Chapter Text
That night in New York
CARMILLA AND LAURA MEET WHILST ON BUSINESS TRIPS IN NEW YORK AND HAVE A ONE NIGHT STAND. ONE YEAR LATER THEY MEET AGAIN, BUT NEITHER OF THEM COULD HAVE PREDICTED IT WOULD BE IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES.
PART ONE
It was a gorgeous summer’s evening, and 27 year old Laura Hollis would have loved to have been able to take a breath and soak up the ambience that such a place like New York provided. It was her third day in the city and she still hadn’t had time to get a feel for the place. It wasn’t a trip for pleasure, it was purely business, though, she had wished to at least see some of the beautiful sights. She was in her third day there, and was currently walking down 3rd Avenue on the phone with her witling boss.
“Perry I told already told you,” Laura said in slight frustration, “everything went fine. All the papers are signed and sealed, I just have some loose ends to tie up tomorrow and then it’s all done.” Laura listened into her mobile for a few moments before stopping outside what looked to be a trendy little bar. She peeked through the half shut blinds and saw the soft light emanating from within. “Perry, I’m about to get on the Subway, I’ll have to call you back,” she fibbed, before switching off her phone and putting it away in her bag. Laura thought the world of her boss Perry, but her employer could sure be a stress head at times. With that final thought, Laura entered and took a seat at the bar.
It didn’t take that long, not that it ever did, before a handsome man decided to try his luck. She had only just had her drink set down in front of her when she was approached by the tall dark stranger.
“Hey little hottie, I’ve not been able to take my eyes off you since you walked in,” he said in a smooth voice, as he leant against the bar. “May I buy you another one?”
Laura licked her lips, put her hands in her lap, and met the stranger’s eyes. “No, thank you,” she replied politely. “But please do feel free to go back over to where you came from, and continue to admire me from a far.”
The cheesy grin that had been on the man’s face disappeared instantly at her remark, and with a clearing of the throat, he scurried off in embarrassment. Laura didn’t wish to be cruel, but she always thought that the direct approach was always best, especially when getting hit on by people she had absolutely no interest in. She breathed out in relief that her admirer had took the hint and vanished, and reached onto the bar to take the drink that had been placed in front of her into her hand. She was about to take a sip when a soft chuckling from the side of her made her turn her head in curiosity. No more than a metre away from her, sat a very attractive dark haired woman, a very attractive woman that seemed to be laughing in her direction. The woman was too sat at the bar with a cocktail, whilst idly twiddling a toothpick around in her drink, an olive still attached to it. Laura looked at her questionably, which made the woman’s laughing subside some as she felt the blonde’s eyes on her.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said, still chucking a little, “It’s just that I’ve never seen anyone so adequately dismissed in such impeccable timing. That was sheer exquisite to watch, and funny I might add.”
Laura was about to smile at the comment, but was halted instantaneously when the woman finally turned her head, and her gaze landed on the woman before her. The blonde would swear that the imminent spark was visible. Laura never thought that she’d ever be rendered speechless simply by seeing someone for the first time, and she didn’t believe anyone had the ability to make you go weak at the knees for that matter. She of course understood the sentiments of such sayings; it was like when people said that they’d be happy to be living in a cardboard box as long as they got to be with the one that they loved. It was complete bullshit, but the emotion behind it was sweet. She wasn’t so sure about her belief of such things anymore. If she wasn’t sitting down right then, her legs would have gone to jelly and the moment could have been terribly embarrassing. The person to the side of her had not only made her body tremble, but they had also made her breathing double. This had never happened to her before and she never expected it to either, but boy did it feel good.
Laura knew that she had better say something soon for fear of looking like an idiot. She eventually managed to pick her tongue up off of the floor, and smile. “I’m Laura,” she introduced herself shyly.
“Carmilla,” the woman identified herself, before popping the toothpick into her mouth and sliding the olive off from the end using her teeth.
Laura’s mouth started to water, who knew such an innocent action could be so erotic? “Nice to meet you,” she managed, all the while being entranced by Carmilla's lips, and an impeccable jawline.
Carmilla gazed at the blonde and grinned cheekily, she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen someone as gorgeous as the goddess right next to her. “So er, that guy not your type then?” she asked brazenly.
“Not exactly,” Laura blushed.
“I know what it is,” Carmilla clasped her hands together. “You don’t dig guys chatting you up in New York.”
“Not quite,” Laura giggled, “just…not my type.”
Carmilla looked thoughtful. “What if he was the last man on earth?”
“Then he still wouldn’t be…my type,” Laura elaborated.
Carmilla finally clicked on and grinned. “You know, that is rather an interesting coincidence.”
“Yeah?” Laura's breathing intensified. “How so?”
Carmilla edged her chair closer to Laura's and scooted her drink along the bar next to the blonde’s. Looking deeply into the brown eyes that had her almost hypnotized, Carmilla smirked almost devilishly, “I haven’t had a heterosexual thought since I was fifteen.”
Laura simply smiled.
A couple of hours later and they were chatting vigorously about anything and everything, the drinks still flowing causing them both to be a little tipsy, but they were still in control of themselves.
Carmilla took another big swig of her drink and took a deep breath. “Okay. Sixteen, Paige Knight, on her parent’s sofa.”
Laura’s eyes widened as she learned the age that Carmilla had lost her innocence, and looked a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Erm…Danny Lawrence, in our bed.”
“Age?” Carmilla prodded.
“Twenty Three,” Laura replied quietly.
“Yeah right,” Carmilla laughed, but soon stopped when Laura remained silent. Carmilla scrunched her face up in confusion. “How is that possible I mean, have you not seen you?”
“I wasn’t ready for it until then, that’s all,” Laura told her in a small voice.
“You know, sex doesn’t always have to mean something all the time,” Carmilla commented boldly. “I mean it is allowed to be fun.”
“It has to mean something to me,” Laura said softly.
“Wow,” Carmilla stated in comical awe. “What does that feel like?”
Laura just laughed and shook her head; Carmilla was obviously one for no strings sex. “I take it you're not a relationship kind of girl then?”
“Was,” Carmilla said much to Laura's surprise, “Once, that is.”
“Really?” Laura asked intrigued.
“Elsie was…cool,” Carmilla mused, remembering the only real girlfriend she ever had. “She was a lot of fun, hot in the sack and never boring. We went out for over a year and everything was great.”
“But?” Laura asked confused.
“Then she had to go and do it,” Carmilla said in dismay.
“Do what?”
“Bring up the ‘M’ word,” Carmilla replied.
“She wanted to marry you?”
“Yep,” Carmilla nodded, “So you know naturally, I ran as fast I my feet would carry me.”
“You don’t do commitment then?” Laura asked, though it was more of a statement than anything else.
“Haven’t got the time for it to be honest,” Carmilla explained. “My job takes up most of my time so even if I wanted to be in a relationship, I’m sure it’d be a strained one at that.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit presumptuous?” Laura enquired gently. “I mean your ideal woman could be out there right now just waiting for you to go in and sweep her off of her feet.”
Carmilla snorted but grinned. “My ideal woman would be happy to see me a couple of days a week, not moan about there not being enough romance, and would fear the ‘M’ word as much as me.”
“So your idea relationship would be with yourself then?” Laura joked.
“Exactly,” Carmilla grinned, and then finished her drink.
“Are you really that afraid of marriage?” Laura questioned in disbelief. The blonde wanted that for herself more than anything in the world, to find someone who would love her for the rest of her life, and here was someone who couldn’t bear the thought of it.
“Well my parents didn’t make it look like much fun,” Carmilla told her, flashes of her step mother and father’s arguments making her shudder.
“Just because your parent’s made mistakes doesn’t mean that you’ll make the same ones,” Laura offered kindly. Carmilla just shrugged, obviously not comfortable talking about that particular subject. “Did you love her?” Laura asked, referring to Elsie.
“I don’t know,” Carmilla answered truthfully. “I don’t think I’ve ever really been in love. You?”
“I thought I was but, I guess everyone does at the time right?” Laura replied guardedly.
Carmilla realised there and then that they were two completely different people.
Laura undoubtedly was one of those girls who cherished relationships, whereas Carmilla liked to play the field, have fun and enjoy her freedom. Still, that wasn’t about to stop her from trying to convince the blonde into spending the night with her. She couldn’t remember being so attracted to someone before, and she had to see if Laura felt and tasted as good as she looked. Carmilla grinned inwardly, she had one of the most adventure cities in the world at her advantage, and no matter how much Laura appeared to frown at one night stands, the brunette was sure that she could convince her that this was meant to be. Laura came across as a lovely, decent woman, one that certainly had morals and self-respect, and Carmilla admired her for that. But Laura wasn’t able to conceal a particular look that Carmilla always loved seeing on women’s faces, especially when it was aimed at her. It was the ‘I really need to be fucked hard by someone’ look, and it was Carmilla's all time favourite.
“You know it’s really nice out,” Carmilla said leaning in closer to her, “do you fancy going for a walk?”
“Did you want to leave now?” Laura asked with a shy grin.
Carmilla slowly gave a sexy smile, and then looked around for the bartender. “Bill please!”
After leaving the bistro, Carmilla and Laura made the short walk to Central Park. Walking along the footpath, Laura asked a completely innocent question, only afterwards it made her cheeks flush scarlet. “So which hotel are you staying at?”
Carmilla raised her eyebrows teasingly. “Four Seasons.”
Laura stopped in her tracks. “Four Seasons!? Your boss actually put you up in The Four Season?”
“She knows it’s worth her while,” Carmilla answered smugly, before going in for the kill. “My room’s got a huge bed too.”
Laura almost gasped, she never found conceited women attractive, she always found it very off putting, but for some reason that she’d never be able to figure out; she was now actually finding it a turn on. She felt it had to be New York, but then she thought no, it had to do with the dark haired girl standing in front of her.
“Are you really that good at your job?” Laura asked playfully, doing everything she could think of to get off the subject of beds and bedrooms.
Carmilla got closer to her. “I’m good at most things,” she told her boldly.
Laura's voice hitched in her throat, she had never met a woman who was so forward before. “What are you like the female version of James Bond or something?”
“Well I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you,” Carmilla said, in an almost arrogant tone.
“What is it exactly that you do?” Laura pressed, “You never told me. Not even after I told you about my illustrious career as a journalist.”
For the first time that night, Carmilla showed a small glimpse of what looked to be a bit of embarrassment. Even though Laura appeared to be making fun out of her job, Carmilla could tell by the way the blonde had spoken about it earlier, that her job meant the world to her. It was refreshing to see, especially when Carmilla spent most of her time around women who took their careers for granted, women who genuinely believed that it was their right, when in all actuality, it was a privilege.
Laura tapped Carmilla's arm playfully. “Come on, tell me.”
Carmilla looked to the heavens before meeting the blonde’s inquisitive eyes. “I’m a Partner in a Law firm’.”
The smile slowly disappeared from Laura’s face, as she realised that Carmilla was being totally serious. “Wow,” she whispered in complete awe. “I mean that’s like…so much better than secret agent stuff.”
Carmilla managed to smile modestly for once.
“That’s like so awesome,” Laura added still in awe. “I guess it’s no wonder you’re so busy all the time.”
“Well you know, it has its advantages,” Carmilla shrugged.
Laura smiled and nodded knowingly. “Loads of hot women right?”
“Something like that,” Carmilla said quietly, her eyes not once breaking from Laura's.
Laura could no longer take the penetrating gaze, and looked at her watch. “It’s getting late.”
“Yeh,” Carmilla agreed, but still couldn’t take her eyes away from the vision in her line of view.
“When do you leave?” Laura asked, her heart tensing up in anticipation of the answer.
“My flight’s tomorrow morning at 10.00,” Carmilla replied almost sadly.
“Oh,” Laura pouted, she was bitterly disappointed. “I guess you’ll need to get back to your hotel soon then?”
“Mmm,” was all Carmilla could manage.
Laura wrung her hands together as she desperately thought of what to say next. “Well…I suppose I should be going--“
“Laura,” Carmilla cut her off gently.
“Yeah?”
Carmilla licked her lips. “Can I ask you something?”
“Course,” the blonde replied.
“Spend the night with me.”
Laura’s mouth bobbed up and down for a few moments, not quite believing what she’d just heard. “That wasn’t a question.”
“No I guess not,” Carmilla said, feeling nervous for some reason. It wasn’t like she had never had a one night stand before, but there was something about this girl that was totally different from the others. “Will you please consider…spending the night with me?”
Laura’s mouth had suddenly gone dry, was this really happening to her? “I don’t…usually, do that sort of thing.”
“You never do that sort of thing,” Carmilla said knowingly, Laura was obviously not one for casual sex.
“I don’t,” Laura confirmed.
“First time for everything though right?” Carmilla encouraged.
“Why me?”
Carmilla thought carefully how to word was going on in her head, before trying to put it into words. “Because I think that, you are quite possibly the most stunningly beautiful woman that I’ve ever laid eyes on. And all I want right now… is to take you back to my hotel room and make love to you for the rest of the night, or until I’ve got not a single breath left in my body.”
Laura’s body slowly began to melt, and all of her defences that she put up over the past couple of years were being knocked down. She had no idea what came over her, she never acted this way ever, and she had never met anyone who had made her feel this way either, not even when she was in a relationship. Not that she had been in a relationship for a while. Her last one had ended quite badly a couple of years ago and she hadn’t been in one since, and it had been even longer since she’d actually been intimate with someone. Laura didn’t take matters of the heart lightly, and she didn’t take sex lightly either, she had only ever had two sexual partners and had been in relationships with both of them. Unfortunately, both of her ex-girlfriends had been wrong for her. The first one she’ll admit, that they had outgrew each other, whilst the second one simply broke her heart. She wasn’t sure that she even wanted a relationship right now, so why shouldn’t she live dangerously for once? There was a gorgeous woman in front of her who was begging the blonde to let her worship her. Was there really anything to think about for once? With that, Laura’s mind was made up.
She looked up into the dark eyes that’s she’d gotten lost in on more than one occasion that night, and smiled shyly. “Ok.”
Carmilla bit her lip in an attempt to keep the elation inside of her from bursting out. She gently took Laura's hand into hers, the instant spark causing tingles to shoot through her body at their initial touch, and led her to the side of the road where they managed to hail a taxi within minutes.
Fifteen minutes later and they arrived at the hotel. Carmilla had one of the superior rooms on one of the upper floors, it wasn’t exactly the penthouse, but it wasn’t far off. She inserted the card key in the lock, opened the door, and leisurely led Laura inside.
As soon as the door was closed, both girls stood still and looked at each other in anticipation, though only one was showing signs of nerves. Carmilla did this kind of thing quite regularly, whereas Laura had never done it before in her life. Obviously the blonde was going to be anxious, but if anything, Carmilla only found it more endearing. In that single moment, Carmilla just wanted to wrap her arms around Laura and protect her from everything bad in the world, but she had to face facts. This was one night, with no strings. She couldn’t be seen to be too emotionally involved.
Laura took a deep breath. “I don’t usually do this kind of thing.”
Carmilla grinned. “Yeah I know, you’ve told me like a hundred times.”
“Sorry,” Laura looked down feeling embarrassed.
Carmilla took a step closer to her. “Laura,” she started gently. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“I know that,” Laura accepted truthfully.
Carmilla slowly let her hands come up to rest on Laura's waist. “Just try to relax, and enjoy it.” With that, the Carmilla finally closed the gap between them, and placed her lips on to Laura's.