Li An's Adventure

Chapter One

"How long have you known him?"

The voice... velvet.

Wei Li An looked up from her task and froze. The silky skirt she was considering for her workout slash date, slipped normally dexterous fingers and into her lap.

The mid-morning light fractured through block glass. The silhouetting effect softened the edges of Rain's large frame. And the sight was ethereal.

Rain was tall and overweight, but the volume of her corseted waist, cambered in all the right places. She usually wore her hair in a vintage up do. But now her waist length locs hung in loose waves drawing the eye up and over the glowing skin of her exposed shoulders. 

Wei Li An inhaled. The air caught and desiccated her throat. Few would see the smile at the corner of Rain's mouth... but who could miss that eyebrow pop. Perceptible across a crowded club, that subtle permission.

Wei Li An immediately lowered her eyes and coughed. Wishing, nonsensically, that she had left her hair down. Her olive skin took on a chestnut undertone as it warmed under the piercing gaze. She muttered under her breath and returned to her task of packing her duffle bag.

Wei Li An risked a glance through lowered lashes to see the full smile spread across Rain's lips.

She sucked her teeth and repeated the word clearly, "Shameless!"

Rain snorted. She was used to the reaction. She got it from both men and women. She often found it odd when  they would blunder at a mere glance.  She looked around the organized space until her eyes settled on the wrought iron mirror.

Her face was youthful. Skin still smooth and the colour of raw umber, but you could see the maturity in how it hugged her cheekbones. The red undertones suited any accessory she wore but her preference was silver over all black clothing. And her eyes... They were a weapon she used well.

Hard and chestnut-coloured, yet for some reason people found them inviting.

Rain did not personally find herself classically attractive. And was often indifferent to anyone who did. But when people reacted to her eyes, it was often with a sexually confused awe that stroked her iron-maiden ego in just the right way. Especially when it came from someone who claimed to be 'not in the least bit curious.'

That was okay. Curiosity wasn't really Rain's thing. She hated when people tried to window shop her lifestyle. It never ended well... or sometimes... it just never ended.

The type of bonds that were formed were meant to be long lasting. However, if they were ill-fitted for any reason, they could be harmful. And Rain was fiercely protective of anyone she held dear. 

Wei Li An continued to stuff the duffle as Rain continued to watch her in patient silence. She was perched on the top of the steamer trunk at the foot of the bed. She had asked to keep it when she first moved in.

When they two had first met, it was hard for Wei Li An to imagine that this woman with resting bitch face, could be anything other than domineering. But here she was, on the threshold of her world, filling the space with warmth and comfort.

A year in this unconditional sanctuary.

And Wei Li An has been appreciative of every single moment. But in this one, she knew she had to move quickly... before the wolf bared her fangs.

She needed shoes.  Leaning behind the post and over the beds edge to grab a pair of strappy heels hidden near the wall.  Unfortunately, the movement was too quick. The buckle snagged the canopy causing the fabric to billow out wildly. Wei Li An froze again but this time her heart in was her throat. The last thing she had wanted to do was to appear jumpy. But she feared that she had just given herself away.

She silently chastised herself. Why did she have to pick gauze curtains anyway? What fantasy had she been trying to live out?!

Back when she was first shown the room, she had been impressed by the hard surfaces and the heft of the bed. The posts were thick and solid, reaching toward the 12-foot ceilings of the repurposed warehouse with ease and grace. But it had looked bare... barren.

She mentioned it in passing and within the hour, Rain had LED lights wound through the ornate iron like ivy through a trellis. They twinkled like stars at first, but then she had shown her the remote and explained how to change the settings. The entire time, Rain's countenance never changed, which made the interaction all the more unusual.

Taking the room had been an easy decision. But knowing what to say as Rain pressed the small remote into her hand was something else entirely. With some romantic notion of writing a best selling novel in this gothic room,Wei Li An's hurried to the fabric store and made the fabric her addition to the aesthetic when moving in. 

Admittedly the aesthetic had helped at times. The way the light dispersed through the translucent folds and the fabric draped in pools around the corners of the platform base. It disguised the weight of the iron frame and gave the bed a romantic intimacy that it had probably never seen. In the right light and in the right state of arousal, the bed seemed as ethereal as its owner appeared right now.

But that ship had sailed. And if she was planning on catching the next one, she needed to get out of there without too much chaos and opposition. She just had to keep it cool.

Leaning forward, Wei Li An causally wrapped her free arm around the post and detangled the strap.

She coughed, cleared her throat, then internally cringed. It was one of her 'adorkable quirks' as Rain called them, that surfaced when she was feeling exposed. And with it she had just exposed herself.

She sighed in defeat and let her gaze slide around the room. Random soft surfaces, a few plushies and throw pillows, as well as a few wood pieces with hard leather accents. All befitting Wei Li An's duality. And now all warming this space and making it her own. The walls,accented with brightly coloured artwork and hand-woven textiles finally hd some life. Her life. But underneath, she could still feel the tension, the desire to give in freely. Her breath audibly left.

"Not long, maybe a little over a year."

"What's he like?"

"I don't know."

Rain rolls her eyes and sighs. "I'm not talking existential, give me the basics, you know, the ASL-check."

"I technically don't...know."

Wei Li An could hear the blink. There was no avoiding it. She raised her eyes and was immediately reminded as to why this woman's name given name was Fyre. 

"What do you mean you 'technically don't' know?" Rain's eyes narrowed. Somehow, without leaving the door jab, her back straightened, and she seemed to raise to her full height. However, her position never changed and remained disarmingly relaxed.

Wei Li An's felt like a piece of cotton had just sprung up in the back of her throat. Why was she so nervous? She was a grown ass woman! ...who paid her own bills! ...who also desperately wanted to crawl into the trunk below her.

"I technically don't know... him.  I have only read him."

"Wait..." Rain chuckles slightly but there is no humour in the sound. "You've only read about him?"

"No, I haven't read about him, I've read him. I've read all of his works," Wei Li An inwardly braces for the maelstrom of expletives she knows are to follow. "I have never actually met him. So, I am not sure what he looks like, or how old he is or..."

"Or if 'he' is even a he and not some crazy transvestite from Transylvania trying to get you to join their cult?"

Wei Li An nearly bit a hole into her tongue but just couldn't let it be...

"But wait...wouldn't he still be a "he" if he was a transvestite?"