Chapter Twelve

What to Do with a Dripping-Wet Woman?

By the time I entered Tally’s apartment, I had cooled off a little, but there was still a dull ache of anger curled inside my belly. Rachel was silent as she walked with me, but I was aware that she checked every corner, eyes darting as we moved up to the sixth floor where Tally lived.

Rachel stepped ahead of me once I had turned the key in the lock. I put a hand on her shoulder, and let myself in first.

“I’m only trying to help—to keep you safe,” she whispered.

“No talking, from now on I don’t want to hear you speak unless I order you to.”

Rachel opened her mouth. She closed it quietly.

“I don’t understand you, Rachel. You know so much stuff, but your arrogance is just astounding.” I held her elbow, led her to the bathroom. Tally’s bathroom was spotlessly clean, a minimalist room with black tiles on the wall, and an atmosphere that was icy cold. It was about to get a lot colder.

“Run a bath.” I pushed Rachel forward to the tub. “No hot water.”

Rachel bent over, opening the cold-water tap fully. As the bath began to fill, I sat on the toilet seat.

“Strip,” I said. Rachel pulled off her clothes; the smart black trousers looked rumpled, her white blouse was spotted with dirt. She folded the clothes neatly, placed them in the corner of the stark room. The water began to rise in the bath. I made no movement from my seat, but just looked at Rachel as she stood shivering in the middle of the room. “That’s enough water.” I inclined my head. Rachel closed the taps.

“What are you going to do?” she asked quietly.

“How long was that? Five, six minutes, and you’ve forgotten the rules already.”

Rachel’s face went red.

“No more talking.” I nodded to the bath. “Get in.”

Rachel looked at me with imploring eyes for a moment, but she stepped into the tub all the same. I watched the tide of goose bumps travel over her skin as she submerged herself in the freezing water.

“Now you sit there and think about how you talk to people—how you treat people. Think long and hard, Rachel. You imagine being cold and wet, having to give your body to strangers just to stay warm.”

Rachel sat clenched up in the bath, her arms wrapped around her slender frame.

“I’ll be back in a bit.” I got up, went to Tally’s kitchen. I made myself a cup of tea, some toast and peanut butter. I read an article in one of Tally’s feminist magazines. After all that, I went back to the bathroom.

Rachel’s teeth were chattering as she sat curled around herself. The tips of her collar-length hair was wet, a darker shade of copper from the rest.

“You got anything to say?” I asked, bending down to the tub. Rachel’s breasts were puckered; her nipples stiff and pink. I reached over, squeezed one, and then pulled it to me. Rachel leaned forward; I sucked her nipple into my mouth, licking over it like it was an ice cube. I tasted salt, perspiration even though there was no way she could sweat in this environment.

“Get out.”

I stood back as Rachel stiffly got up with water flowing off her. She half-stumbled, half-stepped from the tub, and then she stood covered in tiny droplets of water, shivering before me.

“Sit on the floor.”

She complied without any objection, slipping a little in the water that pooled around her.

“What am I going to do with a dripping wet woman?” I asked out loud, and then I thought about something I’d seen in one of my porno mags a while ago. I reached over to the rolls of white toilet paper that were neatly stacked on a metal rod by the wall. I tore off a sheet, placing it over Rachel’s left breast. Another sheet covered her right; the paper crinkled and grew transparent as soon as it came in contact with her wet flesh.

“Open your legs.”

I draped several sheets over her pussy, watching in wonder as the paper moulded to her.

“Don’t move.”

I got up, went to Tally’s bedroom. I fetched her hair-dryer. I plugged the implement into an electrical socket in the hallway outside the bathroom; the flex was just long enough to reach my agent on the bathroom floor. Rachel jumped slightly when I switched on the noisy dryer. I ran the nozzle over her breasts, making the sodden paper flutter slightly in the moving air. I kept the dryer on her, concentrating over each nipple in turn, leaving it on for just a little longer than was necessary. She began to pant and wriggle as the heat built up. I smelt her then; her natural sweet scent that mere water could not wash away.

“I told you. No moving.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied. Hearing her call me that made me feel really old and stuffy, but I’d let it go for now. I aimed the nozzle to her pussy; I spied the trickle of water that escaped her. The clear fluid joined the pool between her thighs. I waved the nozzle of the hair dryer over her crotch. The paper began to curl and shimmer; it almost looked like another layer of skin had grown over her. I switched the dryer to maximum, held it over her pussy until she started moaning and panting. I held it on her for a little while longer. She bit her lip, arched against the side of the bath.

“You think about how hot you get, when you are so horny, so full of lust and want, that you can’t keep it to yourself. Think about what it’s like to have that passion in you, and then be told that you’re a come-sucking whore for wanting to be with others, to share your body with others.”

Rachel looked at me. Her eyes were full of tears. I switched off the dryer.

“Clean yourself up.” I went to the bedroom, feeling thoroughly exhausted.

I didn’t know when I’d fallen asleep, but I awoke with a start. Rachel was curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed; little bits of tissue paper were still stuck to her, so there was no way I was letting her get into Tally’s bed. My replacement mobile phone vibrated on the table next to me, waking me as it shook noisily on the wooden surface. There was a message from Tally. Grace would be popping over to collect Tally’s laptop.

I nudged Rachel awake with the tip of my foot. “Get dressed. Company’s coming.”

Rachel looked at me a little shyly before saying, “I’ve done some thinking.” I nodded as she continued, “I never saw it your way before. I realize now that I was being disrespectful.” I didn’t believe her change of heart for a moment, but I hoped that maybe she would consider a different point of view in future.

I heard a knock on the front door. Grace had been quick, or maybe Tally had sent the message after her friend had left?

“Stay here,” I motioned to the bed. “I’ll just give Grace what she needs, and send her on her way.”

I opened the front door, but no one was there. I checked the passageway; it must have been some kids playing their silly games. I went back inside, coming face to face with Grace, smiling politely next to the coat rack. I wondered how she had got in, but as I stepped over the threshold, and back into the apartment, her smile disappeared.

“I’ve come for the Agent,” she said simply. I gawped at her before I realized who she was. She must have seen the realization on my face, because she sneered at me. “Agents, retrievers, sisters, and seekers.”

I managed to get all of two steps away from her when I felt a burst of pain in my back, accompanied by a sharp crackle. I fell to the floor disorientated, reeling with sensation. Grace held up a little black object in her hand. I tried to speak, but my mouth wasn’t working properly. My arms flailed about, weak and uncooperative. I was able to keep my eyes open long enough to see Rachel come out of the bedroom, only to get zapped by Grace’s stun gun too.