Tara’s scream was muffled by the chunk of pillow stuffed between her lips. The sound did not halt Ava’s deep thrusts, the silicone strap-on hitting so hard into Tara’s dripping cunt that she was genuinely struggling to catch her breath. Even though she knew it was coming, the force of it still knocked the air out of her every single time.

Never in Tara’s life had she been so wet. Never in her life had she felt so enraptured by another human being. Never in her life has she been fucked so thoroughly.

One night stands were not Tara’s usual scene. Once Ava locked eyes with her for the first time though, a dark and hungry gaze that promised trouble, Tara simply couldn’t fight the magnetic pull.

When Tara came this time her back arched off the bed as though she were the subject of an exorcism and her vision blurred around the edges. By the time her body had fallen back to the sheets she had also fallen into unconsciousness.

[6 HOURS EARLIER]

“Something caught your eye?” Shawn teased with a knowing grin.

Tara jolted and an uncomfortable warmth spread over her skin, she was mortified to have been caught staring.

The woman had glanced at her first ,though. She had felt it prickling at her skin as she sipped on her far-too-strong drink. She had followed the hot feeling back to the source: a pair of black eyes that appeared to flash red momentarily under the dim lights. They belonged to a cat-like woman lounging in a shabby armchair that was tucked into the very furthest corner of the room. Tara had felt frozen beneath her gaze, unable to move or blink or think of anything but her. The woman turned away, breaking the spell that had held her.

Tara swallowed awkwardly. “Is she a friend of yours?” A stupid question, really, given that it was Shawn’s party.

“We go way back,” he said with a conspirational wink, “want me to recommend you?”

“Well, um-”

“Your wish is my command,” he interjected with a mock bow, and swiftly headed towards the woman in the armchair. Tara garbled something intelligible about not wanting to bother anyone, but if he heard her, he ignored her.

Once he was at the side of the chair, Shawn leant in close to the woman’s ear, but Tara could still see his mouth moving, his eyes flickering from the woman’s profile to Tara’s blushing face with a sly grin. Then he pointed at her, like she was an item of interest in a shop window! As the woman turned her head to follow the direction of his finger, Tara swivelled on the spot, turning her back on the pair. She put her plastic cup to her lips and attempted to nod along with the girls who had been stood behind her. She was now at the edge of their small huddle. She was fairly sure the topic of conversation had something to do with boys.

Shawn dragged her out of the small herd by the elbow and whispered into her ear, “did you turn around to show her your cute butt? Cause I think it worked!”

“I turned away because you were embarrassing me!” Tara hissed.

She twisted halfway back to him, and there she was, the woman.

“Hey,” she said dully. Her eyes were half lidded and she held a plastic cup by its rim with one hand.

“Hi,” Tara breathed nervously, “I’m Tara.”

“Ava.”

Tara fought the urge to swallow. “Is that… short for something?” she asked awkwardly. Normally, Tara felt she was pretty adept at making conversation, however, this was clearly not a skill she was broadcasting to this tall woman with the sexy voice. Ava’s eyes were too intense, they were making her sweat. Would it be considered socially strange to pant? Tara felt like she was not getting enough oxygen all of a sudden.

“Nope.” Ava’s short shutting down of Tara’s attempt to chit-chat stumped her, and her brain could suddenly no longer find words for her.

The pause that grew between them felt incredibly tense to Tara, but if Ava was uncomfortable with the lack of small talk, she didn’t show it. Although she was the one to break it eventually.

“Shawn, how about you find something to do that isn’t here.” The way she said his name was strange, there was a teasing edge to her tone like that you’d use on a nickname. Maybe the alcohol was making Tara over-think, it did that a lot. Regardless, Shawn snorted, shook his head, and left them to mingle with his other guests. “He said you were checking me out,” Ava added with a confident smirk.

“Maybe a little,” Tara admitted, bringing her cup to her lips as a partial covering to hide her embarrassed expression behind.

“I was planning on leaving soon, come with me?” It should have been a question, but to Tara it sounded like an order, one that she needed to follow.

And that was how she had found herself laying like a limp noodle in Ava’s king-size; muscles aching and light-coloured bruises raising around her waist, thighs and wrists. She was dehydrated, and fatigued to a degree that it was as though she hadn’t slept at all. But she must have, because sunlight was warming her exposed skin and causing her eyes to sting as she fought to hold them open to survey her fragile body. Tara was no stranger to rough sex, she enjoyed a bit of kinkiness too, but what she had experienced with Ava… None of her previous partners could compare in any category. Could you have a spiritual experience if you weren’t religious? Tara wasn’t certain, but she had felt very sinful last night.

With the sound of approaching footsteps on wood floor, she scurried to cover herself with the wrinkled sheets hanging over the edge of the bed. Ava opened the door and leaned against the doorway with a lazy ease.

“I have seen every inch of you already,” she said with raised brows and hooded eyes.

“It feels different in daylight,” Tara mumbled as her excuse for pulling the sheets to her clavicle.

Ava shrugged. “Well, while you are naked, feel free to use the bathroom through that door.” She nodded at the en suite.

“Thanks,” Tara croaked, “I think I’ll take a quick shower and then I’ll be out of your way.”

“Take your time, you were out cold for a long time.”

Tara’s body grew a few degrees warmer in humiliation, she had never passed out during sex before. She still wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion or over-stimulation from that last orgasm.

She managed to get a choked sound of gratitude out and Ava left with a half-grin.

On her way to the bathroom, Tara scooped up her outfit from the night before: an oversized pink t-shirt dress with frilled sleeves and a very small slit on the right side, white underwear, and a pair of pink lace-up trainers, one of which had somehow made its way under Ava’s bedside table.

In the shower she found a half-empty bottle of grapefruit shower gel and a two-in-one shampoo and conditioner.

“I think the fuck not,” Tara whispered to herself. Ava may be able to slap whatever she wanted onto her straight, untextured hair, but Tara would have to wait until she got home to clean her own 4A coils. She had been tricked by those two-in-one bottles before, they were moisture destroyers.

She would have to leave her hair up in the puffs she had scraped them into the day before and simply do her best to keep from getting hit in the face by the shower spray. They were looking slightly less symmetrical than they had when she had left her apartment on her way to Shawn’s, but only if you knew how perfect they had looked before. It probably wasn’t obvious that she had managed to avoid hair wash day for… an amount of time she would not like to disclose for the sake of her mother finding out.

As she lathered her body with the grapefruit shower gel, she took extra time to poke and prod at her new collection of bruises. It blew her mind that she had not felt any pain in any of the darkened spots when she was writhing beneath Ava last night.

She dried herself quickly and slipped back into her party outfit. From what she remembered in her tipsy state last night, she wasn’t far from her apartment, so walking home wouldn’t be too shameful. The quicker she left, the quicker she would be in her own living room giving Daisy a full report on what had happened.

Ava’s living room was uncluttered, but the decorative items she did have on display all appeared to be handmade trinkets or keepsakes: a set of roughly carved wooden elephants, a framed square of material with wonky embroidered flowers, a small glass sculpture in the shape of a voluptuous woman’s body with no head. Tara wished she could take a closer look, to admire the mismatched collection of items, but Ava had been observing her from the kitchenette since she left the bedroom. The tall woman was leant forward with her stomach pressed against the counter and her hands fiddling with a metal spoon that appeared to have become bent out of shape.

Tara snatched her sparkly clutch from the couch where she and Ava had been passionately kissing and clawing at each other the night prior. The memory made her palms sweat a little, and she smiled awkwardly at the woman as she walked past her towards the front door. The heat in her black eyes gave Tara the strangest feeling that she was listening to her thoughts, that she knew exactly which steamy scene just passed through Tara’s mind.

“You want a snack to take with you?” Ava asked softly.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Tara mumbled with an embarrassed smile. She was not experienced with the walk of shame and would rather get on with it than linger past her welcome.

“Get home safe.”

“You too,” Tara blurted automatically, her nervous brain on autopilot. “I mean, you are home, so…” she spluttered as she realised what she had said.

Ava gave a huffing laugh. “Don’t worry, your brain just got a bit rattled in your skull last night. You’ll be able to think straight in a few hours,” she said with a smirk.

“Thanks,” Tara squeaked and let herself out the front door.