by Aosora Hikaru (青空 ヒカル)
illustrated by Nebulosity Çiélon
(mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/270711.html)
illustrated by Nebulosity Çiélon
A few words uttered, a rush of power, a plume of smoke… A newly empty space, previously occupied by a beautiful woman.
A gasp ran through the crowd and Jo grinned, an eyebrow cocked in challenge. I dare you to challenge what you have seen. I dare you to doubt me.
She gave a few more moments to let the tension build, allowing enough time for a well-rehearsed dramatic reappearance to have the maximum effect. Another puff of smoke, a dramatic wave of her hand, and a rush of air from the audience’s collective letting out a held breath echoed through the auditorium.
Cassandra stepped forward and Jo made a broad sweep of her arm. She is whole, the gesture said. I have done the impossible.
“Jo the Magnificent, ladies and gentlemen!” The announcer bowed low, sweeping his arm toward Jo on the stage.
She bent forward in a deep bow herself, then stood and took the hand of the woman by her side, and shouted, “And, of course, who could forget the lovely Cassandra?”
The cheers of the audience were deafening as Jo bowed, Cassandra dipping in a deep curtsy. The curtains rustled as they fell closed, and the ladies stood up to meet the announcer.
“That was marvelous, simply marvelous!” His cheeks were bright, a grin spread across his face. “Stupendous work, Jo, as always. And Cassandra!” He turned and clasped her hands in his own, pulling her close. “Cassandra, Cassandra. What I wouldn’t give to have you by my side instead of this cocky–”
“Don’t get your hopes up. She’s with me, Bill, as always.” Jo stepped forward, grinning as she draped an arm over Cassandra’s shoulders. “Someday you’ll get your own beautiful assistant, I’m sure.”
Cassandra let out a light giggle, slipping her gloved hands from the announcer’s grip and leaning into Jo’s embrace. “I’m sure I could talk to the other girls, one must be dying to help out with such a lovely venue. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, a sly grin cast in Jo’s direction, “I must be off for a bit. I need to freshen up before the next show!”
Bill nodded, the flesh of his face moving in a wave with the effort expended, and shooed her in the direction of the changing rooms. “Yes, yes, please do! You mustn’t look anything but the best!”
Jo turned to watch Cassandra as she walked down the hall, her hips swaying in her clingy gown, the feathers tucked into her coif bouncing. “She always does. Bill, it’s been lovely, but I need to make sure I have everything set up for the next show myself. You mustn’t leave the audience hanging, after all. They’re itching to meet you and talk about the act.” She held up a finger in teasing reprimand. “You can’t give away the secrets.”
“Of course not, like I would ever–” Bill spluttered, shaking his head as Jo laughed.
“I know you wouldn’t, you daft man. Now go!” Jo grinned, waving Bill off as she turned to head down the hall herself.
She didn’t go to the prop room, however; she took a left instead and stopped outside of Cassandra’s dressing room. “Are you decent, my dear?” Jo called.
“Entirely too decent,” Cassandra replied, and opened the door, grasping for Jo’s collar with a mischievous grin. “Now get in here. How dare you keep me waiting.”
Jo was careful to shut the door to the small dressing room behind her, then returned Cassandra’s grin as she backed Cassandra up against the wall. The breaks between their performances usually started this way. A set routine they followed, comforting while still thrilling, and sating burning needs. “So sorry, my darling. I couldn’t risk Bill trying to follow me.”
There wasn’t much room in there; barely enough for the sink and wardrobe, with a small chaise wedged between the wardrobe and the wall. When Jo backed Cassandra against the wall, the picture frames around the room rattled with even that delicate impact of Cassandra’s body. She sighed impatiently as she reached up to untie the cravat at Jo’s neck with practiced fingers. She wasted no time; there was barely enough time between the shows without them dawdling about it. “I still can’t believe he did that before. How else are we supposed to get any time alone at all if he follows us?”
“I don’t know, my love.” Jo bent to ghost a kiss across Cassandra’s cheek, her hands sliding around Cassandra’s ribs to feel for the zipper, and muttering a curse when her gloves dulled her sense of touch too much to find the pull. After tossing the cursed things aside, she pulled the zipper open, sighing with relief at the skin revealed as Cassandra’s thankfully strapless dress slid down.
Cassandra grinned as she shoved the dress the rest of the way down and kicked it aside, then tossed her own opera gloves in the same direction. “I’ll leave the pearls on, darling, if you don’t mind.”
Jo took a moment to take in the sight — Cassandra stood before her, nude except for a pair of sheer stockings, heels, and a long strand of pearls, wrapped twice about her neck before draping down between her breasts. “Please do.” Jo leaned forward to growl against Cassandra’s collarbone. “I would have made you, anyway.”
A shudder slipped through Cassandra’s body, the softest moan passing her lips as she shoved Jo’s tuxedo jacket off of her shoulders. She managed the first two buttons of Jo’s shirt before Jo reached up to stop her.
“No, I think this is about you this time, my love,” Jo murmured. “I’m feeling territorial right now… I want you to remember me today.”
“Oh, God.” Cassandra shivered again under Jo’s touch, panting as Jo shrugged out of her tuxedo jacket. Hunger burned in her eyes as Jo took the time to roll up her shirt sleeves, and as Jo approached again, Cassandra reached out to pull her closer. When Jo simply meant to tease her with another soft kiss, Cassandra held her as close as she could and kissed her with what Jo imagined to be every bit of that hunger.
The ends of Jo’s lips curled up in the kiss as she slid a hand up Cassandra’s side to cup over one of her breasts. As she brushed a thumb over the nipple, already hard with arousal and anticipation, Jo murmured, “Good Lord, it’s like you couldn’t even wait for me to get back here with you.”
“Don’t be daft.” Cassandra pushed herself into Jo’s touch, her voice breathless, “It’s not nearly as fun without you here.”
“You’ve tried before?” Jo asked, knowing the answer was already yes, and also knowing this, like their routine, was part of the game she and Cassandra played.
Jo, of course, knew her part as well as she knew the one on the stage. The words flowed like water, showing how unashamed she was of her actions. “Of course. Once, you took so long to get back here, and I wanted you so badly, that I–” She halted as Jo moved to pepper kisses down her throat.
With Cassandra’s halt, Jo paused the kisses. Her lips brushed against the pulse in Jo’s neck as she spoke. “You need to keep talking if you want to have any fun.”
Cassandra let out a soft whine, then drew a breath. “I started without you.”
“You certainly did,” Jo murmured, and having moved as Cassandra spoke, her lips now brushed the tip of Cassandra’s nipple. “It was completely unfair.”
“Oh, God–” Cassandra moaned, pushing her chest forward, and Jo obliged her unspoken request by drawing the nipple into her mouth and teasing it with her tongue. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as Cassandra struggled to continue. “I hadn’t been going for very long before you walked in, and you said — oh, Jo — you said to keep going.”
Jo hummed affirmation and slid her hand down Cassandra’s side and around to cup between her legs.
Drawing another deep breath as she spread her legs apart wider, Cassandra continued, “And I did. I thought you were angry with me, but that look in your eyes… You were glad for it. It was a new opportunity for amusement.” She had to stop again, unable to force the words out as Jo stroked her finger against that sensitive pearl in her folds, but she struggled on. “And you told me what you wanted to see — what you wanted me to do.”
Another shudder rippled through Cassandra’s body, and Jo took advantage of that to shift her hand, sliding a finger inside as she pressed against that most sensitive spot with her thumb. It didn’t take long for Cassandra to cry out. “Please, Jo… My love. Please.”
Jo pulled back, looking up at Cassandra with her flushed complexion, that blush spreading down her neck and across her breasts. “I do so love it when you beg me. All right; we haven’t got all the time in the world, after all.”
Cassandra sighed as Jo drew her fingers away, but her eyes grew bright as Jo urged her to the chaise crammed in the corner of the dressing room.
“Just because we’re here now,” Jo murmured as she helped Cassandra down, “doesn’t mean I expect you to stop talking.”
With a whimper, Cassandra bit her lip, and gave a slight nod as Jo settled herself on her knees at the edge of the chaise. “It felt so amazing, with you telling me what to do…”
Jo smiled to herself as she grasped Cassandra’s thighs and pulled her closer to the edge, then began a slow chain of kisses from the edge of Cassandra’s stocking up her thigh. That afternoon was one of her favorite memories, and Cassandra had been all too willing to be told what to do. Each of Jo’s words had pushed her closer and closer to the edge, and her response to each suggestion had been the most aroused Jo had ever seen her. The way Cassandra had moved, here on the chaise, as she chased her climax…
That buildup was what Jo aimed for today.
The closer Jo’s kisses came to the top of her thigh, the faster Cassandra’s breathing grew, and she let out a pleading whine as Jo moved to place her kisses on the opposite thigh. “Keep talking,” Jo murmured.
“I especially loved when you would tell me to speed up or slow down — oh, God — and I want that again, Jo, I want to feel like that again, please…!”
Jo hummed softly, then moved forward to place a soft kiss on the soft folds there at the apex of Cassandra’s thighs. Cassandra let out a soft moan in response, and Jo, spurned on by Cassandra’s response, darted out her tongue to tease between the delicate folds. She pushed Cassandra’s thighs apart more and began to move more enthusiastically, sucking and licking in equal measure. Cassandra began to writhe, quiet moans building up to louder cries, until they went quiet with a muffled tone — most likely from a hand clapped over her mouth.
This was how Jo liked Cassandra best: completely undone, completely at her whim, completely willing to let Jo do whatever she pleased. It was so easy to push Cassandra closer to her peak by focusing more on that most sensitive nub, and easier still to bring her back to pleading whines by moving away from it. She knew exactly what Cassandra loved, and Jo herself loved to exploit it.
After a few minutes of teasing with only her mouth, Jo brought a hand up, sliding two fingers into Cassandra with her palm cupped under her chin. Enough practice had made this motion easy, and it was all too simple to hook those fingers up while making broad strokes with her tongue. It didn’t take long for Cassandra’s body to grow more and more taut, until she clamped down on Jo’s fingers, her back arching up as she cried Jo’s name loud enough for it to echo.
If anyone had been walking past the room, they certainly knew what had just happened.
As Cassandra came down from her peak, Jo settled back onto her ankles, a grin spreading wide across her face. “And how was that, my darling?”
Cassandra let out a breathless giggle, which quickly grew into a full, deep laugh. “That was phenomenal.”
A sharp knock at the door, echoing through the small space, interrupted them. “We need you on stage in fifteen, Miss Cassandra.”
“Ah– yes, I’ll be right there!” Cassandra shouted, her eyes wide as she sprang up from the chaise, nearly tripping over Jo. Her legs trembled and she nearly collapsed, but the wall provided support enough to allow her to circle the perimeter to the room to the sink.
Jo stood and ran a hand over her mouth, then joined Cassandra at the sink. While she carefully washed her hands and face, she chuckled at Cassandra’s harried attempts to correct her hair and makeup to hide her disheveled, flushed appearance. “You looked better when I was done with you.”
This comment did not help Cassandra’s flush, and her skin grew ruddier as the color spread down to her breasts again. “Stop it, Jo. I can’t go out there on stage like this.” She repositioned a few bobby pins in her hair, and though her words had been annoyed, her eyes still crinkled at the corners with amusement and endearment.
Grinning, Jo dried her hands, then fetched Cassandra’s dress. She smoothed out some of the rumples, then held it out for Cassandra. “I’m sorry. May I be of some assistance, my love?”
They locked eyes in the mirror and Cassandra smiled, some of the flush of her cheeks fading. “Yes, please.”
Jo helped Cassandra zip in to her dress again and gathered up the other miscellaneous pieces of their costumes, pausing before opening the dressing room door to press another delicate kiss to Cassandra’s lips. “Meet you here again after the next show?”
“Always,” Jo murmured. “I’m looking forward to the magic you work next time.”
