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Discussions - Chapter 1
By Kudara
Disclaimer: All
the characters appearing in Gargoyles are copyright Buena Vista
Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these
copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction
work. All original characters are the property of the author.
Warning: none
Notes: Dominique
Destine’s home, and the character’s
Candice and Gregory are from ‘The Gargoyles Saga’ world and
adapted for use in this story.
Rating: Mature (barely)
Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep
writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike
about the story.
Revision History: 05/06/08
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December 5th, 1997
“Do you find it odd that we’re flying into
the same airport that the kidnappers flew us out from?” Kendra
asked with a wry smile as the plane landed. It bounced only
slightly before settling firmly on the runway and then began
taxing toward the terminal.
Dominique chuckled, “It is odd,” she
agreed, “but I doubt this size plane could get permission to
land at JFK or LaGuardia. This is probably the closest regional
airport to Manhattan that it can land at,” she looked up toward
the closed door of the cockpit, “and probably the reason your
cousin and his Quarrymen had to fly out from it.”
“True,” agreed Kendra, she peered out the
small window toward the terminal building, “it’s going to be a
long taxi ride from here,” she observed.
“Gregory will be waiting for us with the
limo,” Dominique said, she frowned searching her memory. “I’m
sorry; I guess I forgot to mention that.”
“You have a limo?” Kendra asked in
surprise, turning away from the window.
The redhead flushed, “I don’t know how to
drive,” she admitted. She glanced once again at the cockpit
door, “I never had time in Paris, and then it would have been
too suspicious for Dominique Destine to take driving lessons,”
she shrugged, “so I have a limo and a driver.”
Kendra stared at her, surprised; she hadn’t
considered that the redhead didn’t know how to drive. “We’ll
have to do something about that, you should know at least the
basics,” she sounded slightly scolding.
Dominique arched an eyebrow, “Are you
offering to teach me?” she inquired.
The black-haired woman’s lips curved in a
crooked smile, “I guess I am.”
The plane came to a stop next to the
terminal and a minute later the cockpit door opened and the
pilot stepped out. “Ladies,” he said, “they’ll have the steps
here shortly and then I’ll get your bags for you.”
Fifteen minutes later, they had cleared a
cursory customs check of their bags, and were walking toward the
black limousine that was waiting by the terminal entrance. The
driver door opened and a young man in a dark suit and cap
practically leapt out of the driver’s seat. “Ms. Destine,” he
exclaimed as he hurried up to them, “Ms. Canmore,” he added
belatedly.
“Gregory,” Dominique acknowledged him; she
looked out over the familiar cityscape and drew in a breath.
Her nose wrinkled as it was immediately assaulted with the odors
of asphalt, car exhaust and other assorted odors better left
unnamed. They paused by the trunk of the limousine.
Beside her, Kendra chuckled, “Missing the
snow, pine, and fresh air already?”
Gregory opened the trunk and took their
bags from them, stowing them in the netting on either side.
The redhead returned her smile wryly, “but
not the cold and I’m not really missing the snow. I’ll deal
with the smells to get to my bath and my bed. Besides, it
doesn’t smell like this where my house is located.”
Kendra noticed that the driver, who was now
holding open the wide passenger door for them, was looking
somewhat startled by the conversation. Recalling how Dominique
had acted before the kidnapping, she could make some guesses as
to why. They slipped into the limo, sitting opposite one
another on the black leather bench seats and Gregory closed the
door as soon as he saw they were settled. Kendra looked around
the interior curiously, she had ridden in limos before,
unfortunately, the two prior times were her father’s and then
her mother’s funerals. The control console in the ceiling
looked intimidating, though she could easily recognize sound and
climate controls.
“Where to Ms. Destine?” Gregory asked over
the intercom.
Dominique looked inquiringly at Kendra,
“we’re stopping by your apartment first right?”
The black haired woman nodded and rattled
off the East 57th Street address, and the limo
started moving. She looked out the tinted window watching the
street and building slip past, with a frown she switched seats,
sliding into the one by Dominique. Now everything was moving in
the right direction, she thought, as she stared forward out the
window in the direction the vehicle was moving.
“Kendra,” Dominique’s worried tone had her
switching her attention instantly from the window to the redhead
beside her, “what’s wrong? You’ve seemed…” she hesitated
obviously searching for the right word, “restless and upset ever
since we got in the limo.”
Kendra sighed, “Sorry,” she hesitated, and
then looked into the concerned green eyes, “I just haven’t rode
in one of these too many times.” She indicated the seat where
she had been sitting, “going backwards felt weird.”
Dominique smirked, “I don’t like those
seats either for the very same reason.” She examined the
pensive looking face of her lover; it seemed as if it were more
than just that bothering Kendra. “When was the last time you
were in a limo?”
“My mother’s funeral,” Kendra responded
quietly, “and before that my father’s.”
The redhead’s green eyes widened slightly,
she reached over and placed a comforting hand on a strong
thigh. After a second, Kendra’s hand covered hers and their
finger’s entwined.
Kendra offered her a soft smile, “I’m sure
that after a few more times it won’t remind me of that at all.”
Her sapphire blue eyes dropped to their hands, and her smile
shaded more toward mischievousness, “though if we don’t want
your driver to figure out certain things we need to be
careful.” She looked curiously toward the smoked glass
partition.
“He can’t see back here unless he lowers
the partition,” Dominique reassured her. She pointed at a dark
LED on the console above them, “And that lights up whenever he
activates the intercom.”
Kendra’s blue eyes took on a predatory
gleam, “so he can’t see or hear us,” she said.
Dominique looked into her lover’s darkened
eyes, her breath caught in her throat and a rush of desire went
through her body. When the intent blue gaze lowered for a long
moment before returning to her own, she knew that Kendra had
noticed her reaction. Oh this was not good, Dominique thought,
she had to get control of herself before Monday if all Kendra
had to do was glance at her and all she could think of was what
her lover’s mouth and hands could make her feel. Even with
those cautionary thoughts running through her mind, the redhead
didn’t move as Kendra slid across the seat towards her. Their
lips met, Dominique closed her eyes and surrendered to the kiss,
tilting her head to the side and lifting one hand to slide it
through the thick black hair and cup Kendra’s head as their lips
pressed and moved against each other hungrily. She moaned
breathily when she felt the tip of Kendra’s tongue slide along
her lips and then it was warm within her mouth, and the cushions
of the seatback were cool against her shoulders as Kendra’s warm
body pressed her against them.
She sighed in disappointment when Kendra
pulled away a few minutes later, “Traffics getting heavier and I
don’t think these side windows are one way,” the black haired
woman explained, her voice both uneven and regretful.
Dominique looked out the window, Kendra was
right traffic was picking up. She took a deep breath, willing
herself to calm, “How long do you think you need at your
apartment?” she asked trying to keep her mind from dwelling on
thoughts of what might happen once they were safely inside her
home.
Kendra frowned, “I’m not sure,” she
replied, “I realized last night that I hadn’t made any phone
calls of my own and there’s a few of my father’s old friends
that I really should call and let know that I’m alright. I’m
sure they will have heard already, but they would be hurt if I
didn’t give them a call myself.” She gave the redhead a
regretful and slightly embarrassed look, “I can make those calls
short so long as I promise to call them back over the weekend,
but that will still probably take me close to an hour.”
Dominique didn’t understand why Kendra felt
she had to call these people today, “they can’t wait until
tomorrow?”
Kendra shook her head, “There are a few of
them that I need to call today, I should have called them
yesterday actually, but I didn’t think of it.” Kendra could see
from the frown on the redhead’s face that Dominique was going to
try and persuade her to wait another day. Before the redhead
could marshal her arguments, Kendra continued, “I was only
sixteen when father died in the car accident, for the first week
or so they didn’t know whether or not my mother was going to
live. I was trying to keep up with school, visit my mother in
the ICU and the county morgue was asking me where to send my
father’s body for embalming services. I don’t know what I would
have done if Richard Murton and William Kensley, my father’s
best friends, hadn’t stepped in and helped me make the funeral
arrangements as well as taking me to see my mother every day.”
It was all Dominique could do not to snarl
out the word ‘humans’ in disgust at the idea of pestering a
child about what to do with the body of one parent when the
other was still gravely wounded. “I’m glad they were there for
you,” she said trying to get her anger under control.
Kendra’s eyebrow rose slightly at the
redhead’s growling tone, she reached over and squeezed the
slender hand on the seat between them. “So you see why I should
call them today instead of waiting until tomorrow.”
Dominique nodded, she did see, she didn’t
like it, but she did understand now.
“So I was thinking that you could drop me
off and I’ll drive over to your place once I’m done, that way I
can drive us if we want to go out somewhere over the weekend
without you having to call up Gregory,” Kendra said.
Go out somewhere, Dominique considered the
words, she hadn’t thought about going somewhere this weekend,
but it might be nice to go out for lunch or dinner. And Kendra
was right; it would be a good idea not to have Gregory driving
them everywhere, both to keep him from noticing and because the
limo made them too noticeable. Neither of them had stated it,
but considering how Kendra had initially acted around Rachael
and how they were both acting now, Dominique thought she was
right in thinking that Kendra wasn’t any more anxious than she
was to advertise their new relationship. “I hadn’t thought
about going out, did you have something in mind?”
Kendra’s blue eyes sparkled, “I thought
going out to One if by Land, Two if by Sea might be nice. We
completely skipped going out to dinner and a play or movie as a
part of getting acquainted with each other, but there’s no
reason we can’t do them now,” she commented with a grin.
“Tonight?” Dominique asked, she didn’t
really want to go out tonight, and wasn’t certain if they could
even get reservations for tonight, but if Kendra wanted to she
would try.
The black-haired woman shook her head, “No,
I was thinking tomorrow or Sunday. I’ll call and see which
night I can get reservations for,” she glanced at the redhead,
noting the slight frown, “or you can do it,” she shrugged, it
didn’t really matter to her who did, “while I’m making my calls
and picking up something for us.”
Dominique glanced at her curiously,
“Picking up something? Dinner?”
Kendra looked thoughtful, “No, but that’s
not a bad idea. My cleaning service at the apartment will have
taken out anything that spoiled while we were in Canada, but I
don’t know if you have someone come in and clean your house?”
The redhead made a face, she hadn’t thought
about the state of her refrigerator, “I have a cleaning service
that comes in once a week, but they can’t get into the house
unless I’m there to let them in so they won’t have cleaned.
I’ll have to clean out the refrigerator when I get home.”
Dominique frowned, not happy at all about having to do it, but
it wasn’t something she could avoid. She sighed in resignation,
“I guess I’ll have to stop by the grocery store too and pick a
few things up on my way home too.”
Kendra looked out the window, they were
getting close to her condominium building, “I have a few items
to pick up as well, so it will probably be a few hours before I
head over. I have a phone in the car, so I’ll give you a call
when I’m done and headed that way.” She grinned, “Which brings
me to the directions part of this, I don’t have a clue where you
live.”
“Forest Hills Gardens on Long Island,”
Dominique proceeded to give her directions from the Queens
Midtown Tunnel to her home. The limo pulled to a stop in front
of the very distinctively angled entrance of the Galleria, the
redhead stared in surprise at it for a moment before realizing
that the street address Kendra gave must be this building.
“Your condo is in the Galleria?” she inquired, wanting to make
sure.
“47rd floor,” Kendra responded
as the driver opened her door. She glanced over at the redhead,
“did you want to go up with me and see it? It’s not big, the
tour won’t take long,” she grinned.
Dominique nodded, not waiting for Gregory
to come around to her side of the limo she opened the door and
stepped out looking up at the odd architecture of the
skyscraper.
“The top is just odd, but the condos are
nice, plus they have full housekeeping services,” Kendra
commented coming up beside her and following her gaze upward.
“My dad bought the condo in 1976, shortly after the building was
finished.”
Dominique instructed Gregory to wait for
them in the limo and the two women entered the building. The
redhead had never been inside the building before; she looked
around curiously at the tall ceiling with the angled sunlights.
They went up a small set of stairs to the right of the entrance
into another lobby; along one side was a bank of elevators with
an elderly doorman sitting on a padded stool in front of them.
He rose from the stool as they entered, and his dark eyes
widened in recognition, “Miss Canmore!” he exclaimed
“Robert,” Kendra replied warmly, “how are
you doing this afternoon?”
“I’m doing well Miss Canmore,” he walked
stiffly over to the elevators and with his key summoned one for
them. “I was worried about you when the police said you had
been kidnapped,” he said turning back around to look at them.
Kendra chuckled, “I was worried about me a
few times too, but everything worked out well and here I am
again none the worse for wear.” One of the elevator doors
opened, and they stepped inside. Kendra pushed the button for
the 47rd floor.
Robert replied, “I’m glad to hear that Miss
Canmore, you take care now.”
“I will Robert,” Kendra replied as the
doors closed.
“He seems to know you well,” Dominique
commented slight surprised at the old humans familiarity.
“Robert’s been one of the doormen here for
as long as I can remember, I think he started working here when
they first opened up the building,” Kendra said. “We pretty
much lived here during the summers when I was growing up, so
he’s known me for just over twenty years now. I loved spending
summer in the city, there was always something to do or see that
was interesting: concerts in the park, visit one of the museums,
or go to a play or the theater.”
Dominique gazed at her lover, seeing the
faraway look in her blue eyes. She wondered what Kendra had
looked like as a child, unfortunately she had never paid much
attention to how humans aged as they grew from a child to an
adult so the task was not easy for her. The most she could
guess was that Kendra must have been as striking a child as she
was an adult with her dark hair, skin tone and unusually
brilliant blue eyes. Thinking of Kendra as a child made the
redhead realize that she knew very little about Kendra’s past,
they had spent most of their time discussing hers.
The elevator arrived at the 47th
floor and the doors opened, they stepped out into a foyer with
four doors, Kendra walked up to one of them an opened it with
her key. They stepped inside, the first thing Dominique noticed
were the windows, the entire wall was windowed and through it
she could see buildings and Central Park, they were obviously on
the north side of the building she realized. Double doors
opened onto a small recessed balcony with tall black railings.
They were several blocks away from the park, but from this high
up there were only a few buildings tall enough to obstruct the
view.
“I think the view and price was what sold
my father on this place,” said Kendra, “when he bought it the
building owners were almost into bankruptcy. They had
originally designed it for office space and when that didn’t
sell well they converted it to condos, he got a good deal on the
price considering the building’s location and how high up we
are.”
“It is a very nice view,” Dominique agreed,
she looked around the large room; it was immediately obvious it
was a combined living room and dining area. To the left were
two comfortable looking dark grey leather couches arranged in a
half square with one against the windows and the other
vertically dividing off the room. Black iron tables with smoked
glass inserts rested to the side of both couches and another
longer coffee table in the same style rested in the center of
the square formed by the couches. An answering machine with its
red light blinking rested upon the center coffee table. The
right side of the room contained a smoked glass dining table
with modern looking chairs with black seat cushions. The
furniture would have looked too dark if not for the white walls
and windows, and the blue carpet on the floor. As it was, the
three colors together contrasted pleasantly with one another
giving the room a strong, distinctive look.
“That was my room when my parents were
alive,” Kendra indicated a doorway on the northwest side of the
room through which Dominique could see a small room with a
weight bench and treadmill, “I converted it to an exercise room
a few years ago.”
Kendra turned toward the right, “Office,
bathroom, and kitchen are on this side.” She turned back to her
left, “Beside the exercise room is the main bathroom, and the
master bedroom.” Dominique followed behind Kendra as they went
down the short hallway leading past a large bathroom; the
redhead peaked in noting the marble floor, white wood wainscot
and blue wallpaper and what looked like a whirlpool tub. They
entered the master bedroom; Kendra sat the duffle bag down on
the bed and walked over to the west wall windows to open the
blinds over them. The afternoon light shone in, lighting up the
room. Cherry wood, blue and cream were the colors in this room,
cherry wood furniture and wainscot, dark blue textured wallpaper
and thick cream-colored cut pile carpet.
“Very nice condo,” Dominique said, “did you
redecorate?”
Kendra cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her,
“I had an interior decorator come in two years ago and remodel
the entire condo. I like darker colors than my mother did, and
I’m not as fond of reds and pinks as she was.”
Dominique’s lips curved upward, she glanced
at the stucco textured deep blue wallpaper above the cherry
panel wainscot, “Let me guess…you like blues,” she said thinking
of the blue carpet in the main room and the blue wallpaper in
the bathroom.
The black haired woman chuckled, “there is
a lot of blue isn’t there.”
The redhead glanced over at the inviting
looking bed; it was tempting, especially when she thought of the
state of her refrigerator. She frowned, that reminded her that
she needed to call the cleaning service and see if they could
come and clean either this or next weekend.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra asked.
Dominique glanced over at her, “Just
thinking about when to schedule my cleaning service,” she
explained, “I guess I’ll see what state the house is in before I
decide because I really don’t want to have them over this
weekend.”
Kendra made a noncommittal noise, “It
probably won’t be that bad,” she said optimistically, “after all
it’s only been twelve days and no one’s been bringing dirt into
the house.” She unzipped the duffle bag and began pulling out
clothes, “are we going out to more than one formal dinner?” she
asked glancing from her task to the redhead standing just in the
doorway, “I need to know how many suits to bring.”
Dominique smiled remembering the silk
blouse and black leather pants Kendra had worn to their first
meeting. She took a step back and leaned against the doorway,
“No more than two, I don’t believe I’ll feel like going out more
than twice. I don’t usually like being around…people,” she
quickly substituted in another word for the one she would have
normally used, “and after the last twelve days I suspect it will
take awhile to get used to it again.”
“Crowds don’t usually bother me,” Kendra
replied, choosing not to comment on her lover’s hesitation, “but
I know some people just don’t like them. She carried the clean
clothes with her into the walk in closet to put away. “Did we
ever decide what we’re doing for dinner tonight?” she asked as
she hung a sweater up.
“No,” replied Dominique, walking over to
the closet door. It was a sizable walk in closet, she noted,
and the lower portion of one side had drawers. “Do you have a
preference?”
“I’ve been wanting Italian,” confessed
Kendra, “Lasagna with some salad and a nice Chianti Classico to
go with dinner.”
Dominique chuckled at the rather specific
answer, “I assume you have a place you want to pick it up from?”
“Gradisca,” Kendra immediately responded,
“their lasagna is some of the best I’ve tasted, I’ll order it
just before I head out for your place. I can get a bottle of
wine there as well they have a nice Riserva Cru that’s a nice
hearty sangoviese and cabernet blend.”
Fifteen minutes and one long kiss later
Dominique slipped back into her limo as Gregory shut the door.
She waited until she heard the sound of the driver door shutting
before using the intercom to let him know she needed to stop by
the grocery store. The redhead glanced up at the building once
more before the limo pulled into traffic; it seemed strangely
fateful that Kendra’s apartment happened to be one of the few in
this area that actually had a balcony. Granted it was a small
one, but a gargoyle could land there if they were careful.
Forest Hills Gardens Long Island
Three hours later, Kendra was turning onto
Queens Blvd from the Long Island Expressway, dinner was sitting
in the seat next to her filling the car with wonderful aromas
and everything else was in the trunk. She had heard of the
prestigious Forest Hills Gardens area but had never driven this
way before, from what she recalled the entire area had been
built in the Tudor style. She turned right onto Ascan Ave. and
drove under the railway, no sooner had she emerged from
underneath the trestle than she was abruptly in a completely
different neighborhood. Tall trees bordered and hung over the
two-lane street, large houses some in red brick, some in the
characteristic cream colored stucco with exposed dark beams
appeared at intervals, each with its carefully landscaped yard.
Kendra whistled underneath her breath, this place was impressive
and very European in feel, no wonder Demona chose to live here.
As she wound her way through the neighborhood streets, toward
the address Dominique gave her she slowed her car, taking time
to admire the architecture of the houses.
Finally, she turned onto Dominique’s
street, she was looking for a large garage and a tall stone
fence around the property. Kendra slowed to a stop in front of
the address, staring at what she could see of the two-story
house set well back from the street. Between the tall stone
fence and the bare branched trees in the front yard it was
difficult to see very much of the house from the street, and
Kendra could imagine that during the warmer months they hid it
almost completely. The house, or at least the second story of
the house which was all she could see from the street, was
architecturally interesting. Stucco and horizontal and vertical
dark beams covered the left side of house; rough cream and
brownish stone covered the right hand side of the house. The
right side of the house also had a half-octagonal design element
giving it almost a turret like appearance.
Kendra stared at the garage, Dominique had
described it as large; it was large enough to fit two limos side
by side. One of the garage doors opened as she was staring at
it, Dominique stood inside with her hands on her hips, her
attitude showing her impatience. Kendra could guess that the
redhead was wondering why she had stopped in front of the house
and just stared at it instead of driving up into the driveway.
Turning the wheel sharply she turned into the driveway and drove
into the garage. She turned off the ignition and opened the
door. Sliding out of the car, she turned around and smirked at
the redhead, “We need to discuss the difference between the
words large and huge,” she said. To make her point she glanced
around at the cavernous interior of the garage, four jaguars
would fit inside it if they pulled up close to the wall and each
other.
Dominique laughed, “Is that why you just
stopped in front of the house,” she remarked. “I thought maybe
you hadn’t written down the exact address and weren’t certain
you had the right place so I came out to get you.” She walked
over to the car, looked inside, “this is a jaguar isn’t it?”
Kendra smirked, “Jaguar XKR Convertible,”
she confirmed.
Dominique looked across the top of the
vehicle at her, there was a smirk on her lips and one eyebrow
was arched, “a black jaguar,” the redhead stated, amusement
clear in her tone.
The black-haired woman shrugged eloquently,
“could I possibly drive anything else?”
The redhead chuckled and shook her head she
opened the passenger door. “This is dinner?” she asked,
inhaling the aromas drifting from the bag in the passenger seat
of the car, tomatoes, oregano, basil, olive oil and alongside
those scents a whiff of chocolate. Her stomach growled at her,
they had lunch with Rachael before flying out of Alma, but
nothing since then and she was hungry.
“Yep,” said Kendra going around to the
trunk of her car, “Flatbread, salad, lasagna, the wine I
mentioned and chocolate soufflé for desert.” She pulled out the
overnight and garment bags she had packed and two shopping
bags. Dominique picked up the bag containing their dinner, shut
the car door, and opened the door leading into the house.
Kendra followed her in, they were in the kitchen, to the right
was a table onto which Dominique was unpacking the restaurant
bag. She sat down her bags upon the floor and moved over to
help her. “When did you want to eat?” she glanced at the clock
on the microwave, it was four forty-three.
“As soon as we take your bags up to my
room?” Dominique responded.
Kendra nodded, “Sounds good to me, lunch
was early.”
Dominique picked up the two shopping bags,
one of which was much larger and heavier than the other.
Kendra glanced at the bags in the redhead’s
hands, “Oh, wait there’s something in that one that needs to be
washed before we can use it,” she indicated the larger bag.
Dominique opened the bag, curious; two
packages that looked like blankets drew her eye, as they were
the largest. In the bottom of the bag, she could see different
sized bottles and one long box. Kendra reached into the bag and
drew out the two packages. The redhead stared at them
uncertainly, whatever was inside was black, “Sensual throes?”
she asked hesitantly after a second.
“Yep,” Kendra confirmed, opening one of the
bags, “they have a vinyl middle, and should work well at
protecting your bed from the massage oil.”
The redhead flushed, suddenly feeling
slightly warmer as she remembered Kendra’s promise that she
would give her a proper massage with massage oil. She looked in
the bag, now that the two packages were gone she could see the
labels of the bottles in the bottom, one was sweet almond
massage oil and the other was labeled personal lubricant. She
drew in a breath, remembering, the tent, the relatively warm
night, the globe shining a reddish light over everything,
Kendra’s hands massaging, stroking, and then later her hand
inside her, slowly twisting.
“I got black just to be safe, since I
didn’t know what colors you had in your bedroom,” Kendra said
pulling the throe out of its bag. “It has a velvet side and a
satin side, I don’t know which will feel more comfortable,” she
ran her hand over the muted black material of the velvet, “this
is softer than I thought it would be,” she commented holding it
out to Dominique.
Dominique ran her hand over the velvet side
of the black throe, “It is soft,” she agreed, “the utility room
is right behind us, we can go ahead and put them both in to wash
now.” She sat the shopping bags back down upon the floor and
helped Kendra unpack the two black throes.
“Nice washer and dryer, do they work as
well as advertised?” Kendra asked, watching as the redhead stuff
the two throes into her front loading washer.
“I’ve been pleased with them,” Dominique
responded, adding liquid detergent and starting the washer.
The two of them returned to the kitchen,
Kendra picked up the smaller shopping bag and handed it to
Dominique, “while was out shopping I stopped by the Oscar Wilde
Bookshop and realized you probably didn’t have some basic
essentials.” The black haired woman shrugged; “I don’t know if
you’ll even like them…” she trailed off uncertainly, watching as
Dominique pulled out the three books and two music CD’s. It had
seemed like a funny idea at the time, but now she wasn’t certain
that the gargoyle would understand the significance of the books
or more to the point, she realized belatedly that she had no
idea how Demona thought of herself right now. If the gargoyle
was uneasy with identifying herself as bisexual, the gifts might
go over rather badly instead of amusing and interesting as
intended.
Dominique stared at the three books and two
CD’s in puzzlement; she flipped over the back of the smallest
book, ‘Curious Wine,’ and read the summary on the back. Her
confusion cleared as she realized the book was a lesbian romance
novel. “You’ve read these?” she asked, looking up from the book
to Kendra. She raised an eyebrow at the obvious relieved look
on her lover’s face.
“Yes I have, their all three are good
books. The CD’s,” Kendra shrugged, “I don’t know if you will
like them or not, Melissa Etheridge is a rock singer and k.d.
lang is a country music singer.”
The redhead glanced briefly at the two CD’s
still in the bag, returning her gaze to Kendra she asked, “Were
you worried that I wouldn’t like them?”
“Actually, it crossed my mind once I gave
them to you that perhaps they wouldn’t go over well. We haven’t
really discussed…,” Kendra hesitated searching for the right
words, “our relationship and the outside world. I don’t know
how closeted you want to be or even if you want to be closeted.”
It took Dominique a few seconds to remember
that closeted was used to mean secretive in this context, she
hadn’t heard it used that way very often and certainly never
before in reference to her own life. She put the books down on
the kitchen counter and placed the bag beside them, “Let’s take
your bags up to my room and we’ll discuss it over dinner.”
As they walked down the hallway Kendra
looked down curiously at the stone tiles, “Is this marble?” she
inquired. It looked like marble, but she had never seen any in
this creamy terracotta tone before, or if she had, she hadn’t
paid enough attention to it to realize it was marble and not
some type of sandstone. It went rather well with the antique
looking hardwood raised panel wainscot and dark red painted
walls. The hallway opened into a large foyer that ran the
entire width of the house; there was a stairway up to the second
floor here.
“Egyptian Marble,” Dominique answered as
they started up the stairs, “the owner before me had tile put
down over the original hardwood floors. The glue completely
ruined them, so I had the marble put down. I liked how it
looked with the walls which the real estate agent claimed were
original,” her tone indicated that she didn’t know whether that
claim was true or not.
Kendra nodded, “From their looks I would be
inclined to believe her, they look like maple.” They stepped
out onto the second floor foyer, she hesitated looking down at
the wood floor, “Please tell me this isn’t the hardwood he tiled
over.”
Dominique paused, looked back at her, “No
the second floor was done in pine, I had the mahogany put in
when I bought the house. How do you know so much about wood
floors and paneling?”
“When we remodeled the estate house mother
dragged me with her, it was a long time ago, but I still
remember the discussions she had with the remodelers over the
different types of wood and why she wanted sugar maple flooring
for the hallway and entry area instead of oak. I remember she
considered mahogany because of its hardness and wear ability,
but it was darker than what she wanted.”
Dominique turned walked back alongside the
stairwell railing and to the first door on the left, which was
open, “We should hang your suits up to make sure they don’t
wrinkle.” Kendra followed her into the room; she noticed the
fireplace on her right as she entered the room first and then
the large canopy bed with cream-colored curtains and red
comforter at the far end of the room second. Dominique walked
over to the right most door of two on the opposite wall and
opened it, “this is my walk in closet,” she said with a smirk.
Kendra raised an eyebrow at the tone, she
walked over and looked in, it was more than twice the size of
her closet at the condo and only half of the space was filled
with clothing. She unhooked the folded garment bag, unfolded it
and hung it up on the empty side; she then dropped the overnight
bag under it. Kendra eyed the garment bag critically; she
opened it and pulled out the four hangers, two suits and two
dress shirts. She placed the hangers on the empty side leaving
about a foot of spaced between each of them. Throughout all
this, the redhead watched her curiously, leaning casually
against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.
“There,” Kendra announced, “now it doesn’t look so empty.”
Dominique shook her head and chuckled,
“Let’s go eat before everything gets cold,” she said
straightening up from where she had been leaning. She walked
over to a table and put the shopping bag with the oils and other
items upon it. Turning she glanced at the fireplace
thoughtfully, “I think I’ll order some wood, it might be nice to
light a fire one night.”
The black haired woman walked over and
knelt by the fireplace looking into it, “Did you have the
chimney swept this fall?” she asked.
“No,” replied Dominique walking over to
stand next to her.
“You should before we start up a fire,” the
black haired woman advised, “nothing like discovering a bird has
nested in it or a squirrel and it either won’t draw or the nest
catches fire.”
“That sounds like the voice of experience,”
Dominique commented, her lips curving in a smile as she observed
her lover.
Kendra looked up at her, her blue eyes
dancing with laughter, “Oh it is.” She rose, they walked out of
the room and down the stairs as Kendra related how she had
learned about the necessity of having chimneys swept out every
year in the late fall well after any birds or squirrels might
feel the need to build something.
4:30 pm Wyvern Castle atop the Eyrie
Building Upper Manhattan
The first thing that Angela noticed when
she woke was that Elisa was waiting for them just as she had the
night before when she informed them Demona had been found along
with Kendra Canmore. Angela was certain that she had been the
only one not surprised by the news that Kendra Canmore was still
alive.
“Elisa,” Goliath rumbled, jumping down from
his perch and striding over to her, “you have more news of
Demona?”
“She and Kendra Canmore flew back into town
earlier today, and Matt managed to get a copy of the Canadian
police report,” the detective reported. The clan looked at her
expectantly, “They claim never to have seen the faces of any of
their kidnappers, someone came in and fed them but he had a mask
on and refused to talk to them. They were tranquilized before
the plane transfer in Alma Quebec and didn’t wake until after
the crash.”
“But you don’t believe that,” Broadway
said, picking up on her phrasing.
Elisa glanced over at him, “If this were a
normal kidnapping then it would make sense, the kidnappers
wouldn’t want to be identified after their demands were met and
they freed their prisoners. However, Matt and I are certain
that the kidnappers were Quarrymen lead by Jon Canmore; it
doesn’t make sense that he would have hidden his identity from
Kendra and Demona. He would have come into talk to Kendra,
either to rant about her being with Demona or giving her a
chance to join him. And he would have wanted to rant at Demona
and taunt her about whatever he had planned for her.”
“Well it does make sense that Demona
wouldn’t want anyone to know the Quarrymen were involved,”
Lexington commented, “after all Jon Canmore might tell them that
Dominique Destine turns into a gargoyle at night.”
The detective nodded at the small green
male, “That’s exactly what Matt and I believe, that Kendra and
Demona know exactly who kidnapped them and their keeping it from
the police to protect Demona’s secret.”
“She may choose to directly attack the
Quarrymen or Jon Canmore directly,” Goliath said thoughtfully,
“now that they have moved directly against her.”
Elisa nodded, “That occurred to us as
well.” She grimaced, “It couldn’t be worse timing, we’ve
uncovered enough information about the Quarrymen for it to be
time for me to go undercover and see what I can find out from
the inside. The last thing we need is for her to go on one of
her rampages and disrupt the investigation, plus the taskforce
is watching the Quarrymen pretty closely if she attacks them…”
her voice trailed off.
“One of them will see her and all the
effort we’ve done to prove that we are the good guys and not
monsters like they say we are will go down the drain,” Brooklyn
said gloomily.
Goliath’s eyes flared white; he made a
frustrated sound and stalked off toward the other side of the
battlements away from everyone. Elisa stared after him for a
moment before she turned to Brooklyn, “why don’t you guys go
ahead and have breakfast,” she suggested quietly.
Brooklyn glanced at Goliath, taking in the
way his leader was standing, the clan leader was clearly angry.
He looked back at Elisa, “That sounds like a good idea,” he
agreed. “Hey Broadway what’s for breakfast tonight?”
Elisa waited until they had all left before
going over to stand beside the large lavender male, “What’s
bothering you?” she asked, “besides the obvious,” she added
dryly.
The big male sighed, “Once again Demona’s
desire for revenge threatens to harm the clan.”
The dark haired woman echoed his sigh, it
was the obvious, “Matt and I are planning on going and visiting
Nightstone Monday morning to try and get some more information
from Demona. There’s at least a chance that she’ll say
something to us that she wouldn’t say to the Canadians.”
As she had expected Goliath wasn’t exactly
pleased to hear this. As she listened to his usual arguments
about how she shouldn’t have anything to do with his ex-mate,
Elisa wished that she knew what schemes Demona was plotting.
She was certain the gargoyle would retaliate against the
Quarrymen in some way, and Demona was probably brooding about
what she was going to do to Jon Canmore right at this very
moment.
5:55 pm Destine Manor – Forest Hills
Gardens Long Island
Kendra regarded the redhead across from her
fondly; she found it rather endearing that Dominique had
insisted that they use the formal dining room next to the
kitchen to eat. The redhead had set the table with china,
silverware, crystal glasses and tall white tapers. The warmed
food was on their plates, the wine bottle open and decanted into
a clear crystal container and Dominique was lighting the tapers
after turning down the room lighting. It made for a very
romantic setting, which was not really something that Kendra had
associated with the gargoyle up until now. Given how gentle and
tender the gargoyle could be though, it probably should be a
surprise that she was romantic as well, the black-haired woman
reflected.
“So,” said the redhead as she poured the
wine into their glasses, “in reference to the outside world and
our relationship, what do you see as our options?”
“Well,” Kendra began hesitantly, “We can
try and hide the relationship. Unfortunately, I’m out so that
will automatically make the gossipers suspicious if we’re seen
together too much. We would have to limit the amount of times
we went out together in public, and it would probably be a good
idea to find you a beard.”
Dominique blinked; surely she hadn’t heard
that correctly. She stared a Kendra in puzzlement, a frown upon
her face. “Why exactly would I need to get a beard?” she asked
hesitantly, all sorts of very odd thoughts going through her
mind.
Catching sight of the look on the redhead’s
face, Kendra chuckled, “Oh, sorry, I meant we need to find you a
male escort to play the part of a boyfriend. A gay guy with the
same need would be perfect.”
The redhead’s confusion cleared, she could
see the sense in what Kendra was saying, and why a gay male
would make the perfect escort. There would be no concern about
him running to the gossip columnists and risk exposing himself,
and no concern that he would get ideas that he would become more
than just an escort. “Why is that called a beard?”
Kendra took a sip of her wine as she
thought, “You know, I don’t really know where the term came from
just that it’s the term gay’s use to describe that situation.”
Dominique nodded, “And the other option?”
Kendra shrugged, “We go out to dinner, or
wherever, and try not to be too obvious. Let the gossip’s
tongues wag and just ignore them. We neither confirm nor deny
anything. If your company was public I’d be worried about the
stock valuation slipping for a few months until people got used
to it, but since it’s not, the only potential problem you have
is whether or not you have some supplier or buyer who’s a raging
homophobic.”
Dominique took a bite of the lasagna, the
sauce was not the tomato rich one she had gotten used to, but
the more gentle melding of flavors characteristic of the best
Bolognese sauce. Her eyes half closed in pleasure, Kendra was
right this was quite good. She made a quiet sound of pleasure,
as soon as she swallowed she commented, “This is delicious where
did you pick it up from again?”
The redhead looked up inquiringly as Kendra
cleared her throat before responding, “Gradisca.”
“We will have to order from there again
some time,” Dominique commented. “As for the other, I prefer
the second option. It should also allow me the time to see if
I’m going to need to switch suppliers or have difficulty with my
buyers, though I don’t think I will, they don’t strike me as the
type to let something like my sexuality stop them from buying
Nightstone’s weapon and defense technology.”
Kendra nodded, she watched her lover take
another bite of lasagna. She had read about people being able
to eat in a sensual manner, but had always suspected it would
look rather affected and obvious. The way Dominique was eating
was definitely not an act nor was it obvious, it was more of a
combination of the very proper way she was cutting her food
before eating each single bite and the purely sensual pleasure
evident on her face as she savored that bite’s flavor. It was
the combination of elegance and enjoyment, Kendra decided that
was what made how Dominique was eating sensual.
Dominique glanced up from her meal to her
quiet companion, wondering why Kendra hadn’t commented on what
she had said yet. Strange, she thought, the look on the black
haired woman’s face reminded her of something. Macbeth she
realized, she had caught him looking at her like that sometimes
when they were out eating. “What is it?” she asked taking her
napkin and wiping her lips, wondering if she had accidentally
gotten some sauce on her face. No, the napkin was still clean
she noticed as she placed it back in her lap.
“Nothing,” Kendra responded lightly,
returning her attention to her food, “I was just thinking of
what you said.” She was hardly going to admit that she had been
enjoying watching her lover eat; besides, she didn’t want to
make Dominique self-conscious.
Green eyes narrowed slightly, Macbeth had
pretended not to have been watching her as well. She observed
the rather determined way Kendra was staring at her food; it was
fairly easy to guess that she would have as much luck getting
Kendra to confess why she had been watching her eat as she had
with trying to get Macbeth to admit it.
“Are you going to continue with the
weapon’s research?” Kendra asked searching for a distracting
topic, entirely aware of the redhead’s green eyes boring into
her.
Dominique’s eyebrow rose briefly, at least
it was a decent attempt at a distraction she decided,
recognizing the attempt for what it was, after all she employed
it herself quite frequently to divert humans away from questions
about herself. “I’ll have to for now,” she responded, “it’s the
source of almost half of Nightstone’s revenues, though I’d like
to get away from it I think, I suspect it doesn’t fit in well
with the inherent worth idea to be making weapons to kill humans
more efficiently,” she commented rather dryly.
Kendra snorted, “No probably not,” she
agreed. A thought came to her; it was one that had been in the
hovering in the back of her mind ever since they discussed the
power sources Nightstone had developed for its laser weapons.
She stared absently at the silver chafing dish on the table
behind Dominique’s right shoulder as she considered the idea.
“That power source you developed, would it be possible to
further develop that into a generic power source?”
Dominique, who had been almost ready to
look over her shoulder to see what Kendra was staring at so
fixedly, stared at her lover instead, she hadn’t been expecting
that question. “One of the scientists working on the project
mentioned that it might be possible, but I haven’t had the team
pursue that idea. What are you thinking about?”
“How much patenting the next generation of
battery technology might make Nightstone,” Kendra replied,
meeting the green eyed gaze. “Especially if their noticeably
better than lithium ion batteries and can be made for at or
nearly the same cost.”
The redhead tilted her head slightly to the
side as she considered Kendra’s idea, she hadn’t considered the
humans suggestion because it didn’t fit into her desire to
revenge herself upon his species. Now however, that wasn’t a
consideration since she had swore to the Ancient One that she
would no longer war on humanity as a whole. Batteries were
truly ubiquitous; almost every electronic device used batteries
of one type or another. “That could be very lucrative if it can
actually be done and done for a low enough cost,” the redhead
commented thoughtfully. “He did seem very excited about the
possibility, and disappointed that I wasn’t interested.”
Dominique smiled, “I think I’ll be paying Research and
Development a visit early in the week and letting them know I’ve
changed my mind.”
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