't think she's really capable of lying anymore. Ever since her . . . recovery, she's had this weird belief that she fell behind in life . . . that she should have accomplished more than she has. She had a mid-life crisis when she turned twenty-three. She decided that she didn't have time to be anything but exactly who she was. She made sure that all her friends knew exactly what she did and what she was into. Hell, most of them have participated at some point. She's decided honesty is the best policy ever since."

"She sounds like a handful," Liz said with a grin.

"If you only knew . . . I've got enough rope at the apartment to pitch a circus tent and enough paddles to spank an entire Catholic school for girls." Isabel blushed. "She can be a bit . . . lustful."

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A few hours later . . .

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"I can't believe you brought me here!" Alice whispered. They were situated in a booth at the Pretty Kitty Gentleman's club, the same club where Torrie was up on stage, stripping to the applause of an appreciative crowd. Alice had never been to a club like that before, and the table of the three women had been drawing quite a bit of attention.

Liz grinned. The four of them had gone to a fancy dinner at a place called Boardwalk's Best, then she had surprised her girlfriend when she and Isabel announced their intention to come here and make Torrie dance. Liz had gone to places like this a lot back in the day, particularly when she was looking for quick tail. But tonight was about possibly expanding Alice's horizons. And while the girl may have been blushing, Liz noticed her girlfriend's gaze rarely left Torrie's perfectly toned body.

"Hey hon," Liz said, "why don't you go tip the dancer? It's customary amongst their people," she added, handing Alice a dollar bill, folded in half lengthwise.

"But what do I . . ." Alice started.

"Just go up to the stage and wait," Isabel said, grinning behind her hand. "Torrie will know what to do." Then, Liz gave Alice a firm push towards the stage with one shoe.

Alice walked forward until she was next to the stage, and a few people in the crowd jeered. Torrie was smiling and shaking her head when she very . . . slowly . . . crawled her way across the stage. Alice still wasn't sure what to do. Then Torrie sat with her butt on the very edge of the stage, then placed one knee on each of Alice's shoulders. She leaned back, placed her head on the stage and then lifted her body up using her strong shoulder muscles. She rotated her hips, giving Alice a very good view of the dark thong that Isabel had insisted she wear all night. Alice could have sworn she saw a damp glistening from the fabric, but it was hard to tell under strobe lights. Then Torrie disentangled herself and draped her legs over the edge of the stage again, pulling her thong out at the side and allowing Alice to slide the dollar into place.

Torrie leaned in and wrapped her legs around Alice's hips. "I guess this means you want a dance?" she whispered into the girl's ear.

"Torrie!" Alice said. She looked back at Liz, who pointed at Torrie, then at the seat next to her, then made a twirling motion with her finger. Alice was blushing when she turned back to the gorgeous dancer. "I guess so," she said, trying not to meet the sexy dancer's gaze.

Torrie put a finger under Alice's chin, raised the girl's face and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "I don't know what they've got planned," she said, reaching down and groping Alice's ass through her cotton sundress, "but I'm kind of curious to find out."

Liz was watching this with great interest. She saw Alice's knees buckle a little bit. Liz leaned over to Isabel. "Damn, I was right! She is SO much Alice's type."

"Are you really sure then? I don't want there to be trouble . . ."

"No, it's okay. I'm pretty sure Alice won't be wanting to leave me," Liz added with a smirk. "But Torrie definitely has her motor running now. Are you sure you've got enough rope?"

Isabel rolled her eyes. "For the last time . . . yes, I'm sure." They had to stop their conversation as Alice rejoined them. About six minutes later, Torrie's rotation was up and she quickly headed over to the group. Liz whispered something into Torrie's ear, and Torrie started grinning.

"I believe its time for your dances," Torrie told the shy girl as she started to move to the music.

Alice didn't know what to do or say, so she sat back and let Torrie do her thing. Alice's breathing got harder as the pink-haired girl's clothes began coming off and she pressed her body against Alice's. Alice was gripping the arms of the chair firmly until Liz grabbed one of her hands and slammed it onto Torrie's backside. Torrie bit her bottom lip, grabbed Alice's OTHER hand and made it follow suit. She then pressed her thong-clad crotch against Alice's and humped ever so gently. Alice let out a small groan, then felt embarrassed about it. But Liz just kept smiling at her.

Torrie didn't stay between Alice's legs the ENTIRE time for the next couple of songs, but it was certainly her favorite place. Alice was given the best view in the house of Torrie's wares, and she was encouraged to touch anything she felt like. But when Liz and Isabel said that it would be the last song, Torrie was back between those delicate thighs of her friend, humping gently away. Alice almost instinctively let her legs spread so Torrie could squeeze even closer, and her hand again found their way to Torrie's ass cheeks.

"Let it happen," Liz whispered into her lover's ear as Alice began to panic, feeling the familiar stirring deep within her womb.

"No . . . I can't . . . not here . . ." Alice said, trying to suppress the pleasure growing inside of her.

"No one will know but us," Liz whispered in her ear.

Meanwhile, Isabel leaned in next to Torrie. "Don't stop. Until Alice actually asks you to stop, keep those hips moving."

"Your wish is my command," Torrie replied. She liked the feel of Alice's body . . . so soft and comfortable. She knew that some of the other patrons were probably watching, regardless of what Liz said. That's the way guys were in places like that . . . they liked to watch. She could feel Alice's fingers digging into her ass as she humped the girl to the brink of sanity. Then she slowed down, keeping her hovering just on this side of the pleasurable abyss. Torrie may have been a bit of a masochist, but that means she understood sadism. She wanted Alice to want it . . . to ask for it . . . no, to beg for it.