The edges of Odessa's lips turned up and she whispered, "I'll say, cowgirl," then closed her eyes when sleep dragged her under.

A slash of sunlight woke her and Odessa stretched, pleasantly sore from the previous night's activities. Wendy was snoring, back turned and curled around herself. Odessa resisted the urge to run her fingertips down the k.n.o.bs of Wendy's spine. She chuckled softly; one leg was still entangled with her pants, but Wendy bad taken the time to free her from her blouse and bra at some point during the night.

She shook her leg free and Wendy stirred, then rolled over, throwing a leg over Odessa's hips. "Ready for round two?"

They spent the next two weeks together, mostly in bed, only occasionally venturing to Wendy's garage to check on Odessa's car.

Wendy used her coin frequently for decisions both large and small, and each time, Odessa felt an idea niggling at her subconscious. They were lying in bed, sharing their last afternoon together, when Odessa was stuck by a thunderclap that she eagerly shared with her new girlfriend Wendy said, "I don't know, Om. It doesn't seem right to sell it. I thought it up for free. Maybe I should just share."

In a million years Odessa never imagined herself saying the words that were about to come out of her mouth, but she was desperate enough to take the chance. "Flip your coin, Wendy. See what it says."

Odessa changed her name to Charon. Life was good on the talk show circuit; she'd even introduced her grandmother to Oprah, which almost made up for the disappointment she'd seen in her grandmother's eyes when Odessa had resigned from the university. Wendy was especially pleased because she was the star of their infomercials. As the spokesperson, she could watch herself on TV anytime she wanted. The only thing she liked better was dragging Om off to bed for a midafternoon romp.

Odessa/Charon was ecstatic because in an odd way, she was still helping people. It didn't hurt that they'd made a mint within three months of marketing the coin. She didn't even feel guilty about her new livelihood. The coin was Wendy's idea, but she'd come up with their instruction manual and sales pitch all by herself The Decision Coin: two extremes that lead to infinite possibilities.

TOP OF THE CLa.s.s.

RADCLYFFE.

llie punched in the first three digits of Cindy's phone number and then hesitated. With a sigh, she pushed the off A b.u.t.ton and surveyed the mountain of clothes that had sprouted in the middle of the bed as she'd tried on and discarded outfit after outfit. Somehow, the excuse that she couldn't go out because she had nothing to wear felt thin, even to her.

"I can't believe I let them talk me into something as stupid as this."

She fingered the leather chaps she had purchased one summer for a horseback camping trip. Smiling, she recalled that the concept had been a little bit more glamorous than the actual event, but it had still been fun.

Of course, most of the clothes she'd purchased for the eight-day excursion never saw any further use. "And they're not going to tonight, either."

Eyeing the black leather pants and mesh top with a shake of her head, she scooped up the whole pile and dumped it on a chair, then marched to the closet and pulled out what she usually wore for a night out with friends-jeans and a scoop-necked, ribbed white T-shirt. All right, so it was true that the simple attire always got her plenty of attention. The jeans hugged her high, tight a.s.s, and with no bra under the form-fitting T-shirt, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s just screamed for a warm palm to cup them. The thought of fingers playing across her tight nipples caused her belly to twitch. "Okay. Okay. So maybe they're right and I do need a little recreational s.e.x, but vanilla will do me just fine."

A glance at the clock told her she had less than ten minutes before Cindy and Jeri arrived to pick her up. She still wasn't certain how she'd let them talk her into going with them to Chances, the local leather bar.

Just because she'd played that stupid Truth or Dare game at Jeri's birthday party and had even more stupidly told the truth about one of her favorite fantasies was no reason to repay her honesty by dragging her out to a club where she would only feel out of place.

"So come on, Al, tell," Cindy prodded. "What's your favorite j.e.r.k.-.o.f.f. fantasy?"

"What makes you think I-"

Cindy and Jeri hooted her down, and Allie grinned.

"Okay okay. Truth." She sighed. "I want to top this incredibly hot butch and have my way with her."

"So why haven't you?" Cindy asked.

"I haven't a clue how to go about it. Afraid of being turned down, I guess. "

"Yeah, but," Jeri chimed in, "if you didn't have to worry about any of that...what would you do?"

"I'd tie her up and torment her and then f.u.c.k her silly."

And after that, they'd badgered and cajoled until she'd agreed to at least go with them , just to see.

"So, I'll stay for a drink or two to keep them happy, and then I'll beg off," Allie muttered as she leaned close to the mirror to apply her eye makeup. "At least then they won't call me a chicken any longer."

At the sound of her doorbell ringing, she shouted down the hall from her bedroom, ''I'll be right out!"

Hastily, she grabbed her keys and pulled open the door. "Oh!"

The woman standing on her front porch looked like she'd stepped directly out of Allie's favorite wet dream. Short thick dark hair, cobalt blue eyes, a lopsided grin, and even, white teeth. The package was spectacular, and the wrapping even better. Long lean legs sheathed in skintight black leather, a matching vest over nothing but flesh, and a suggestive swelling below the wide studded belt that signaled a surprise tucked behind her fly. Her bare arms and stomach were tight with muscle. A silver bar pierced the top of her navel, and a tribal band tattoo circled her left biceps.

Allie resisted the impulse to touch her just to see if she was real.

"Allie?" Gorgeous Creature inquired.

"Yes?" Allie replied in a high, thin voice she barely recognized.

She cleared her throat, feeling foolish. ''Can I help you?"

Again the megawatt grin, this time accompanied by a subtle shrug of broad, strong shoulders that set off ripples of pleasure in the pit of Allie's stomach, "I'm Ryan," Fantasy Lover extended her hand, "And I'm yours for the evening,"

Allie stared. Heartbreak Material was obviously a nutcase. "There's been a mistake."

Ryan smiled as if she'd heard that one before.

Allie hurried on, "I was just on my way out." She started to close the door. "If you'll excuse me."

"Cindy and Jeri won't be coming, so there's no need to hurry."

The little voice of reason in Allie's head screamed, Close the door!

but the part of her brain ruled by Id won out. She leaned against the half-open door. "How do you know them?"

Ryan slid two long tapering fingers into the slit pocket on the front of her vest and teased out a folded piece of paper. She held it out between her fingers. Clever fingers. ''The work order."

"I'm sure there's..." Allie took the note, skimmed the few lines, and laughed in disbelief. "They paid for you to be my...slave?"

"If you desire." Ryan nodded toward the paper. "Apparently they thought you would prefer that. However, if you would like to reverse the scene, that can be arranged."

"I'm going to kill them," Allie muttered under her breath. Still, she was beyond intrigued, and there really didn't seem to be anything overtly crazy about the woman standing in front of her. Well, if you didn't count the fact that she...hired out...as a s.e.x slave. She looked Ryan up and down. "And if I want to be the slave, do you just...switch?"

"I can," Ryan said seriously, "but you might prefer a replace-"

"No!" Allie spoke so quickly that she surprised them both.

Blushing, she added hastily, "I mean, this...arrangement...seems fine."

"I'm glad."

Allie studied Ryan's face, certain that she had heard gentle sincerity in her voice. But then, nothing about the situation was real. So what did it matter how she sounded? "You're serious?"

"Yes, quite."

"Are you...is this...safe?"

Ryan nodded. "If you mean me, yes. If you mean anything that might happen, the answer is also yes. I'm experienced, and you can trust that I won't allow anything to happen that either of us would regret."

Allie released the door, and it swung open as she leaned her back against the doorjamb, her arms crossed just below her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The very idea of having s.e.x with Ryan, a perfect stranger, was perversely exciting. She was hot. But every time Allie thought of actually dominating her, of being free to do anything she wanted with her, she felt a thrill that was entirely new. It went beyond physical excitement. It was as if every cell in her body buzzed with s.e.xual antic.i.p.ation. "And you'll enjoy it?"

Ryan bowed her head, dropping her gaze from Allie's for the first time. "It would be my pleasure to serve you."

"I don't know wh-"

"Perhaps you wish to bring me inside where it is more private. So you may examine me and determine if I please you. Mistress."

Allie's breath caught as heat raced over her skin. She knew if she thought about what she was doing, she'd close the door and leave Ryan standing alone in the dark. And she'd never know if her fantasies were any more than that-unrequited dreams. She'd imagined just what she'd do so many times she'd only been waiting for permission. She stepped inside. "Follow me."

Then Allie turned and walked to her bedroom. She did not look back when she flicked on the small lamp just inside the door, but she knew Ryan was behind her. She could smell her. The thick, hot odor of desire. She sensed as soon as Ryan had lowered her gaze that she was saying Allie was in charge, and Allie didn't intend to pa.s.s up this chance to do what she'd been dreaming of "Kneel by the bed," Allie said, pleased by the quickly m.u.f.fled gasp. She slowly circled Ryan's kneeling form, all of her senses inexplicably heightened. She saw the tiny hairs at the back of Ryan's neck flutter as she pa.s.sed and heard the breath rush in and out of Ryan's chest. Seeing all that power and beauty harnessed and waiting, hers to command, drove the last whispers of resistance from her consciousness.

Everything in the room receded from her awareness except Ryan and the steady rush of blood into her pulsing c.l.i.t.

She stopped and traced her fingernail along the edge of Ryan's jaw, over her chin, and down her throat. "Take off your vest."

Wordlessly, Ryan unb.u.t.toned her vest and dropped it on the floor.

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s rose proudly, tight cones tipped with hard dark nipples. Allie grasped one and twisted slowly. With a groan, Ryan tipped her head back, her eyes half closed.

''Oh did I hur-"

"I am here for your pleasure." Ryan caught Allie's free hand and drew it to her other breast. "Pain arouses me. You can trust me to say enough."

Allie heard the unspoken message. She won't tell me what to do.

She'll only tell me to stop.

Allie caught Ryan's other nipple and set up a back-and-forth rhythm, tugging and squeezing, first one then the other. After a few minutes, Ryan's thighs flexed and her hips jutted up with each jerk on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She panted, her hands tying palm up by her sides, the supplicant before the altar of desire.

"You like this," Allie grunted through the heavy curtain of l.u.s.t that clouded her vision. Her jeans cut into her swollen s.e.x, riding over her c.l.i.t, rough and raw and almost hard enough to make her come.

"Yes," Ryan said through gritted teeth. ''Christ yes."

"Get up."

Allie barely gave Ryan time to get her balance before she grasped Ryan's breast and sucked the nipple into her mouth. Ryan's flesh was hot, so hot. And sweet. She bit down, unthinking, aching inside. So hungry for her. She pressed her crotch against Ryan's iron-hard thigh.

She wanted to get off, needed to. She bit again, mindlessly.

So softly Allie could barely hear, Ryan whispered, ''Harder.''

Allie shivered and fanned her fingers over Ryan's throat. Blood raced wildly beneath her hand. "Would you like that? For me to suck on your b.r.e.a.s.t.s, leave my marks on you?"

Ryan swallowed convulsively, her hands trembling on her thighs.

She had not been given permission to touch. "Yes."

''Then why should I?" Allie mused, struggling to appear calm when all she wanted was to rub her hard, wet c.l.i.t over Ryan's skin and drench her in come. But that would be too easy. For both of them. "I'm not here to pleasure you, am I?"

"No, Mi-"

"You may call me Allie," Allie said, molding her palm to the soft, warm leather between Ryan's legs. She squeezed and ma.s.saged the firm c.o.c.k inside. "Say my name. When you beg me to let you come."

Ryan's legs jerked and she moaned. She panted out, "I...stop, please...I want...oh..."

She's good. I wonder just how much she's playing. Allie jerked her off methodically, relentlessly, until she knew it wasn't an act and that Ryan would come with a few more twists of her wrist. She wanted her to, wanted to see this strong, s.e.xy woman writhe on the floor, coming for her. But she hadn't reached the end of her fantasy just yet.

"Should I stop now?"

"If it pleases you to stop," Ryan gasped. "I want...I..."

"What, Ryan. What do you want?" Allie demanded harshly.

"Let me make you come...Allie."

Allie yanked her band away and in one motion stripped off her tee.

She cupped her own breast and fisted the other hand in Ryan's hair. She jerked Ryan's head down. "Not until I say."

Ryan's mouth was warm, her tongue just rough enough to burn her nipple with rapid swipes in between the tease of teeth. Eyes closed, Allie swayed beneath the onslaught, releasing Ryan's head to fumble with her own jeans. She got them open and the zipper down.

"Stroke my c.l.i.t," Allie gasped. When she felt Ryan's hand skim down her belly, she grabbed her wrist and forced it down the tight vee of her jeans. ''Oh yes...hard, I like it hard."

The force of Ryan's arm pumping and Allie's hips thrusting in response propelled them toward the bed. Allie's knees. .h.i.t the edge and she fell, Ryan following her down. The fingers on Allie's c.l.i.t drove into her c.u.n.t, impaling her with pleasure. She arched off the bed, screaming as she came.

Before the last electric jolt pulsed from her c.l.i.t to her core, Allie shoved Ryan off and onto her back. Just as fast, she pushed her jeans off, straddled Ryan's hips, and pinned her to the bed with her hands clamped on her shoulders. "I did not tell you to make me come," she panted, sweat dripping from her face onto Ryan's.

"I...I'm sorry, Allie," Ryan murmured, licking the drops from her lips. Her chest was damp, washed gold in the slanting lamplight, her stomach tight, muscles rippling.

"I don't care if you're sorry." Allie ran her nails down the center of Ryan's stomach, twisting the silver bar in her navel as she pa.s.sed. Ryan groaned. "You do not make me come without permission."

"Yes. Allie."

Allie tugged loose Ryan's belt, then cinched it around both of Ryan's wrists and looped it over the bed frame, tethering her arms above her head. "You do not come until I say."

"Ye-yes, Allie." Ryan's thighs twitched "You ask to come." Allie flicked open the b.u.t.ton on Ryan's pants and pushed her hand inside, watching the pulse jump in Ryan's throat.

She pulled out Ryan's c.o.c.k, raised her hips, and took it in to the hilt. She nearly came with the sudden pressure on her c.l.i.t. Her head snapped back and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s heaved. She closed her eyes and rode. "Oh, so good."