Mentor
Chapter 10 - Sunshine
The sun was streaming through the window as I slowly persuaded sleep-infused eyes to take in the day. Relearning how to focus, I discovered a woman, lying supine on the other side of the bed. Bedsheets were knotted around her thighs, but she was otherwise uncovered. Her golden hair lay tangled around her head.
The woman's body was inked, and I took the time to appreciate the art. A sinuous form twined around each forearm. I thought at first that they were serpents, but closer inspection showed them to be winged skeletons. Bone dragons.
Her upper left arm was an elaborate design in black of a pair of human skeletons, intertwined in an embrace. The upper right held the only non-skeletal design - a girl, made up as a goth, with untidy hair. Her expression seemed amused. She wore a dark cami top, an ankh suspended from her neck.
Between the naked woman's breasts was the rose I'd noticed last night. Its stem emerged from entwined branches of thorns, which curved around and onto the lower edge of each breast. A butterfly in red and blue, lay entirely on the swell of her left breast. It and the blood-red rose were the only tattoos with colors other than black and gray.
Dylan's beautifully colored plant design might be more to my liking, but this work was exquisite, finely drawn and fascinating.
The naked woman shifted and attempted to tug the sheet higher, but only tightened the snarled cloth. I looked up, startled, to find her wide awake and watching me.
"Studying my tattoos?" Michelle asked.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Isn't it painful to have your boobs tattooed?"
Michelle winced. "Very."
"I like your Death." I waved my hand toward her right bicep.
She smirked. "Glad you recognize her."
"I'm mostly a video game nerd," I replied, "but I can cosplay a comic book nerd when needed. It's why I'm interested in Austin's project. How's your head?"
"Not bad," she said.
"Same," I said. "I'm surprised. Maybe we burned off the hangover toxins."
"Could be," she agreed. "I'll brew coffee." She rose a little unsteadily, then headed to the kitchen.
After she was out of bed, I rolled over to her side, then followed her out, finding the living room, then locating my purse. It was a little after eight-thirty, according to my phone. On the way back, I stopped to observe Michelle in the kitchen.
"Hmm?" she grunted when she saw me. "Anything up?"
"Just watching," I said. "I didn't mean to spend the night. Should I hurry home?"
Michelle shrugged. "No need," she said. "I've no plans until mid-afternoon. What about you?"
I held my hand over my mouth to hide a yawn. I needed the coffee she was making. The scent of the grounds was making it clear just how much. "I'm fine, too. If you don't mind, I'll take a shower before leaving."
"No problem," she said. "How do you take your coffee?"
"One sugar," I said. "Milk if you have it, but without is fine."
"I have milk," Michelle said. "Cream, if you prefer."
"Sure," I said, then headed back to the bedroom.
Our two cocktail glasses, both still half full, were sitting beside the bed. I took them to the kitchen. I knew which was Michelle's and which was mine by the color of the lipstick smears. "Should I rinse these out?" I asked. "Where should I toss the olives?"
"Just leave the glasses," the blonde woman said. "I'll take care of them."
I nodded and left, then took my purse into the bathroom and brushed my teeth with the travel-sized toothpaste and toothbrush I had with me, feeling proud of myself for my basic preparation.
Returning to the bedroom, I pulled the sheets into place before getting back into bed. Michelle arrived a moment later with two mugs, handing me one. Glancing at her body, I felt a stirring of lust, but decided I shouldn't initiate foreplay, even after my coffee. I'd overstayed my one-night stand expectation.
"I have to say," I began, after the coffee began to take effect, "that now I'm sober, I can look back on your gig last night and see that it was pretty fucking incredible. Are you going to try to make it big?"
She pursed her lips. "I mean, we all want to. We've been getting our songs out there. It's going to take hard work and bigger shows. We're giving away downloads and have videos on our website to build an audience, since music services suck for indie bands. As you saw, we're filling local venues."
"You'll need to find more girls to satisfy your post-gig lust," I said, with a chuckle.
"Maybe I'll try to tempt
you
to be a regular with free admission and booze,"
"Maybe you'll succeed," I admitted, "if only for the music. Have you ever hooked up with your guitarist? She seems to have a ton of energy."
"Sydney," Michelle said. "We considered it, once. Fortunately we were sober at the time, and decided it would probably fuck up the band. If that hadn't happened, we probably would have done after a successful show, and it would have been a disaster. And yeah, she's awesome."
"She owned that last number," I said.
"Didn't she?" Michelle replied, with a grin.
My coffee was almost gone. "Could I borrow soap and a towel?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course," she said. "Let me find you a bath towel. Everything else is in the bathroom."
My eyes tracked her as she slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom, returning a moment later with a neatly-folded bath towel, which I took. There was a large walk-in shower and a double marble vanity. Something seemed unusual about the room, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I shrugged off the feeling, then as soon as I had the water to my liking, I stepped into the shower and began to soap myself down.
With the sound of the water, I didn't hear Michelle approach until the shower door opened with a small click and a breath of cooler air. I was facing the shower head, trying to keep my hair dry, when hands slipped around me and began to lather soap over my breasts, squeezing and pinching. My nipples swelled to their touch.
Feeling her breath on my neck, I turned back, meeting her mouth with mine. She kneaded my breasts as we kissed, and I felt myself make a soft sound of arousal.
