Page 17 of Minha Dona

More than that… it was commanding.

Juliana wasn’t asking. She was telling, and the confidence she was suddenly showing took Helena’s breath away. This was new.

“Ok,” Helena said, and followed Juliana through the bar, past the front door where a small group was smoking, and around the corner onto the alley down the side.

The night air was warm, the sounds of the bar muffled behind them. The alley was narrow, lined with the high walls of residential properties, a few parked cars, the orange glow of a streetlight at the far end. It was quiet on that Sunday night. Private.

Juliana walked a few paces ahead, then stopped when they were out of sight of the main road and turned to face Helena. The confidence Helena had glimpsed inside was fully present now: shoulders back, chin lifted, eyes direct. She looked like a different person from the nervous student whose voice had broken the first time she tried to command Helena.

“What are you…” Helena started to say, but Juliana stepped forward and placed a finger on her lips.

“Quiet.”

That single word wasn’t a request. It was a command, delivered with a domineering certainty that Juliana had been building towards for months but had never quite achieved.

Until now.

Juliana’s hand moved from Helena’s lips to her jaw, tilting her face up slightly… not roughly, but firmly. “You’ve been looking at me all evening, Leoa.”

Leoa? Helena tilted her head in question, that name new to her.

“That’s right, my Leoa. You’re my lioness. Tamed. You’re mine, my powerful, fierce, obedient Leoa.”

Something inside Helena melted at that… she gave other people pet names, not the other way around. She shifted her stance, very aware of the effect that this sudden turn of events was having on her.

“And don’t pretend you haven’t been looking at me since I got here.”

“I wasn’t going to pretend.”

“Good. Because I’ve been looking at you too.” Juliana’s other hand went to Helena’s hip, her grip tight and possessive in a way that was new. “I’ve been thinking about this since I got dressed for tonight. About what I was going to do to you.”

Helena’s breath caught. This wasn’t the Juliana who asked permission, who checked whether she was doing it right, who needed coaching through each step. This was someone else: still Juliana, still playful, but with an authority that came from somewhere genuine. This wasn’t a performance.

“Juliana, we’re in…”

“I know exactly where we are, Leoa.” Juliana stepped forward, and Helena stepped back instinctively, her shoulders meeting the cool stone of the wall behind her. Juliana followed, pressing close, one hand still on Helena’s jaw, the other on her hip. “And I know that anyone could walk round that corner at any moment. That’s part of it.”

Helena’s heart was hammering. She could feel the wall rough against her bare shoulders, could feel the familiar shape of Juliana’s body pressed against hers, could smell her perfume.

“Hands behind your back,” Juliana said quietly. “Against the wall. Don’t make me tell you twice.”

Helena obeyed without question. The stone was rough against her knuckles, the posture exposing, her chest pushed forward slightly. She looked at Juliana and saw something she recognised, the expression she herself wore when she was in control. The focus. The care masked as command. The careful watching and reading of every micro-expression on the other person’s face.

She’s ready, Helena thought, even as her body responded to being pushed against a wall by someone who, just a month ago, couldn’t hold eye contact while giving a simple instruction.

“You look incredible tonight,” Juliana said, her voice low. “Do you know that? Every man in that bar was looking at you. Half the women too.”

“I didn’t notice.”

“Liar.” Juliana’s hand tightened its grip on Helena’s hip, holding her tight. “You always notice. You notice everything.” She paused. “But tonight you’re not in charge of noticing. Tonight, Leoa, you’re just going to feel.”

She kissed Helena, and Helena felt any resistance melt away in the face of the absolute confidence in that kiss, her lips assertive, her tongue finding Helena’s and making it very clear who was dictating the pace tonight. Helena pressed instinctively towards her. She was acutely aware of their surroundings… the bar around the corner, their friends just yards away, the risk of someone walking past.

“I can feel your heart racing,” Juliana murmured against her lips. “You like this.”

“Yes,” Helena breathed, because she did. The risk, the unexpectedness of it, Juliana’s transformation… all of it was doing something to her that their safe, controlled sessions in her apartment hadn’t quite managed. This felt raw. Unscripted. Real.

Juliana’s hand moved from Helena’s hip down to the hem of her dress, her fingers finding bare skin and sliding up along the outside of Helena’s thigh. Helena’s breath caught.