"So," Amelia began as her and Sophia sat down on the couch, "did you find a quote that was to your liking?"
Restrained techno music played in the background, surrounding them without suffocating them. The light from the dining room cast a warm glow into the living room where they were sitting. As the two girls got comfortable, Estelle appeared from the kitchen holding two wine glasses that she offered to them. Amelia took it without looking away from Sophia, as though her answer was the most important thing in the world at that moment. Sophia took the glass, but then paused and looked up at Estelle suspiciously. This caused her server to chuckle knowingly.
"There's nothing in it," she replied to Sophia's accusatory look. Sophia appeared satisfied, as she slowly sipped the wine. "No reason to drug the willing," Estelle added before disappearing into the bedroom.
Sophia was suddenly aware of Amelia's expectant eyes burning on her face and stopped drinking immediately. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I read through the entire book."
"Already?"
"Yep! And I have to say that I can totally see Severin's point of view"
"Ugh, you would," Amelia said with distaste.
"Hey, if it weren't for us submissive ones, you strong ones would have nothing to dominate."
Amelia cocked her head to show that the statement was worthy of consideration. "Wow, that's an interesting point. So what's the quote?"
Sophia, who was clearly very proud of the fact that she had memorized it, cleared her throat dramatically and recited, "My love was like a profound, a bottomless abyss, into which I kept sinking deeper and deeper, from which nothing could save me."
Upon finishing, Sophia looked at Amelia in a way that showed just a little too much confidence to not be superficial. After their last chat, she was aware that the chances of Amelia accepting her quote without criticism were slim. Her facade of confidence was only meant to be a shield against any harsh verbal blows that may now await her. However, to her surprise, Amelia didn't show signs of launching into a disapproving speech at all. On the contrary, she appeared very thoughtful.
"You know," Amelia began after taking another sip of her wine, "you have so much more strength than you give yourself credit for. I bet you thought you knew how I would react to that quote, didn't you? I could tell by the way you spoke. And yet, you stood your ground because it's what you believe in."
Sophia was again speechless, falling in love with Amelia with every new word that came forth from her tongue. Flattery was one of her most significant weaknesses.
"Listen sweetheart; don't ever think that I'm going to judge you for the way you think. Hell, Estelle isn't exactly my cerebral twin, either. But our differences give us things to learn from each other. Now listen...you're going to need to gather all of your strength for what we have planned tonight."
Sophia peered into her lover's eyes, unsure of whether she would get an answer, were she to ask about the plans that she spoke of. She knew that it was a kind of initiation process, but the details had not yet been disclosed to her. Amelia seemed to comprehend her nervousness and lifted her hand to gently stroke Sophia's cheek.
"Do you know that I'm very much in love with you today?"
Before Sophia could verbally react to Amelia's words, Estelle emerged from the bedroom and beckoned for the two to follow her. The flickering luminosity coming from the room behind her captivated Sophia, calming her nerves a little.
"Are you ready for this?" Amelia asked as she took Sophia's hand to help her up from the couch. Sophia could only nod, unable to take her eyes off of the shape-shifting darkness that she was about to become a part of.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The sounds of sweaty flesh slapping against each other echoed throughout the room as Trevor pumped rapidly into Kaylin from behind. They were both panting and groaning with a mixture of ecstasy and exhaustion, but neither of them were willing to take a break.