"Wait!"

Audrey had already half-turned away, but at Eldwyn's exclamation, she froze.

Eldwyn swallowed. This was it, she could either choose to not let this happen or... she could. "Do... do it again."

It only took an instant for Audrey to comply, pinning Eldwyn against the wall, arms wrapped around her. Without another word, Audrey seized her lips in a searing kiss. They were the only two people in the world, Eldwyn was certain of it. Time stopped as she parted her lips, tongue instinctively flicking out to meet the other woman's.

When they parted, they were both panting. Eldwyn became acutely aware of pressure of the other woman's large breasts against her own flat chest. She knew what she wanted. "D-don't stop."

"Later, maybe, " Audrey said, grinning at her mischievously. She slowly extricated herself from Eldwyn's grasp. "If you do a good job on your first shift."

Her eyes drifted down and her grin widened. "You might want to wait here for your little friend to go down."

Eldwyn glanced down; even through the sturdy shorts she could see her erection bulging. Laughing, Audrey gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before turning to walk away, saying over her shoulder: "Don't dally too long, you've got a job to do!"

It took longer for her body to calm down than she expected. She couldn't stop herself from making things worse by thinking back to Audrey's curvy body, but eventually her erection had gone down and she followed Audrey into the bar.

She expected to be taught how to waitress in a bar, but Audrey's idea of educating her seemed to be throwing her in the deep and and letting her struggle. Even the seemingly simple art of navigating around the patrons with a tray with drinks to balance took a lot of concentration. Collecting empty glasses was easier: the tray was lighter and easier to keep balanced. Still, after the first bell or so, she found herself getting the hang of it.

Thankfully, other waitresses were responsible for taking orders, because she didn't know the names of half of the drinks she delivered. She had to resort to placing the tray on the table and letting the customers figure it out for themselves.

It was at one of those times, while she was bending over to put down a tray, that she felt a hand brushing against her ass. She startled and only barely managed to avoid spilling the drinks. The touch only lasted a moment, but she was certain it hadn't been an accident. She was standing in between two men, and the one to her left winked at her suggestively.

Her cheeks flushing, she grabbed the tray and hurried off, trying to ignore the chuckles of the two men. The adrenaline coursing through her body surprised her. The touch had been unsolicited, unwanted... and yet she felt a thrill pass through her. She could still feel the place where that stranger's hand had been on her. It was only when she got back to counter that she noticed there were a couple more copper coins on the tray than the drinks had cost. Her first tip! She grinned elatedly at Percy, the bartender, and he nodded approvingly, before pointing at another tray full of drinks. "Table seven, over there, in the corner."

Lucas entered the bar halfway through the evening, habitually seeking out the darkest corner to settle down in. He spotted Eldwyn immediately, but she was so busy that he decided not to call out. Another waitress brought him his usual drink, and he took to watching Eldwyn as she hurried between the counter and the tables.

It was obvious she was having a hard time on her first day, but as time went on, her movements slowly became less awkward, and the frequency with which she had to apologize for bumping into someone went down. She even seemed to have attention to spare to smile at a customer every now and again.

He saw how a man coolly brushed his hand across her ass in what was obviously an intentional movement meant to look accidental. She froze and hurried back to the counter. Lucas was in the process of getting up to give the man a stern talking to—or worse—when he noticed something. He knew Eldwyn well enough to know when she was upset, and she showed few of those signs now.

The touch had clearly been unexpected, but she didn't look particularly disturbed by the experience. A few breaths later, she even grinned at the bartender.

He sank back onto the wooden bench. He hadn't thought Eldwyn had gotten this comfortable with her sexuality. If she wasn't bothered by the experience, he didn't want to make trouble for her. And he had to admit to himself that the sight hadn't been entirely unappealing. He sat back and continued watching her.

It almost seemed like they'd all been waiting for someone to make the first move. Two orders later, another man brushed his hand along her ass, more lightly, but perhaps a little longer. She quickly pulled back, but otherwise remained silent. She was paid for the drinks and went back to the bar, seemingly unaffected. Or was that a slight blush on her face?

Over the next bell, the number of touches grew. It was never blatant. The men—and a few women too—didn't grab her, nor did anyone **** her into anything, but Lucas could tell they made physical contact far more often than coincidence or circumstance could explain. Behind her back, there was the occasional conspiratorial grin between customers as well, and the tips started really coming in for her.

For Eldwyn's part, she never failed to withdraw from touches and did nothing to encourage them, but when she thought no one was looking, she sometimes smiled inwardly, not at all put out by the experience.

When Lucas ordered another ale, Eldwyn was assigned to bring it over. She drew in a sharp breath when she realized who the drink was for. "Lucas! I never noticed you coming in! How... how long have you been here?"

"A couple of bells ago. Come, sit!"

Realizing she was here to do a job, not to meet up with a friend, Eldwyn's eyes sought out Audrey, but she immediately received a nod of approval, and she sat down at the table.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out before Lucas had a chance to say something. "I-I shouldn't have yelled at you. I just..."

She looked away and fiddled with a strand of hair. Lucas lifted her chin to make her look at him.

"It's all right," he said. "I know you were—are—having a hard time with this."

"That's no excuse," she said, shaking her head. "You've been nothing but kind to me and I repaid you by screaming at you.... and by forcing you to get involved with my messed up family. I... I want to make it up to you."

"Eldwyn..." he started to say, but she interrupted him with a gesture.

"Please, I want to do this."

She seemed adamant about this.

"Do what?"

She shook her head. "I bought some things... I mean, with Audrey. I thought... maybe we could try them out."

"What kind of things?"

"I'll show you tonight," She replied, her eyes darted to the door leading to the dressing room.