Trigger warning: Euthanasia of a beloved animal.
Author's note: this is a slow burn romance. The first half of the story (two chapters) has no sexual activity. If that isn't what you're looking for, you might want to skip this story.
"Rider" originated with a suggestion of
THBGato
who commented that it would be interesting to see the reaction of the families of Faye and Erin of
Bonds of Friendship
. Also, I was disappointed on re-reading at how unceremoniously I dropped both women toward the end of
Entanglement
. I wanted to see a little more of their future. I hope that this will serve as an affectionate look at the couple while also countering some of the emotional and sexual whiplash involved in
Mentor
.
Chronologically, it overlaps the end of "Mentor", beginning between Chapters 17 and 18 and continuing afterward.
Please see
my About page
for outlines of the interconnected stories. ("The Gabby's Saga")
And a shout out to the gamers of Literotica. I hope you enjoy the small nod in your direction.
Rider
1. Carpenter
Nyss
Nyss was reluctant to admit that she was bored. Faye was in the study, working from home, and everyone else was out of the house. Usually she'd have Faye's car to use, but not today.
She didn't feel like logging into her online game after last night's raid, which had lasted far too long. And it was one thing to gather with all of her friends at home in the middle of the night, and another to play solo when the weather was so perfect outdoors. She'd gone for a longer run than normal, but that still had left her with a couple of hours of morning to fill.
If Faye lived closer to the town center she could have gone out to pick up coffee. She should have asked Faye about public transportation, but she wouldn't disturb her for a trivial question. She
did
have books she was reading, but she didn't want to be cooped up indoors.
There was a folding chair in her room. Nyss took it out to the small front yard, added a cushion, then took her coffee, a floppy hat that was probably Erin's, and her Kindle, and settled in to read.
She had just finished her coffee, setting the mug beside her, when she heard the distinctive sound of a motorbike downshifting in the suburban street. Looking up from her reading, she watched with interest as the bike slowed, surprised when the rider leaned right, bringing the bike to rest in the driveway beside her.
The rider turned off the engine, rested the bike on its stand and dismounted. He was short for a biker, and skinny. He looked like an alien in skintight black leather and black full face visor. Maybe he wasn't short for an alien.
Nyss found herself grinning at the thought, though a little apprehensive as the rider unfastened his helmet, shaking out messy straight dark brown hair as he approached... No. Nyss's eyes widened. The pointed chin, as pale and smooth as the rest of the face, framed by the untamed hair, caused her to flick her eyes over the wrongly-fitting leathers: too high in the crotch, too narrow at the waist, and too curved at the chest. As
she
approached.
Now that Nyss knew the rider wasn't male, she realized that she also wasn't short. About five-four, Nyss guessed, three inches or so less than her own five-seven, and slender, rather than skinny. She raised her face to lift the brim of Erin's floppy hat out of her view of the visitor. The leather-clad girl's dark eyes widened. "Hi?" offered Nyss.
"Oh, hi," the rider returned, in a husky voice. She seemed startled. "I'm here to see Faye? I have cash for her." She patted her hip, as if Nyss would be able to tell that there were banknotes in the pockets of her tight pants - as if money would interest Nyss more than the hips she was touching would. Nyss had no aversion to letting her eyes rest for a moment where the girl had drawn them.
She could be forgiven for misidentifying the rider. Her figure was boyish; the narrowing of her waist subtle, and her breasts small and confined by the zip-front jacket. Still, having seen the clues, there was no mistaking the feminine shape. Nyss raised her eyes back to hold the girl's gaze. The slight flush implied she'd taken a little too long coming to that conclusion.
"She's working," Nyss said, "but she's home. I'm sure she'll be able to take a break. Can I tell her your name?"
"I'm Hannah," the girl says. "She knows me."
Nyss stood, then opened the front door to lead the way inside.
~~~~~
Hannah
"
She knows me.
" What a ridiculous thing to say. "
No, I have no idea who this person is who I handed three hundred bucks to.
"
Hannah sighed. Ever since the girl had looked up, she'd been flustered. She thought she was approaching Faye's wife, Erin. Her composure was shattered when she'd met the girl's green eyes. She was clearly not Erin. She was about her height, and wearing a hat, as Erin frequently did, but the resemblance ended there. This young woman had an hourglass figure, a tightly-stretched,
very
short ribbed crop top drawing attention to full breasts and leaving golden acres of skin exposed, a diamond stud glinting in her navel. Hannah's mouth had gone dry.
Waves of amber hair fell over the woman's bare shoulders. With her face tilted up, sunlight reflected from a lean neck and well-defined collar bones. Denim shorts clung to her hips, the waistline so low that Hannah wouldn't have been surprised to see the waistband of her panties. The shorts were as high in the leg as they were low in the waist, revealing tanned thighs with enough muscle definition to hint at an active lifestyle, and long, long, legs, the viewing of which left Hannah weak in the knees.
The girl had seemed surprised to see Hannah, too, though the surprise didn't seem to have robbed her of rational thought, unlike Hannah, who tried to pull herself together as she followed the girl into Faye's house. The girl whose name she'd forgotten to ask, of course.
Faye must have heard the bike, as she was already heading down the stairs. "Oh, hey, Hannah."
