Turn the Page

Kelly wasn't snooping, really.

Snooping was the sort of thing nosy strangers did when they were at someone's house for a party. Peeking into medicine cabinets, rifling through underwear drawers...that was snooping. Kelly was just taking a quick look around while Olivia was at work, that was all. She'd come out to San Francisco a full two weeks before her job started and her apartment opened up so that they'd have time to catch up, after all, and what with Olivia being so busy at work, they hadn't had all the opportunities they'd wanted to.

And it was just natural curiosity, really. That wasn't anything like the same thing as snooping. It was only that even when Olivia was home, and they did get the chance to talk, Olivia was always so modest about herself. She was filled with interest when it came to Kelly--so much so that it took Kelly almost three days to notice that Olivia had described the last decade of her life in only the vaguest and most superficial terms. It wasn't until she looked back on it that Kelly realized how skillfully Olivia had diverted the conversation away from herself and onto Kelly. When she did realize, well...it was only normal to be a little curious. And curiosity led her to just take a little peek around while Olivia was at work. That wasn't snooping, though.

It wasn't snooping if it was a friend. Kelly was doing a little investigating, that was all. Making sure her friend was really okay. Sure, Olivia seemed happy. She had that same little cat-smile she'd always worn, the one that suggested that life was nothing but a great big funny joke and she knew the punchline. She had money, she had a beautiful house, and judging by the couple of times she came home very late with slightly disheveled clothing, she had something of a love life. But sometimes people pretended to be happy, even with their old college friends. Sometimes the clues to deep-down inner misery were hidden, and you had to go look for them. Which meant that Kelly had to do a little investigating. It was just...concern, that was all. Sincere, well-meant concern.

Kelly wasn't snooping, and she knew it. Because snooping was something other people did, and Kelly wasn't other people. Having utterly satisfied herself of the logic of the act, she opened the door to Olivia's bedroom and slipped inside.

It was very nice. Olivia had excellent taste, and the prints decorating the walls perfectly complemented the colors of the room. Everything was well-kept, which didn't surprise Kelly too much; Olivia had never been a neat freak, but she'd always had a sort of inner grace that seemed to extend into the environment around her. It was as if it took Olivia less work to keep things clean than it did other people.

There was a light fragrance that filled the room, a sandalwood scent that Kelly recognized as Olivia's perfume. She never used much, but it lingered here as it did nowhere else in the house. It made the hairs on the back of Kelly's neck stand on end; she had the peculiar feeling that Olivia was there with her. She had gotten so used to smelling that perfume and associating it with Olivia's arrival in a room that it was all she could do not to whip her head around to look behind her.

And there was the bookcase.

It was the bookcase that had preyed upon Kelly's mind, ever since she'd arrived in Olivia's house last Tuesday and Olivia had given her the grand tour. The house had plenty of bookshelves, of course, reflecting Olivia's eclectic and erudite reading tastes. But the bookcase in Olivia's bedroom was the only one whose books were all placed on the shelf backwards, with their spines up against the wall so that all you could see were the indistinguishable expanse of white pages.

Kelly had known better to ask what they were. It was unforgivably rude, Olivia wouldn't have told her anyway, and they were almost certainly porn. But the question had hung heavy in her mind all this time, until finally she'd broken down and gone...investigating. Taking a look around. Just taking a quick peek at what it was that her old friend, who'd always been so demure and coy about her sex life, liked to read when she was alone between the sheets.

She reached up, her fingers trembling slightly, and pulled one of the books off the shelf. It took a little longer than she imagined it would--the book was longer than it was tall, the bookshelf deeper than it first appeared. The cover was featureless save for the fingerprints Kelly left on it--she realized only then that her palms were slightly moist with nervous sweat--but the spine had a name and a date. 'Milly', it said, '2-18-09'. Her heart racing, Kelly took it over to the dressing table and sat down to have a look.

Kelly opened the book and gasped just a little as she saw Olivia looking back at her. Her friend's photo gazed directly at the camera, as if challenging Kelly to a staring contest. Once again, Kelly fought the sensation that Olivia was there in the room with her--Olivia was at work, she wouldn't be home for hours, Kelly had plenty of time to just flip through the book and put it back exactly as she found it. Olivia would never know.

But instead of flipping through the book, Kelly found herself studying the photo. It was beautifully done, perhaps even professionally--this wasn't a photo album, with the pictures slipped into the pages. This had been printed and bound like a work of art. And Olivia had posed like a model, too; Kelly had known her friend was gorgeous, but she'd never imagined that Olivia had this in her. The stylish dark blue dress set off Olivia's Mediterranean skin perfectly, the make-up was minimal but tastefully done, and the expression on Olivia's face practically smoldered with desire. It was an expression that said, 'I can have anyone, absolutely anyone I want. And tonight I choose to have you.' Kelly blushed slightly as she noticed that Olivia's nipples stood out underneath her clothing.

Abruptly, Kelly realized she'd been staring at that one picture for what seemed like forever. It had probably just been a few minutes, and she had hours, but still, she needed to get moving. She reached out and turned the page, wincing at the fingerprint she left behind. She wiped her hands on her jeans, but the damage was done. She'd just have to hope that Olivia thought the print was hers.

The next page had two pictures. In the first, Olivia had seated herself on the easy chair in the living room. She had the camera fixed with a regal stare, as though the only reason she didn't have men waving peacock-feather fans and holding trays of wine at her side was because she'd dismissed them a few moments before the picture was taken. Her legs were crossed, but there was something about the way they were crossed that suggested the pose was open to negotiation. Kelly let out her breath in a soft whistle. She'd known Olivia was good-looking, but...damn. Girl could turn it on when she wanted.

In the facing picture, Olivia leaned forward slightly with a come-hither expression on her face. She beckoned with a single finger, her eyes alive with delight...as if she knew that all she needed was that simple gesture and whoever it was would drop the camera and come running. Perhaps 'Milly' was the camerawoman? Maybe all those books were Olivia posing for different people, something she did as a hobby but didn't feel confident enough to display to other people. (If that's what it was, Kelly had news for her friend: These were good enough to show professionally.)

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Kelly peeled her eyes away from Olivia's stare and turned the page again...and saw Milly. She didn't even need a caption to figure it out; the way Olivia looked at the other girl in the photo told her everything. The camera had focused in on just their faces, and the tight composition made it impossible not to notice the way that Olivia stared at the other girl possessively. Hungrily. Suddenly lots of things about Olivia's undiscussed love life made a lot more sense to Kelly. She felt herself tense up slightly, and forced herself to relax. Olivia wasn't here. Even if she was, it wasn't important that she was a lesbian; lots of women were lesbians, especially in San Francisco. If she'd found a girl (several girls, Kelly amended mentally as she thought about the number of books up on that shelf) then that was just...that was just wonderful. No need to sn--to investigate any further.

Except...Kelly's eyes kept coming back to that frozen moment between Olivia and her girlfriend. Olivia looked so commanding, so...powerful. It was sexual, and yet it wasn't anything like sex that Kelly had ever been involved in. Olivia looked like she knew exactly how bad Milly wanted her, and reveled in the fact. And Milly...she could barely bring herself to look at Olivia. Her head was bowed, her shoulders slumped, her whole posture radiated fear. But Kelly could see it mingled with the fear, that same naked hunger and lust. Milly was gagging for it. She was begging for it without a single word. And Olivia so clearly enjoyed pretending she might not give in and do what they both knew they both wanted.

Kelly's eyes finally dragged themselves to the facing page. It was a wider shot; Olivia had reached out, cupped Milly's chin in her fingers. Milly's eyes were wide, like a frightened doe, but her nipples were large and dark and rock-hard under her sheer white dress. It was so easy to imagine Milly shivering and not even knowing whether it was fear or lust or both...

Kelly blinked rapidly, suddenly realizing how dry her eyes felt from staring at the picture. She felt as if she'd wakened from a dream; for a moment, she'd really felt like she was seeing Olivia like the girl in the picture had. She didn't, of course; Olivia was just an old friend from college, not some sort of seductive temptress with the power to reduce a girl to mush. They were just really good photos, that was all. Kelly turned the page.

This shot was a three-quarters angle, with Olivia's face mostly turned to the camera and Milly's mostly turned away. Even so, you could see the expression on Milly's face clearly and distinctly; the terror had faded slightly, leaving a sort of almost-religious awe. Olivia gazed down at Milly with that confident, calm half-smile of hers; Kelly wasn't sure whether it was a trick of perspective or just Milly's body language, but Olivia actually seemed to have gotten taller since the previous page. She looked as though she was staring right into Milly's mind--no. That wasn't it. She looked like she was staring right into Kelly's mind. Kelly almost looked around again, but it wasn't important. She had time.

In the facing page, the camera pulled out again. Olivia continued to hold Milly's chin, forcing her gaze upwards--the long shot made it clear, Milly had crouched almost into a kneeling position as Olivia's eyes bored into her, the power in Olivia's stare forcing her downward into a submissive posture. Olivia's other hand rested on Milly's arm, the camera's shutter capturing just a hint of motion as she stroked the flesh. Kelly caught herself shivering. She never thought a simple picture could capture this much intimacy and deliver it with this much intensity. It was so easy to imagine herself as Milly, staring up into Olivia's eyes, losing herself in them for hours at a time...

It wasn't hours, was it? Suddenly Kelly realized that she didn't know how long she'd been sitting in Olivia's room. There was such a timeless quality to it all. She felt like she could have been sitting there for days, inhaling the soft sandalwood fragrance and listening to the sound of her own breathing as she stared at the pictures and drifted into a reverie. Kelly shook her head slightly. She needed to get moving and get this back to where it belonged. For half a moment, the thought occurred to her of spiriting it away to her room, reading it at leisure, losing herself to it...but she knew she'd never get away with it. Best to put it back, look at it again tomorrow...

...but first just one more page. Just to see what happened next. It wasn't going to hurt, she'd been here for a while but surely not hours, and she knew she must have time to look at just one more page. She wiped her fingers on her jeans once, twice, and still left a fingerprint as she turned to the next photo.

Olivia's hand had moved away from Milly's arm. It held a crystal pendant, dangling from a silver chain. The photo captured it in an instant of frozen motion, light glittering off of its facets as though a solid thing in and of itself. And Milly...Milly gazed up at the stone as if utterly captivated. Her mouth hung slightly open, as though only Olivia's support kept it from gaping emptily in stunned amazement. Her eyes fixated on it--Kelly could have drawn little dotted lines from one to the other without them seeming even slightly out of place.

And Olivia stared down at Milly. If her eyes had seemed powerful before, they were absolutely magnetic now. Kelly wondered how Milly could possibly have followed the swaying pendant when Olivia's eyes burned with so much intensity. Or perhaps that was just it. Perhaps Milly's eyes followed the pendant, but every time they passed across Olivia's gaze, they lingered just that split-second as they got lost in them. Perhaps the effort of tearing herself away from Olivia's stare was part of what was making Milly's eyes flutter in that picture.

Kelly heard her breath quicken as she looked across to the next picture. As much as she tried to tell herself that she wasn't getting turned on by this, that she was perfectly straight and none of this interested her...the heat between her thighs was making a liar out of her. She felt her nipples, tenting the fabric of her t-shirt ever so slightly as they became engorged with blood. She realized she hadn't blinked in what felt like hours, but she didn't care. She stared hungrily at the next picture as if attempting to memorize every detail.

Milly had sunk completely into a kneeling position. Her whole body slumped down in abject exhaustion, as though the effort of resisting Olivia's power had taken a physical toll on her. Only her head was raised, and that because Olivia held it upright with one hand while the other continued to dangle the crystal in front of Milly's half-lidded eyes. Milly's nipples stood up stiff and dark beneath her dress, so achingly stiff that Kelly imagined that she could feel the tingles, and the sheer white fabric draped over Milly's crotch showed signs of tell-tale dampness. Milly knelt in front of Olivia, passive and docile but so obviously aroused, and Olivia stared down at her like a lioness waiting to feed.

Kelly's fingers twitched. She wanted to turn the page, but she knew she had to put the book away now or she wouldn't have time to compose herself before Olivia got home. But she wanted to turn the page...but she knew that the next page would take things even further and she wasn't sure if she was ready to see that, not just yet. But she wanted to turn the page...but she knew that she'd been staring at these pages for too long, too intently, and she felt like she was losing herself in them like Milly lost herself in Olivia and she was scared of giving that much of herself away. But she wanted to turn the page, but she wanted to turn the page...

Kelly never even heard her. It was as if one moment she was alone, her eyes fixed on the book, lost in the internal struggle to stop reading, and the next Olivia's hands had snaked their way around her waist to stroke and caress her breasts and Olivia's voice was whispering in her ears, "Turn the page."

Kelly gasped. She almost jumped out of the chair. But before she could really register what had happened, the fingers found her nipples and the voice whispered so seductively and Kelly couldn't quite tear her eyes away from that picture, from that stare. She knew Olivia was behind her, but that stare locked with hers and everything else went distant except for the pleasure. She saw her hand move to turn the page without ever really understanding that she was doing it.

"She looks so beautiful like that, doesn't she?" Olivia whispered in Kelly's ear, her breath tickling Kelly's skin in a way that sent shivers down Kelly's spine. Kelly nodded, her eyes never leaving the single spot on the photo that showed Milly's face. Milly's eyes were almost closed, only the whites showing beneath flickering eyelids, and her expression was one of beatific pleasure. It was as if she couldn't imagine anything feeling better than losing herself to Olivia. "She's so helpless, all the resistance melting away faster and faster now, and it feels so good..." Kelly nodded without even thinking about it.

"And you can see her there, in that moment, that perfect delicious moment where resistance collapses and all that there is, is a universe of obedient pleasure." Kelly's gaze moved as if led on a string, as if led by a pendant to the facing picture. She saw Milly's eyes closed, her head slumped down onto her chest with a tiny smile on her gorgeous face, and she saw the expression of utter triumph Olivia wore. A tiny part of her wondered of Olivia looked like that right now, but to see it would mean turning and right now it just felt too good to stare at the picture and feel Olivia's touch on her breasts.

"Turn the page," Olivia whispered, and Kelly couldn't imagine refusing. She reached out and brushed her fingers against the glossy paper, revealing the next image. She let out a soft, keening whimper of arousal at the sight of Milly captured in the action of pulling the dress over her head, her eyes now open but staring ahead sightlessly. Or perhaps the whimper came from the way Olivia found just the right way to tug on her nipples to intensify that pleasant ache between her thighs tenfold. Kelly couldn't tell anymore. She wasn't sure which things she was really feeling and which things Milly was feeling now. It didn't matter anyway. They both felt too good to resist.

"That's right, staring ahead and seeing nothing, lost in my power, and it feels so perfect. Everything feels so perfect, my touch and my smile and your body and your obedience..." Kelly felt Olivia nuzzle her neck with tiny kisses between each word, and she shook with arousal because the picture on the facing page showed exactly the same thing. Milly was standing again, her hands laced behind her head and her body shaking with desire as Olivia massaged her tits and nibbled on her neck. Kelly's eyes rolled up in her head for a moment, and in that timeless moment her shirt came off. She would never know whether it was her hands that removed it or Olivia's.

"Turn the page," Olivia whispered again, her fingers finding their way down between Kelly's thighs to rub and press and tease. Kelly didn't know when she'd lost her jeans. She didn't even know where they were; she couldn't look away from the next picture as her shaking hand revealed it to her gaze. It was too beautiful to look away from; Milly's whole body was quivering now, as Olivia played it like a fine instrument to draw every moan and whimper out of it. Kelly could actually hear Milly gasping and mewling in arousal, and Milly's voice sounded just like her own.

"That's right, lost and helpless and it's so good, never wanting to leave this place of perfect pleasure. Never having to leave this place, knowing your deepest self can always stay here, kneeling for me and worshiping me and feeling how good it feels to obey." Kelly threw her head back, the first throes of orgasm hammering through her but somehow not satiating her. "Obey." A second orgasm, stronger than the first. Kelly hadn't thought it possible, but it was true. "Obey." A third, and then a fourth, and then she lost count because it didn't matter, she was held suspended in pleasure for as long as Olivia wanted. Olivia controlled her pleasure. Olivia controlled her. That was all that mattered, and it was wonderful.