The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (16 page)

“No, baby. The scene is real.” Charge leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs underneath the table. “We gotta have a place to go and kick back and be ourselves, right?”

Kathryn just sat there. She was stunned at the prospect that there was an entire community that she was unaware of.
How was that possible?

“Wait a minute. I've never read anything about this in any of the dark corners of the internet. Not on any of the deviant watch message boards or the blogs. Nothing.”

Susan, Charge, and Jonathan all erupted into peals of laughter, much to her irritation. “What is so damn funny?”

Charge patted Kathryn's arm. “Come on, babe. You don't really believe that stuff, do you?”

Kathryn was offended by the question. She had spent many hours alone in her apartment trying to learn where she could find others like her. The only answers she ever found were in prisons, hospitals, and institutions. Charge, Susan, and Jonathan had opened her eyes to an entirely new world, and now she was learning that the world was even bigger than she had expected. It was a lot to take in.

She decided to ignore Charge's question. “So tell me about the Basement.”

Susan broke the slight tension. “Well, the great thing about the Basement is that it is just a regular club, but it has a special 'deviant only' backroom.”

“Like a VIP room?”

“Exactly.”

“But how does a person get in there? I mean, it is not like we are carrying special ids or something.”

“First of all,” Susan continued, “you have to
know
about it. It’s not like it’s right by the front door. Second of all, you have to know someone to get in, or someone has to vouch for you.”

“So who vouched for you?”

“Charge did.”

Kathryn turned to Charge. “And who vouched for you?”

“I already worked there.”

“How did you get your job?”

“A friend hooked me up.”

“Is this friend a deviant?”

“Yeah.”

“And how long did you work there?”

Charge shrugged. “A while.”

Kathryn could tell that Charge was being purposefully evasive. She pushed him a little further. “Why did you stop working there?”

“I found something else.”

“Like selling insurance?” Kathryn asked a bit snidely.

Charge laughed. “Yeah. Something like that.”

“Speaking of . . . don't you have a job you have to go back to?” She turned to Susan. “And you, too. Isn't your office missing you right about now?”

Susan smirked. “I doubt it.”

“Hey,” Charge interjected. “We're all on vacation. Now, do you want to go to the Basement tonight or what?”

Kathryn said nothing as she looked around the table. Jonathan had remained quiet during their conversation, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Susan's and Charge's open and friendly faces didn’t show any signs of deceit, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were hiding something from her. She was determined to find out what it was, but she decided not to pursue it at the moment.

“What the hell. Let's do it.”

Susan beamed. “Yay. But first, we have an errand to run.”

“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

“We,” she paused dramatically, “are going shopping.”

“Shopping for what?”

“Shopping for you. For new clothes.”

“Why? What is wrong with my clothes?”

“Well . . .” Susan seemed to be choosing her words carefully, “. . . nothing. If you don't mind looking like a professor.”

“Hey. I am a professor.”

“Yeah, but you don't have to look like one.”

Kathryn pretended to be insulted. “You hurt my feelings. You know that?”

“Good. So you’ll let me give you a makeover?”

“I don't know . . .” Kathryn paused. “What's wrong with me the way I am?”

“Nothing. It's just . . .” Susan shrugged. “You’re very sexy, and you should show it off more.”

“Yeah, baby.” Charge jumped into the conversation. “She's right. I'd love to see you in something really sexy.”

“I'm sure you would,” Kathryn mumbled. “Okay. Okay. Who am I to refuse a shopping trip? When do you want to go?”

Susan jumped up from the table. “Right now. I'll meet you at the car.”

***

Kathryn couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun shopping. Susan was a force of nature, dragging her by the hand into store after store, filling her arms with clothes she pulled off the racks, and shoving her into dressing rooms to try them on. Nothing she picked out was anything that Kathryn would have picked for herself.

“And this is exactly why you need a makeover,” Susan said as she forced a pair of leather pants and a pair of lace-up boots into her arms. Susan was also not shy about expressing her opinion. “Nope. That makes your boobs look too small,” she said when Kathryn stepped out of the dressing room in a red bustier. Kathryn shot a glance at the surrounding shoppers, hoping that they didn’t hear her.

“But my boobs are small,” she whispered fiercely.

“Yeah, but they don't have to look it.” Susan laughed and handed her a tight, sleeveless black top. “Here, put this on instead.”

The biggest surprise came at the checkout, when Susan refused to let Kathryn pay for anything.

“No way,” Kathryn protested. “You are
not
buying these things for me.”

Susan slapped the credit card out of Kathryn's hand and handed the clerk her own. “Put it away. Yes I am. Conversation over.” It was the same fight at every store, but in the end, Susan won. Kathryn walked out of the mall with several hundred dollars worth of pants, shirts, shoes, and even makeup. “You need more dramatic colors,” Susan said.

When they returned to the cabin, everyone was hungry for dinner. As the light slowly faded and the moon cast its glow over them, Susan retold every detail of their shopping adventure, including all of the heated discussions and arguments that they had, much to everyone's enjoyment.

Finally, when the evening was in full bloom, the bottle of wine had been finished, and the dishes had been put away, they got ready to go out. Susan kicked Charge out of the bedroom and picked out Kathryn's clothes for her. She chose the leather pants, a fitted, gold sequined tank top, and the lace-up boots. Once Kathryn was dressed, Susan sat her down on the bed away from the mirror and began to do her makeup.

“Close your eyes.”

Kathryn obeyed, and Susan slowly applied the eye shadow, blowing gently across her face when some fell on her cheek. “Sorry.” She smiled when Kathryn's eyes flew open in surprise. Kathryn smiled back and closed her eyes again. Susan continued. With an expert hand, she stroked the brush across Kathryn's cheekbones, adding a bit of color. She then gently whisked the eyeliner across her eyelids and thickened her eyelashes with the mascara. She even tweezed Kathryn's eyebrows into a more defined shape. Lastly, she softly painted Kathryn's lips with lipstick. “Go like this.” Susan rubbed her own lips together. Kathryn copied her. She then leaned back to admire her work. “Perfect. Now. One last thing.”

Susan then moved to sit behind Kathryn and took down her ponytail. She brushed Kathryn's hair gently, took several bobby pins, and swept it up into a dramatic twist. She pinned everything into place and dusted her creation with a bit of hairspray. “Great. Now stand up.” She came back around to the front of Kathryn and studied her work. Kathryn could see her blue eyes dancing over every part of her from her newly upswept hair to her three inch high boots. Everything seemed to meet with Susan's approval. “You look fantastic.” She smiled broadly. “Now you can turn around.”

Kathryn turned to face the mirror over the dresser. She almost gasped at what she saw. The woman staring back at her looked dramatic with her smoky eye shadow and long lashes fluttering beneath perfectly shaped eyebrows. The rouge made her cheekbones more prominent, and the dark red lipstick made her lips look full and sensuous. The upswept hair revealed her long neck, and her form-fitting clothes highlighted the results of weeks of relentless workouts—strong, shapely arms, a flat stomach, and a round, firm ass. In short, she felt like someone else. And she loved it.

“Charge is going to have a heart attack when he sees you.” Susan squeezed Kathryn's shoulders affectionately. “Okay. I'm going to get ready myself.” She turned to leave.

“Thank you.” Kathryn reached out for Susan's hand and grasped it firmly. “For everything.”

Susan smiled warmly. “You're welcome. I bet you didn't know you had that sexy lady in you, did ya?”

Kathryn turned back to the mirror, still amazed. “No. Definitely not.”

Susan walked out of the bedroom calling for Charge. “You can come in now!”

A few seconds later, Charge entered the room. When he saw Kathryn, he stopped in his tracks, his jaw hanging open. “Well . . .” she hesitated. “What do you think?”

“You look amazing.” He grabbed her tightly around the waist and pulled her to him.

“Really?” Kathryn could feel that old familiar tingle starting between her legs. She wanted to pounce on him right there, but she didn't want to mess up Susan's handiwork so soon.

“Yeah, really.” Charge's eyes began to glow with passion as his hands reached down and grabbed her ass. Kathryn gasped with pleasure as he slowly kissed her neck. Kathryn felt herself giving in to him but decided to stop.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.” She playfully pushed herself away from him. “You can't go messing this up already. Susan worked hard on putting it together.”

“Really?” Charge grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him again. “And I'm going to work hard on taking it apart.”

Kathryn giggled as Charge kissed her neck again, but she pushed herself away. “No no no no no, Charge. Later. Definitely later. Club now. Sex later.” She stepped back and put her hands on her hips so that Charge could admire her. She loved the hungry look in his eyes. “Lots and lots of sex later.” Charge nodded, and the two of them teleported downstairs to wait for Susan.

Chapter Nineteen

The streets of downtown LA were dark, and Charge drove Jonathan's car down a side street before turning into a parking lot. A few empty cars were scattered about, sitting silently between the yellow lines, but they were the only people in the lot.

“This is it?” Kathryn asked as they got out of the car.

“No,” Susan answered. “It’s around the corner.” Susan's heels clicked loudly on the pavement as they walked down the street. She was wearing a black leather mini-skirt and a black halter top that highlighted assets that Kathryn wished she had. Susan's hair was down and perfectly framed her face, her blue eyes accentuated with the help of dramatic eye shadow and her lips full and stained red with lip gloss. Charge was wearing black jeans and a forest green button down shirt. The first few undone buttons revealed his powerful chest, and the gold chain around his neck flickered with the light of the lamp posts as they walked underneath them. As they turned the corner, Kathryn saw a few people standing around what seemed to be an abandoned building, but as they got closer, she noticed a small, nondescript sign that said “The Basement” with an arrow pointing down to a dark stairway. Susan and Charge breezed past the loiterers and walked down the stairs. At the bottom, invisible from the street, was a door. Kathryn thought she could faintly hear techno music coming from inside.

Susan opened the door, and they entered a long hallway. Small light bulbs hung from the ceiling every few feet, illuminating the cinderblock walls. Susan led the way down the long hall with Kathryn closely behind her and Charge bringing up the rear. As they walked, the music got louder, and the bulbs swayed in rhythm with the powerful bass. Out of the gloom, a man sat on a stool by another large door. In the dim light, Kathryn could tell that he was a bouncer. He was not quite as large as Charge, but what he lacked in height and weight, he made up for in facial expression. His dark eyes glinted from under a protruding brow, which was perched on a massive forehead that blended seamlessly into his bald head. His square jaw was spotted with stubble, and he had a toothpick clamped firmly between his thin lips. His body language was menacing, and he was perched on the stool in such a way that he looked ready to jump up in an instant and cut someone's throat. Or worse.

So Kathryn was completely shocked when the toothpick made its way to the corner of his mouth and he smiled.

“Get the fuck outta here!” He jumped up and reached for Charge's open hand. Kathryn watched in surprise as Charge drew the man in close and patted him on the back.

“It's been too long, man,” Charge said affectionately.

The bouncer turned to Susan and gave her a soft hug. “You’re looking as beautiful as ever, Susan.”

“Thanks, Nero. You haven't lost your looks yet either.” She winked, and Nero grinned even wider, revealing a few missing teeth.

“Well, you know.” He rubbed his hand across his face, and Kathryn heard the rasp of his stubble. “I do what I can.” Nero then turned his cold eyes on Kathryn. “And who is this lovely lady?”

The complement sent uncomfortable shivers down Kathryn's spine, but they melted away when Charge threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. “This is my girl, man. Kathryn.”