"Yes," she said. "It's more lax than other companies. Personal relationships between employees require approval from Renea herself. She's approved this one."

"Am I going to get angry if you tell me when?"

Andrea snickered. "Probably. Your personality definitely matches the stereotype of someone with that color hair."

"I like the color of my hair," I told her. "And I'm perfectly satisfied with my personality."

She smiled. "Me too."

I looked at Petra again. "So if I put my head on your shoulder right here in public, and half the office were to walk in, you're not going to pull away?"

"No, Felicia," she said. "I'm not going to pull away."

So I leaned against her and put my head on her shoulder, then pulled our hands out from under the table so anyone walking past could see we were holding hands.

The breadsticks came. Petra put one on my plate for me. Using my free hand, I pulled pieces off and ate them.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Siriena is real," Andrea said. "As you are now aware."

"The rules are different, though," Petra said. "Technology doesn't work. Wind up watches work, nothing with batteries does."

"I had my cell phone in my pocket," I said.

"It's not destroyed," Petra said. "But it has shut itself off as if the power disconnected."

"Oh," I said. I fished it from my pocket and checked it. It was off. I turned it back on and was relieved when it powered up. I snuggled back against Petra.

Our food arrived. We ate quietly for a few minutes. Andrea eventually said, "We're going to give you some basics." I nodded. "Rule number one. If Petra tells you to do something, you do it. Period."

I glanced up at Petra.

"You are mine," she said. "That's not a casual statement."

"And I don't know what I'm doing there."

"That too," said Andrea. "And for that reason, if I tell you to do something, you will do it. But even after you know what's going on, if she tells you to do something, you do it. Period. And that is a permanent rule."

I pulled away from Petra. "I'm not your slave."

She turned and stared into my eyes, not saying a word. I glared at her. I turned and looked at Andrea, then back at Petra, then turned to Andrea and said, "You two are serious."

She nodded. "This isn't negotiable, Felicia. You will do it. You may enjoy it more if you take a little ownership in agreeing to it."

I looked back at Petra, who hadn't said a word. Andrea asked me, "Do you want a relationship with her?"

"Yes," I said.

"What would you do for it? For her?"

I turned back to Andrea and sighed. "Anything. And anything."

"Well then," she said. "What's the problem?"

I turned to Petra and looked her in the eye. "If you tell me to do something, I'll do it. Period."

She smiled and took my hand, pulling me against her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

I leaned against her again.

"There are a few more things to know," Andrea said. "In Seriena, we're immortal."

"What?"

"We don't age," said Petra. "We remain the age and appearance as when we were first brought over. And our appearance is based on how the person who brought us saw us. I look different because Renea's eyes were getting old, and that's how she saw me."

"I look a little different than I do here, but that's largely because memory isn't perfect," Andrea said. "You, however, look very much like you do here. Your hair there is a little brighter and perhaps slightly longer. Your body here is becoming toned, but your body there is amazing. Other than that, you look the same."

"I used photos of you," Petra said. "I worked hard to have the right image in mind."

I glanced up at her but didn't say anything.

Andrea went on. "You can be killed there, and dead is dead. But we don't age."

"Your body here ages, even when you're gone. If you were there for a year, you would come back here and look a year older."

I thought about all that.

"Renea appears forty-five in Siriena," Andra said. "But if she ever comes to Earth again, she'll probably die immediately. She hasn't been back in five years, and she's into her nineties."

"Seriously?"

"She's forever forty-five," Petra said. "I am forever thirty-one. You are forever twenty-eight."

"I am thirty-three," said Andrea. "The age I was when Renea first brought me over, seventeen years ago."

We finished eating and stared at each other. The check came and I reached past Petra to try to take it, but she growled at me.

"Seriously?" I asked her, pulling my hand back.

She opened her purse and pulled out bills to cover the check.

"Felicia," Andrea said. "I really need you back at work tomorrow."

"I'll be there," I said.

She grinned. "You two have a nice day now." She slipped out of the booth and walked out of the restaurant.

I pressed myself more tightly against Petra's side. "I'm sorry, I can't stop touching you. Are you going to take me home now?"

"Oh yes," she said.

"When we get there, are you going to take me?"

She grinned. "Oh yes."

"Do you need change for the bill?"

In response she pulled me from the booth and dragged me out of the restaurant. I started giggling. We got to the street and I grabbed her arm. She led the way back to our office building and down to the parking garage. When we got to her car, she shoved me against it and pressed her body against mine. I lifted my face to hers and accepted a kiss. Her tongue demanded entrance and I opened for her. She had one hand on the back of my head, pulling me to her while her other hand was running up and down my side. She slipped it under my shirt and caressed the bare skin of my side.

I moaned into her mouth and clutched at her.

She broke the kiss and pulled away only a few inches, her eyes searching my face. Then she opened the car door and shoved me into the car. I barely was safely inside before she closed the door.

She climbed in the other side. I was already rotated in my seat to face her.

"Buckle up," she told me.

I sat back in my seat and buckled in but immediately rotated in the seat to face her.

She turned to face me. "Felicia, I want to play with you, too. But when you are in my car, you will buckle in without being told and you will sit properly. And keep your hands to yourself."

I'd been reaching for her but snatched my hands back then grumped and plopped into the seat, channeling my inner teenager in the process. I saw a ghost of a smile, then she backed out of her spot and soon had us on the road heading home.

We didn't talk on the way. I had too many questions and didn't want to start on that. I just wanted her clothes off of her and my hands searching everywhere on her that her hands had been on me.

We pulled into the garage under the apartment. She brought us to a stop and shut the car off.

"Felicia," she said. "I am not an exhibitionist. We will not be putting on a show for the security cameras."

I didn't say anything. We both got out of the car. I kept several feet between us as we walked to the elevator. She stepped closer and grabbed my hand.

"I thought you didn't want to put a show on," I told her.

"I could see in your eyes you weren't planning on waiting to reach my floor before you threw yourself at me," she said. "But this is nice."

I stepped closer and clutched her arm. "This is nicer," I told her.

She laughed. "Yes, it is."

I tried to entice a kiss from her during the elevator ride. "Behave," she told me. "Act your age."

"Young and horny?" I asked. "I thought I was."

She laughed.

She pulled me from the elevator, led me to her door, and opened the door. She shoved me inside and followed after me, stalking me. The instant the door clicked shut, I reversed direction and threw myself at her. Her back slammed against the closed door and I was instantly on her, pulling her mouth down to mine for a kiss.

My tongue asked for admittance, but she pulled away, spun us both around, and shoved me against the door. She pinned me there with her arms and hips. She was both larger than I was and, frustratingly, stronger. I struggled, trying to pull her closer, but she held me pinned, looking down at me with a predatory smile.

"Who is in control, Felicia?" she asked me.

I struggled some more, ignoring her question.

She pulled me away from the door, then banged me back into it. "Who is in control, Felicia?" she asked me again.

I stopped struggling and stared into her eyes. "You are," I told her.

"Are you sure?" she asked me.

I looked away. She banged me against the door again. It didn't hurt, but it got my attention.

I looked back at her. "You are, Petra. Yes, I'm sure."

She immediately pressed herself against me more thoroughly, lowering her mouth to take mine. Her tongue immediately slid between my teeth and danced against my tongue. I moaned immediately.

She broke the kiss and looked at me. "Do you want more of that?"

"Yes."

"Are you mine?"

"Yes."

She took my hand and pulled me into her apartment after her. She dropped her purse on the table. I wasn't carrying one; I was wearing jeans and everything I needed was in my pockets.

She pulled me to her bedroom, then shoved me against the wall next to the door and kissed me again, both her hands roaming up and down my body. When I reached for her, she grabbed my hands and shoved them against the wall at my sides. I kept them there.

She stepped away, and I stayed where she had put me.

God, she looked amazing. She smiled and walked up to me very slowly. I watched her eyes. She reached up and slowly began unbuttoning the buttons on my blouse. She unbuttoned each one very slowly, her eyes never leaving mine.

She pulled the blouse out of my jeans and finished unbuttoning it. She slid it slowly off my shoulders. She hadn't unbuttoned the sleeves, so the blouse collected along my arms. I reached to unbutton the sleeves and pull the blouse off, but she immediately grabbed my wrists and roughly shoved them against the wall.

She didn't say anything, but when she released my wrists, I left them there.

Finally she asked me, "Do you understand?"

"I don't know," I told her.

"I love your playful nature," she said. "I rejoice in it. But right now, I am claiming you. You may either submit to me or leave. Those are your two options."

I looked into her eyes and said simply, "Yours."

She attacked my mouth. I moaned into her kiss, but I kept my entire body pressed against the wall, not even trying to chase her when she pulled away.