The oppressiveness of the Nevada heat made itself known as soon as Rivers' car passed the state line. Even in the early evening hours, the temperature was well into the 90's, and despite a fully functional air conditioner, it could still be felt. Annah had made the mistake of opening the window for a moment, and after the dryness assaulted her tender throat, she immediately rolled it back up and prayed for the artificial coldness of the Vegas casinos.

It had been a nice drive up; Rivers taking her time, when the majority of the cars were zooming past them. Annah had dozed on and off during the drive, waking to find her blonde companion softly humming to a CD on the radio.

After driving down the Las Vegas strip, Rivers waited at the light to turn into the driveway of the place where they would be staying. The Bellagio Hotel was opulent by anyone's standards, an exquisite example of the finest that Las Vegas had to offer to those who could afford it. There were Ferrari's and Porche's waiting in the valet line. Annah refused to even step foot into the lobby.

"Where do you want to stay?" Rivers asked, wondering when Jordan had taken such a dislike to the finer things in life. If Rivers had tried to book them anywhere else, she was sure Jordan would have had a fit.

"What's wrong with the Motel 6?" Annah asked.

Rivers would have run the car into a few pedestrians, had Annah not told her to "Look out."

"You're kidding, right?" Rivers looked at her companion, and began to wonder what had caused such a change in the other woman, and whether or not she was being serious.

" Rivers, I appreciate the sentiment, really I do. There is no need for us to stay at this hotel for hundreds of dollars a night, when we can stay somewhere else for a heck of a lot cheaper. It's just a bed for Chris sakes, we aren't sleeping on gold pillows. Think of all of the people in this town that live here, who probably sleep on the cold street every night."

"I didn't think it would matter to you, to be honest. You've always wanted to stay here, so I thought we'd give it a try," Rivers said as she stopped at a red light.

"Well, it does matter to me. I just can't imagine spending that kind of money on a room. It blows my mind, Rivers. I'm not trying to be a bad date, really, but I just can't see us staying here."

"So, then you want me to find us somewhere else to go?"

"Please," Annah asked as she looked out of the window.

Rivers used the OnStar feature in her car, and was able to secure them a reasonable room in minutes. Annah leaned over and gave the other woman a kiss on the cheek, and the smile on Rivers face was enough to make her glad she was being such a pain in the ass.

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was not a dump, by any means, but it still boasted a rate of almost three hundred dollars a night cheaper than the Bellagio. Annah was one happy girl, especially when she set foot in the lobby and was met by display upon display of rock and roll memorabilia.

One of the things her father had passed on to her was a love of rock and roll, in all of its conceptions. From Elvis to the Supremes, Led Zepplin to The Captain and Tennile, Blondie to the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees to the Cure, Madonna to Britney Spears, Annah loved music and its stars. She tried to look at every display while Rivers checked in, and realized that she was going to need more than the spare minutes afforded to her. She hoped that Rivers would not mind indulging her, her mind already working on what she wanted to do first in the famous city.

"Oh my God, it's really you."

A voice of a teenager broke Annah's concentration, and she looked around to see who the girl was talking to. Pointing at her chest, she mouthed "Me?"
To which the excited blonde loudly proclaimed, "Mom, it's Jordan Allen!"

Annah fought the urge to panic, taking deep calming breaths as she sought Rivers in the small crowd that was forming quickly around her. The girl that had initially recognized her, now approached her shyly, family in tow, and asked for an autograph. Annah smiled, and did what she hoped was a pretty good interpretation of Jordan's signature, and then posed for a quick picture with the teen and her family.

"Are you ok?" Rivers asked as she came and stood next to Annah, noting that she had never seen the actress seem so nervous when approached by fans.

"Fine, I think," Annah replied, as she began to accommodate the other requests from the people that had gathered. It didn't take long for the hotel manager to come over and apologize to the couple for the crowd. Within a few minutes the last autograph and picture were done, so he offered to personally escort them to their room.

By the time they reached the fourth floor, where they would be staying, he had already offered them comps for food and gaming, and even free tickets for a band that would be playing the next evening in the famous Lounge area of the casino. Annah thanked him, then walked straight to the bed and laid down, leaving Rivers to listen to the rest of his offers.

She woke sometime later, not sure if it was a matter of minutes or hours, and felt the comforting warmth of Rivers next to her. She noted that there were two king beds, and didn't know why Rivers had chosen to lay with her, but was happy she had even if it could only be like this for awhile. It was obvious that Rivers was tired, and so Annah closed her eyes again, and fell back to sleep.

*************************************************************

"You know its true what Elvis sang," Rivers began, as she stretched her body and began to move away from Annah, who was also beginning to wake.

"What's that?"

"About Vegas turning day into nighttime and night into daytime. It's already 10, and I am ready to go out and see what kind of trouble we can get into. What do you want to do?"

"I don't care. Whatever you want to do is fine by me."

Rivers offered a sly smile, and gathered her things to take a shower, the look on her face making Annah wonder what she was getting herself into.
***************************************************************

Olympia was one of the biggest, and many considered it to be one of the best, strip clubs that Las Vegas had to offer. Located in the downtown area, it was one of the popular hotspots in the city, offering male and female strippers for its clientele.

Annah and Rivers took a cab,and upon arrival they were waved in by bouncers. The cashier recognized Annah to be Jordan and alerted her bosses that someone famous was in the establishment. The manager immediately came over and began fawning over the duo. The last thing Annah wanted was more attention, but she thought it was cool when she and Rivers were immediately seated at a booth that had been reserved, when they would have had to stand otherwise in the crowded business.

The girls began walking by, giving the two women looks to see if they were interested in a dance, or even just conversation. Annah quickly zoomed in on a woman she thought was attractive, her caramel skin covered in glitter that the little amount of light in the club reflected, her green eyes locked on the brunette as she danced for a table nearby. She reminded Annah of a younger Vanessa Williams, and the woman knew that she had Annah's attention and used the motion of her body to keep it.

"She wants you," Rivers said playfully, and Annah actually felt her face blush at getting caught.

"Relax stud, we aren't together anymore. It's ok if you drool over her."

Annah noted the sadness in Rivers voice, and grabbed her hand. "She's a stripper honey, its her job to make us drool."

"She is gorgeous. You want a dance?"

"No way, I'd die!" Annah protested.

"You refusing a lap dance? What's going on here?"

Annah buried her face in Rivers shoulder, as the younger woman began to laugh at her.

Annah felt another presence, and then she smelled the oil that the dancer rubbed all over her body. Rivers was nodding her head at the woman, who was now straddling Annah's lap.

She used her body to rub against the taller woman, seeing the familiar look of lust that most of the customers had on their faces as the nearly naked women paraded in front of them, but this one was different. As gorgeous as she thought Annah was, it was actually a turn on for her to dance for someone who was so good looking, and who wasn't trying to paw at her ass while she moved.

She began to run her tongue over Annah's ear, making the taller woman shudder, and noted that the seated womans nipples became hard through her shirt. She could feel them against her chest, and meeting the dark green orbs of the woman sitting next to them, she lowered her head and began nibbling at Annah's chest, making her squirm in the process.

Rivers smiled as she watched the scene unfold in front of her, noting how Jordan was not reacting at all how she had remembered.

In the first few months they had been together, Jordan had convinced her to go to a strip club on Sunset. She knew something was up when the bouncer greeted Jordan as if they were best friends, and many of the dancers came over and did the same. 'Ok, so she's been here before,' Rivers thought, and while that initially hadn't really bothered her, as the evening wore on it only got worse.

Jordan pretty much ignored her for the rest of the night, as woman after woman gyrated on her lap and in front of her face, and she handed them hundred dollar bills one after the other. Rivers watched with the eye of an attorney and estimated that Jordan tipped out close to $10,000. What should have been the last straw was when Jordan had handed her the keys and told her to drive home, that she had some business to talk to the club owner about, and that she'd be home as soon as she could.

Rivers had simply taken the keys and done as she was told. She was too shocked and saddened to do anything but obey. She would later realize that it was that complacency that had shown Jordan that she could do that sort of thing to her, and she wouldn't put up a fight. Jordan came home two days later and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Back in the present, the stripper was looking expectantly at Rivers and she realized that she had to pay her. Taking out a hundred dollar bill, she placed it into the g-string that the woman had pulled away from her mocha colored skin, and then gave her a playful tap on the thigh. The woman leaned down and kissed her on the cheek and then whispered in her ear, "I get off in two hours. If you two want to have some fun, wait for me."

Rivers only smiled, giving no indication to the woman what her answer might be, and after kissing Annah on the cheek as well, she moved on and looked into the crowd for her next dance.

Annah sat back and then took a long pull from the bottled water in front of her. She was feeling a thrumming in her blood that was quickly making her feel almost high in its intensity. She turned and looked at Rivers and saw that the blonde was probably feeling the same thing. She couldn't deny that she found the stripper attractive, even sexy, but it was nothing compared to how she felt around Rivers. They could laugh together, and talk, and Annah knew that she was slowly but surely falling for this woman who still sort of belonged to someone else. It was confusing, and as their gazes locked, Annah did the only thing she could think to do in such a situation; she leaned forward and kissed her.

Rivers could still smell the oil that the dancer lubed herself up with clinging to Annah's shirt. It made her move closer, to remove the smell of another woman and make her own claim on the woman beside her. She felt long arms wrapping around her, and then she was pulled onto the taller womans lap, a knee on each side of Annah's thighs, as they moved their mouths against one another.

Rivers moved her tongue into the taller woman's mouth, shyly at first and then with a confidence that made Annah's heart pound hard inside her chest. Rivers tasted of cinnamon, and to Annah it was perfect; their kiss, the way their lips felt against one another, the way their tongues slowly slid against each other, neither trying to control.

Only when it was necessary to catch her breath did Annah pull away, and she panted against Rivers chest as the smaller woman pulled her closer to her. Annah finally took note of where her hands were, and she quickly removed them from Rivers perfect ass, and moved them to her waist.

Annah began to feel what could only be described as a panic attack; her palms were sweaty, her breathing hitched, the pounding of her heart made her feel faint. She knew she had crossed that very fine line that she had tried to set between her and Rivers, because the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her, and at the rate they were going, it was the only thing that was going to come of this very screwed up situation.

She looked up at Rivers and said, "Let's go."
 

The cab ride back to the hotel offered both women a chance to settle down, and what was all intensity and lust back at the club, had tapered down to quiet reflection. Neither of them spoke, yet neither relinquished the hold of the others hand as the driver took them down the Las Vegas strip.

Annah knew that her time was up. She couldn't continue to mask who she was and pretend anymore that she was Jordan. It was getting more complicated, and she knew that the only one that was going to be hurt was Rivers.

She turned and looked at the woman next to her and could not deny that what she felt was bordering on love. As crazy and as stupid as it seemed, Rivers was the epitome of the perfect woman. She was smart as hell, funny, not to mention good looking, and Annah had never felt as comfortable in anyone else's presence. As strong as the feeling was, Annah knew that the gig was up, and she had nothing left to do but to tell the truth.

By the time they reached their hotel, there was still a good sized crowd gambling and at the bar. Rivers asked if Annah wanted to hang out and gamble for a while, but with her stomach in knots, she declined and said that she wanted to go back to the room so that they could talk.

Rivers agreed and noted the discomfort on Annah's face. She didn't know what it was that they were going to talk about, but something told her that it was not going to be anything good.

To be continued



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