“Dinah, you don’t have to explain—”
“I know,” she said, tilting her head to the side. She only made eye contact sporadically. “You might have guessed that Carla and I were together at one time?”
I nodded and she continued. “Well, she handles the business end of the rescue, which allows me time to do the outreach and placement work, as well as the fundraising, the parts I’m really good at.”
“I get it.”
“We’re friends now, but I was kind of her Lesbian 101 relationship, and then she moved on. My two previous relationships were only here temporarily and moved on to other things, as well. Thinking you weren’t going to be here long had me hesitant to go out with you, which sucks, because I really like you.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve got good reason to be leery of a temporary thing.” I gave her hands a squeeze. “I’m not interested in temporary, either.”
She sighed and winced at me. “And here we’ve had one really awesome kiss and I’m spilling my bucket loads of issues on your couch.”
I ran my hand over the arm of the couch. “Oh, this couch has seen plenty of issues. It was my brother’s and it’s survived knock-down drag-out brawls with his husband and their adopted daughter, as well as my grief over leaving the Air Force. A lot of tears have been shed on this couch, so don’t worry. It might even have, like, psychic powers or something. It’s eerie how much action this couch has seen.”
“Like it’s possessed with the drama poltergeists? Ha, that’s rich,” she said, dropping her head to my shoulder.
We both took a breather and listened to the rain outside.
“I thought it was done,” I said. “It was so nice this morning.”
“Changes quickly. Sometimes it even rains when the sun is shining brightly.” She turned to lie back against the arm of the couch and slid her legs onto my lap. “I love the sound on the metal. It reminds me of our house growing up. We had one of those patio rooms with the metal roof? I loved to lay on the floor and listen to the rain pound on it.”
She looked so inviting with her head resting on the pillow, her hair splayed out behind her, her right arm over her head. “I could do a whole series of paintings of just you. You are like an artist’s wet dream.”
She barked out a laugh. “Yeah, well, maybe you need a bit more hands-on figure studying before you get to the painting.” She pulled on my hand until I hovered above her, my hand on her thigh and the other supporting my weight next to her shoulder. Her neck called to me. I brushed my lips under her jaw and felt her shiver. I nuzzled her, the fine hairs at the nape of her neck tickling me, the scent of lavender intoxicating up close. I had to taste.
“Oh,” she gasped as I ran my tongue along her throat, loving the way she moved against me. She gripped my back and urged me closer, which I allowed, but I had a feeling she could get wound up quick. I wanted to draw this out, my exploration of this work of art.
I kissed her everywhere I could without removing her clothes. Earlobes, collarbones, the inside of her elbows and wrists, the hollow of her throat. She responded by writhing against me, my thigh snug against her core, as hers was to mine. I bit down on the tendon at the side of her neck and she arched into me nicely.
“There’s always finger painting,” I said. “I’d love to get you nice and messy.”
“Messy is good. I like messy.” She laughed and cupped my ass, using her long fingers to grab nice big handfuls. “God, you’re ripped! Your ass is fabulous. I could just touch you all night.”
“Thanks, I think. I don’t know, I like to run and lift weights.”
“And thank God for that. You’re so gorgeous, Marianne. Really. I’m so glad I met you.”
“You’re glad? Like really glad?” I teased, sliding my hand under her t-shirt. She sucked in a breath and arched into my hand as my fingertips found her nipple. Her pelvis moved against my leg in a steady motion now.
“Soooooo glad.” She moaned and slid her hands down the back of my pants, doing some exploration of her own. I couldn’t say I minded, however, I was quickly losing the ability to focus on drawing out her pleasure. I wanted to watch her come apart.
“So glad, you’ll let me get you messy?”
“Messy, yes, please.”
I had her out of her pants and spread out for me in her lace panties—and lord was she wet. I loved wet. So much fun to play with. It had been so long since I’d really had the luxury, the privacy, the opportunity.
Her hips bucked as I ran my fingers along the sides of her clit, over the lace, with just enough pressure to make her pant.
“Lace is my favorite. I love the texture,” I said. I was aroused as fuck, and my voice gave me away. It was low and hoarse, like a two-pack-a-day smoker after a night in a dive bar. I might have been shy when I first met her, but damn, that was gone now. I felt like a woman possessed, obsessed with the idea of pleasing her. I wanted to taste all of her, but this time, I wanted to watch her face.
“So good,” she said, and I knew she was close.
I slid one finger under her panties, and we both moaned at the contact. Her legs trembled as she neared release, her skin flushed a deep pink, and the sounds...
When she let go, it was a revelation. And loud. I couldn’t help but smile. She was beautiful. And enthusiastic. I held her as she came down and—
“Marianne? You okay in there?”
Our eyes wide, we burst out laughing, and then shushed each other.
“Yeah, Vern. I’m fine. Thank you.”
They heard his footsteps outside, and then he chuckled. “As you were, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“Yes, sir,” I called out.
And we lost it. We laughed so hard, I was reduced to wheezing and barking sounds.
“Well, I guess we know these are thin metal walls,” I said. I didn’t care that we’d been caught. I loved making her come, and I’d do it again just as soon as she’d let me.
“I’m mortified. Oh my God, I’ve never been so, um, so—”
“Vocal? I loved it.”
She rolled her eyes at me, and I pulled her closer, her head tucked under my chin. “Yeah, well, now that I know what you’re capable of, we may have to rethink our location.”
She shivered, and I realized that it was getting colder as the afternoon went on and the rain continued.
“I should probably get you someplace warmer. This place is great, but it’s not really climate controlled.”
She tilted her head and smiled up at me. “Want to take me home and see Prudence?”
My heart flipped in my chest. I’d decided to stay here, at least for four months officially, but I knew in my heart I was here for good. I think I knew it after my conversation with Nell, or maybe even earlier than that, when I’d first lain eyes on Prudence and the pups. Twenty-four years on the move was long enough. It was time to start living my life the way I wanted to.
“Let’s go see Prudence.”
Chapter Eight
We hit some traffic on the city streets before we entered Crow Canyon, a two-lane road running through the East Bay hills between Castro Valley and San Ramon. Norris Canyon veered off to the right. It was a road I wouldn’t have driven if the rain was coming down any harder. A very giggly Dinah gave me directions, and soon I was pulling up to an adorable farmhouse, complete with lace curtains in the windows and a tractor out front. An antique flatbed truck was parked in the middle of the lawn with flower beds on the back, full of tulips and daffodils. A few cats watched suspiciously from the covered porch as we made a break for it, dashing through the downpour to get to shelter.
“How is this place possible in the Bay Area?”
Dinah laughed as she unlocked the door for us. “It’s kind of timeless. With the exception of paint, some modern conveniences like solar power and satellite TV, it’s pretty much the same as when my grandparents and then my uncle lived here and worked the farm. They raised cattle, but Cecily opted for goats and chickens. The place is paid for and w
e’re turning over a profit, so it’s here to stay, hopefully, for at least another generation.”
The living room was decorated in the cutest shabby chic, and the kitchen looked like it could have been in a 1950s Sears catalog.
“We’ve restored as much of the original fixtures and tile as we could. Our cousin has an appliance repair place and is an awesome handyman, so Chez Shaw is good to go. Can I get you something to drink? A towel maybe?”
“I’m good, but some water would be great.”
She busied herself drying off and grabbing drinks while I looked around at the quirky place. There were elements of her personality, as well as evidence that a business was run out of this place. There were bunches of lavender hanging in front of the back windows, drying. The dining room had been turned into an office, and there were charts and boards hung on the walls that resembled the shit you’d see on Pinterest. Someone was a major planner.
“Oh, these are for the farm business over here, and this side is for the rescue. I try to keep our calendars pretty organized.”
Dinah was a woman after my own heart with her attention to detail, but I never had it in me to make things pretty or decorated. My At-A-Glance planner was black and boring. There were no stickers or doodles on the pages, just my appointments and birthdays at this point. The pages were pretty empty for the first time in my life. I looked forward to filling them up with items of my choice.
“Let’s go see our little mama.” Dinah took my hand and led me up a set of stairs at the back of the house. “My uncle added on to the original structure, so we kind of have this Winchester Mystery House thing going on. There are three separate staircases leading to the three sections of the house up here. Six bedrooms in all for me and my two sisters and our menagerie. Come on in.”
She led me into a room with a couch and a row of dog crates. I spotted Prudence and the babes immediately. I was thrilled to realize the pup was happy to see me, too.
“Hi baby,” I said as I crouched down in front of the crate. Dinah opened the door and Prudence hopped into my lap, licking my face.
Maybe it was the day’s events that led to my emotional release, or maybe it was Dinah’s hopeful smile, but all of a sudden, I couldn’t see through my tears. Or speak.
“Marianne?” Dinah sat next to me and rubbed my back as I blubbered like an idiot.
“Whatever it is, I’m here.” She sat patiently, keeping just enough physical contact that it grounded me without smothering. I didn’t need a tissue as Prudence took her clean-up duties seriously. All I could do was hold her squirmy little body and sob noiselessly.
When I finally got ahold of myself, Prudence stepped down from my leg and wandered back into the crate to check on her puppies. She was only gone briefly, and then returned to my lap as if she realized her job was not just to be a good mama, but to be my cuddle buddy.
I took a deep breath...and started from the beginning.
“I served much of my commission under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ When it was over, I never felt the need to share my status. If I would have been seeing someone, maybe, but I wasn’t, not seriously. I had this asshole of an officer working under me that couldn’t shut his fucking mouth about how the gays were ruining the military, and how he wished the next president would just outlaw it altogether. He had problems. I made it very clear that I would not tolerate that shit and eventually I had to write him up for it.”
Dinah moved behind me and began massaging my shoulders in a way that had my body feeling loose and less anxious.
“Sounds like you were in a difficult situation.”
“It shouldn’t have been, but he wouldn’t let it go. Anyway, he and some of his buddies hung out at this apartment complex near the base where we were stationed, and I’d seen him a couple of times when I went over to see a friend. Her name was Carrie, and she was studying for her Promotion Fitness Exam and Specialty Knowledge Test. Carrie obviously had a crush on me, but I hadn’t thought anything of it. I just wanted to help her get her promotion. She was a good officer and deserved it, she was just nervous about the exam. We’d only met a couple of times at her place, and always with other friends over. She wasn’t under my command, so I wasn’t breaking any rules of conduct. But then, Jacobsen was looking for a reason to fuck with me after I wrote him up.
“I should have known after our confrontation that he wasn’t going to let it go.” I sucked in a breath and exhaled, exhausted now. Talking about this shit really put me through the wringer. “The next thing I know, out of the blue, I was slapped with fraternization charges and it was either retire or face a court-martial.”
“Oh my God, Marianne! But...you said she wasn’t under your command?”
I shook my head. “Apparently didn’t matter. I was an officer and she was beneath me. The Air Force tends to pick and choose their battles, and lucky me, they chose mine.”
“All because of that guy? What an asshole! He would ruin your whole career over his stupidity?”
“Hatred is a powerful thing.” I moaned when she found a particularly sensitive spot. “My father retired about five years ago as a general. I didn’t want my father’s name, nor mine, tarnished by someone’s vengeance plot. I hate it that he won, but maybe...I don’t know. It sucks I had to retire, but I have to look at the positives. It’s been hard being away from my brother and his family and my parents for so long, and now? I don’t know.” I scratched Prudence’s head and then turned to face Dinah. “Prospects are good. I think I’m finally ready to move on.”
Dinah held eye contact with me for a long minute, and then she leaned in and kissed me slow and deep, letting me know she felt how much I’d been struggling with the circumstances around my retirement, and how much she wanted to be a part of my moving-on process.
Before things got too heated, though, Prudence barked at us. We broke apart, laughing, and Prudence pawed at me.
“It’s okay, girl.”
Her scruffy tail wagged back and forth as she looked between us as though asking permission to be a part of our little party. I scooped her up into my arms and snuggled her furry body.
“I think someone wants to move on with you,” Dinah said, smiling expectantly. “She only gets that crazy over you, you know.”
I held her up and pressed my nose to hers. “Is that true? You want to join forces with me against the world?”
She wiggled her butt even harder, and Dinah and I cracked up. She couldn’t have weighed much more than twelve or thirteen pounds, but she didn’t seem like a little dog because of her long legs.
“Well, she’s got some work to do with these pups before she’s ready to fly off into the sunset with you. We took them to the vet this week, and he thinks they’re pretty young, like maybe only two or three weeks old.”
“Wow, so she’d just had them when I picked her up, huh?”
“Seems like it. She’ll need to be with them for at least another five or six weeks until they’re ready to be adopted out.”
I put Prudence down so she could go check on her puppies, who were starting to make little whimpering noises. She carefully walked around them and lay down so they could nurse. Dinah helped me up then closed the crate door.
“She gets distracted if we’re in here,” she said as she took my hand and led me out of the room. “Don’t worry, Mama. We’ll be back.”
She closed the door behind us and led me across the hall to what I assumed was her bedroom. It was the girliest bedroom I’d ever seen in real life, and it totally fit her femininity. I loved being in her space, seeing the vanity with the large mirror where she likely spent her time creating the pinup looks I admired so much.
“So this is where the magic happens,” I said as she closed the door behind me.
“Mmmm, that depends on you.”
“On me?” I asked as she led me over to the bed and gently pushed me to sit down.
“Yes. It depends on you, and whether you have any place to be for the next—”
“Week? Nope.”
She threw her head back with a laugh, and I tugged her closer, letting my hands wander her waist and hips.
“Besides, it’s still pouring out there. I can’t think of anyplace better to be.”
Dinah smiled down at me and pulled off her shirt. “In that case, let’s make a plan.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “A plan?” I unhooked her bra, and groaned as she let it fall to the ground.
“Yes. I’m all about plans and schedules, you know. You saw my office downstairs.”
“I did. A woman after my own heart.”
“Mmmm,” she said as I ran my hands up her back, captivated by the feel of her naked skin. “I propose we spend the next hour naked and under the covers, then you let me feed you, then we take Miss Prudence out, and then we get naked some more, and then—”
I took her nipple between my lips and ran my tongue over the tip, causing her to gasp and melt into me.
“That all sounds good, but I’m retired, you know, and that means I get to live in the moment and enjoy my current activity. And I intend to enjoy you for as long as possible.”
Dinah laughed as I unfastened her pants and slid them down her slim hips. This time, the lacy panties needed to come off. I wanted my pinup girl bare for my viewing pleasure.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said as she straddled my lap, yanked my shirt off and pushed me backwards on the bed. “Now, it’s my turn to rock your world.”
I laughed but it quickly turned into a moan. “Do I have to worry about who might hear?”
Dinah shook her head as she worked her way down my body. I pulled off my sports bra and sucked in a breath as she nibbled at my pelvic bone above the waistband of my cargo pants.
“Nah. Trudy spends most of her time at her boyfriend’s house, and Cecily will be out in the barn for a while longer. She’s trying to see if her latest breeding exploits took. She’s up to her eyeballs in goat vaginas right now. Even if she comes inside, she won’t mind one bit.”
I cracked up at that visual, but then she had my pants off and did this thing with her tongue that rendered me boneless, helpless, and speechless.
Pinups and Puppies Page 6