Excerpts, Serials, and Out-of-Print

But another part was that their love-making had become less frenetic. Whereas before they had practically torn each other's clothes off and jumped each other's bones like rutting weasels, now they took their time, acting more gently and sensuously. They often spent hours at foreplay, sometimes never having sex at all. And their interludes had become less frequent. Eile wasn't sure if that was natural or not. Never having been in a relationship before, she didn't know if things were cooling off between her and Sunny, or evolving into a deeper, more loving affair. She didn't believe she felt any differently towards Sunny, but she did notice that when she looked at her lately, she felt less lust, and she wasn't sure whether she should be disturbed by that. The time it really hit home to her was the morning they took a shower together, and she wasn't aroused. Even so, she still believed she adored Sunny, but she wondered if that too would fade in time.

Sunny sighed. Eile knew she was bored; she felt bored too, though her book was enough to relieve it. She knew Sunny wanted to be out having an adventure, but was frustrated by the weather. The ironic things was, only a few weeks ago they would have spent the day having sex, but neither of them even thought about it this morning.

Maybe I should try to cheer her up, Eile thought. She marked her spot, laid the book down on the coffee table, then stood and went over to the window. She came up behind Sunny and wrapped her arms around her torso.

"You sound rather down," she observed.

"I just want to be out having an adventure, instead of cooped up in here all day."

"I know; I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault!"

"No, I was commiserating. If it helps, the weather should be fine tomorrow. We can take the train up to Winter Park, do some skiing, stay overnight."

"That sounds great! But what do we do today?"

"Well, it's been awhile since we were last online. Why don't we play some Otherworld?"

"I thought about that. I don't know, it just doesn't feel the same now that we're having real adventures."

Eile couldn't disagree; she felt the same way.

"Then how 'bout we fool around?" she suggested as she rubbed her hands over Sunny's tummy. "I'm feelin' kinda . . . you know."

Sunny giggled, but she said, "I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be much fun, I just don't feel like it."

Eile wasn't terribly disappointed. The truth was, she wasn't quite in the mood either. She could have done it if Sunny had wanted to, but it wasn't exactly a burning desire.

Eile kissed the nape of Sunny's neck. "I just don't like to see you unhappy."

Sunny reached up and covered Eile's hands with her own. "I know, and I appreciate it. But in this case, there isn't anything you can do."

That might be true, Eile thought, but that doesn't mean I can't try. Hugging her, she said, "I'm going to get some lunch. You want anything?"

"I'll come with you." And they both headed into the kitchen.

They decided on sandwiches. Even as they started taking stuff out of the refrigerator, Snowshoe Kitty showed up, looking for a handout. Eile was still amazed at how the cat could be anywhere in the house, fast asleep in some secret napping spot she and Eile knew nothing about, yet as soon as either of them started making any kind of food, she'd just appear out of nowhere. It was almost as if she could teleport.

They were about half-way through making their sandwiches, when Sunny broke the silence. "Eile, do you know anything about website design?"

"I've done a few; I can get by. Why?"

"I've been thinking —"

"Uh-oh!" Eile said in a facetious tone.

"Sunny smiled, crinkled her eyes, and giggled. "I'm being serious, silly! I think we should incorporate."

Puzzled, Eile looked up at her. "What does that mean?"

Sunny gave Snowshoe Kitty a piece of ham. "Well, you know how when we played online, we adventured together, and the other players started calling us Team Girl?"

"Yeah. So?"

Sunny gave Kitty a piece of turkey. "And now we're having adventures in the real world."

"Yeah. So?"

"So, I think we should be Team Girl here as well."

"Aren't we already?"

"Not officially."

It sometimes took Eile awhile to penetrate Sunny's thinking. "I think you skipped a couple of steps there."

"Huh?"

Eile sighed. "Bottom-line it for me: what are you suggesting?"

"That we form an adventure company."

The light was starting to dawn. "A company called Team Girl."

"Yeah,"

"That uses a website for advertising."

"Yeah."

Eile nodded; now it made sense. "What brought this on?"

"I just figured, why have adventures we have to pay for ourselves, when other people could pay us to have adventures."

"And why would other people pay us to have adventures?"

"Well, they wouldn't be paying for our adventures; we would do adventures for them, for a fee."

"But why wouldn't they just do their own adventures?"

"They might not see them as adventures, or they might be too busy, or physically incapable; there could be any number of reasons!"

"I think there's a slim chance of that."

"But we won't know until we try, will we?"

Eile didn't answer right away, but she had to admit, the idea intrigued her. She loved having adventures with Sunny, but they were a drain on her financial resources. If they could find a way to get other people to pay for them, why not take advantage of it?

There was just one problem: "Mayv asked us to keep a low profile. Your parents are still in danger. If they knew where to find you, their enemies could use you to get to them."

"Mayv's protecting them, so they should be alright. Besides, we don't have to use our real names. Sunny should be fine for me, but we could call you 'Elly', or we could use our online names, Braveheart and Whitelion."

"Well, we can discuss that later. First, I think we should run this by Mayv, get her input."

Sunny grabbed her hand. "Then let's do it!" And she dragged Eile out of the kitchen.

"Wait! What about our sandwiches?"

"They'll keep; this is more important!"

They hurried through the living room into Eile's office. Her phone had a hands-free speaker, for client conference calls. Sunny nearly threw her into the desk chair.

"Go ahead, call her!"

Eile gave her a bemused smirk as she open a card box and took out a business card. It only had a phone number on it, nothing else. Medb had given it to them the last time she visited them. Technically, it was for emergencies only, but Medb had not explained what she meant by that.

The phone at the other end rang three times before a message machine picked up. Medb's voice instructed them to leave a message at the beep.

"Hi, Mayv, it's Sunny. Give us a call back —"

The phone beeped again, interrupting her, then Medb's voice came back.

"I am here, Sunny, what is the trouble?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, I just need to talk to you."

There was a long pause, then: "Is Eile there with you?"

Sunny gave Eile a confused look, but said, "Yeah, she's here."

"Put her on please."

Sunny shrugged and waved at Eile to take over.

"I'm here, Mayv."

In a gruffer voice she replied, "Please tell me what the focail is going on!"

Sunny started at the unexpected foul language. "My word!" Even Eile felt embarrassed and chagrined.

There was another pause. "Are you on a speaker phone?"

"Uh, yeah," Eile confirmed.

"Damnaigh!" Then she sighed. "Very well, my apologies girls, but I did say this number was for emergencies only."

Before Eile could think of a response, Sunny exclaimed, "But it is! We need your advice about incorporating."

"Sunny, hush. Eile, please?"

"We're thinking about starting a company where people would pay us to have adventures."

Another pause. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yeah, that was my reaction, too, but it makes sense when you think about it. As long as we're having adventures, why not do them for other people and get paid for them."

"I see."

"But you told us to keep a low profile, so we wanted to run it by you to see what you thought."

"Getting arrested for vandalism is not exactly keeping a low profile."

"Err, no, but we're going to have adventures anyway; this way, we can channel it into something more productive."

"Yes, that is true."

"Besides, I can't afford too many adventures unless I get more design projects, but that would take time away from adventuring. This way, we can have our adventures and earn money at the same time."

"I see your point. How much were you thinking of charging?"

Eile looked at Sunny, who shook her head. "We . . . haven't discussed that yet."

"We could charge detective fees; a hundred a day, plus expenses."

"Sunny."

Sunny smiled, crinkled her eyes, and giggled. "Sorry."

"What about a business plan?"

Eile felt exasperated. "Jesus, we just came up with the idea a few minutes ago. All we have is a service and the intent to create a website."

"We have a name: Team Girl!"

"Sunny."

"Well, it was my idea!" she objected, sounding miffed.

Medb sighed again. Eile was getting a bit peeved at her long-suffering display.

"All right. I will have to think on this for a time. Were you planning on going skiing tomorrow?"

"We thought we would head up to Winter Park —"

"No, no, no. I have a residence in Vail. Spend a few days with me, we can talk at leisure and hash this idea out thoroughly."

"But I can't afford —"

"It will be my treat," Medb said in a stern tone.

"How can we get up there?" Sunny asked.

"The storm will subside by dusk, and the snowplows will be out all night. Take a taxi to DIA; be there by eight. I will meet you and fly you up."

Eile didn't feel comfortable with freeloading like this, but Sunny said in a gleeful voice, "That sounds great!"

"Very good. I shall see you tomorrow." And she hung up.

"Wow! A ski vacation in Vail!" Sunny exclaimed as Eile disconnected her phone.

"Yeah, Great."

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited?"

"I just don't like having everything paid for me like I was a kid, or an escort. I want to be able to pay my own way."

Sunny sidled over and sat on her lap. Eile wasn't sure what she was up to, but she shifted position to make herself more comfortable and wrapped her arms around Sunny's waist.

"You know," Sunny said in a low, gentle tone, "when we first started living together, I didn't like you paying for everything either. Even now, I'd like to buy my own things without having to use your money. But I have no money, so I had to get used to it."

Eile felt embarrassed. "That's different."

"Is it?"

"Well, yeah, we're partners; share and share alike."

Sunny put her arms around Eile's neck. "Except I have nothing to contribute."

"That's not true! You give me companionship; we have fun together; you help me with my designs —"

"So, maybe Medb derives pleasure from our company; we certainly have fun together. And for that, she pays our way."

Eile grinned. "I can't argue with logic like that."

Sunny bent her head down and they kissed. "Then don't worry about it. Do what I do: take advantage of her hospitality." And she grinned.

"Oh, is that what you do?"

"Yeah, Nothin' like having a sugar daddy to satisfy my sweet tooth." And they kissed again, only longer this time.

"You know," she said, running a finger along Eile's cheek, "suddenly I'm feeling kinda . . . you know." And she smiled as she dropped a hand to Eile's bosom.

"What about our sandwiches?"

"Right now," she breathed in a sultry manner, "there's something else I'd rather eat."

Not for the first time, Eile reflected on how Sunny's mood could change faster than the weather.

But, Sunny was like that, and it was one of the things Eile loved about her.

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To be continued