Chapter One: Awakening
"Hi! My name is Jade. I'm twenty six and looking for a sensitive, caring and funny guy just to hang out with. I love animals and reading a great book. My perfect man would be sociable, easy going and definitely caring-"
"Alright, Jade, your twenty seconds have run out," the voice from behind the camera interrupted my little spiel. I sighed and nodded, sliding off the chair and walking over to the kitchen bench where a nice cold orange juice awaited me.
As I sipped the citrus fluid, I looked over at the camera-woman, who just happened to be my best friend of sixteen years. Raising an eyebrow, I chose to pout around my juice, "So, why is always only twenty seconds?"
Sandra laughed and played the tape back, watching it with a grin, "Cos men have short attention spans!"
I couldn't help but laugh, but quickly sobered when the reality of what I was doing hit me. I'd never online dated before. Sure, I'd flirted on the net, who didn't? But I had enjoyed a rather nice anonymity, and here I was putting my face and voice on a video clip and sending it in to "Soul-Match.com". I looked over my friend as she stood laughing at something funny on the video clip.
With blue eyes and blonde hair, Sandra was hard to miss. Her perfectly rounded light pink lips were always pouted suggestively. Just like the way her waist swayed when she wanted to be provocative; which usually meant all the time. Her long legs ended in a firm, round butt on one end and dainty feet on the other. It didn't exactly hurt that she was a dancer with a great physique, either.
"Hang on, what are you laughing at?" it suddenly hit me that she was watching my video submission; again.
"Oh," she flashed perfectly set, pearly whites, "you're just so cute!"
I made a fake grab at the camera she was holding, "You're not supposed to laugh!" I felt my face flush hot with both embarrassment and the feeling of the vodka in the orange juice beginning to take effect. Sandra sipped her own glass of vodka/orange and grinned. I had a general thought about somehow regretting this split decision to send in a submission to a shady online dating site, but for now the giddiness of the alcohol continued to swirl in my head and impair my better judgment.
Ten minutes later, the video was loaded onto my computer and onto my newly made profile. Sure, they asked for a full profile when you signed up, but nobody actually looked at it. They would rather just look at the short video clip and judge from that. Somewhere in the back of my head, I realised this was probably just another way for internet billionaires to cash in on the dating market. But I was desperate... and drunk.
"And send!" Sandra hit the enter button and I shook my head, clearing it slightly, but not enough to stop my girlish giggling.
"Hey do you think someone will actually look at this?" I asked, my cheeks feeling hot and the room slightly swirly. I dimly realised that I had overestimated the ratio between orange juice and vodka once again. I made a mental note to myself to measure it next time.
"Of course Sweetie. You're too cute!"
I threw a glance at my long time friend as I pushed back my dark brown hair. Ever since growing it, I had had a hard time adjusting to the new length. But I kept supposing that shoulder length hair made me sexy. At least, that's what Sandra kept telling me. If anyone knew sex, it was her.
In a completely sober moment as we were getting ready for bed – Sandra had been kicked out of her boyfriend's apartment so she was staying with me temporarily, and I only had one queen sized bed – I found myself looking in the old standing mirror I had in my bathroom. As I braided up my wavy hair, I looked at my now exposed neck. My skin, though I was in fact of Asian descent, was fairer than most. I still had the bronzed complexion of my ancestors, but it was more of a coppery glow than anything. I was hardly a size zero and prided myself in that fact as I my eyes followed the line down to my slightly sloping bare shoulders.
Liquid brown eyes flicked towards the mirror as I darted a quick look at my full, pale lips. They parted as I continued to look down my naked body, travelling to my high C cups and watching in curiosity as my nipples creased and peaked in answer to the chill that travelled through the lace curtains of my open window.
My gaze travelled down further to a flat, smooth stomach. I didn't have muscled abs but I had never really liked that look on females. Somewhere in my mind I always saw females as the softer, curvier counterparts for males. My eyes dipped down to my navel, skipping on the slight scar of the healed piercing I had had done in my rebellious teens. It was a small thing, but for one who knew where to look, it was there.
I let my fingers splay across my stomach as I moved both them and my eyes past my slightly flaring hips to the shadowed place between my rounded thighs. I found myself spreading my legs slightly to get a better, fuller look at myself. While I had never really consciously thought about it, I rather liked the shaven appearance of some women I'd seen in magazines and the like. I remembered the first time I tried it and found myself utterly lacking in bald beauty.
Slowly, I slipped two of my fingers downwards; sliding against bare skin until they reached a small tuft of fur that I had found had accentuated my inner beauty rather nicely. I found myself smiling as I touched the side of my paler thigh with my other hand. Sliding my fingertips along my smooth skin, I drew an imaginary line down my long, curvy legs all the way to my delicate ankles and curled toes. I found myself stroking the small patch, almost purring underneath my breath.
While I had never truly felt beautiful in another's eyes, in my own, I was a goddess. I had an imperfect goddess's body that suddenly demanded attention.
The reflection of soft, dark eyes stared back at me as I slipped my fingers further downwards, delighted to find the nub of my pleasure as I rubbed it slightly but slid my fingers down even further to my wet slit. I closed my eyes as I moved my fingers against myself, just twice, almost barely touching.
Flicking my eyes open again, I watched my reflection as she raised her fingers, her eyes dark with lonesome passion. She reached up and flicked out a small pink tongue to dab experimentally at the moistened fingertips. I watched as her eyes widened with the taste and her nostrils flared with the smell of my heat.
Slowly, my lips parted as I breathed deeply, I reached down again, leaving a soft, wet trail down the skin between my breasts and dipping my fingers into my navel before seeking the pleasant warmth of my sex. I let my head drop back, content to close my eyes as I felt my fingertips brush against my clitoris. Circling, I let a breathy sigh escape my lips and I moved my other hand back up and cupped a breast.
