by Laney Webber
Lee’s fingers drew a line along the inside of Jannika’s left thigh and Jannika whimpered.
Lee slid first one, then two fingers inside Jannika.
“Oh my God, Nick.” Lee’s voice was husky and low. “You’re so wet.”
Jannika arched her back. “Please, Lee. Now. Now.” Jannika’s hands gripped the blankets and her head moved from side to side.
Lee moved her two fingers in and out of Jannika’s wetness, exploring the feel of her. Jannika’s hips began to pump in time with Lee’s fingers. Lee withdrew her fingers and nuzzled her, moaning and exploring Jannika deeper with her tongue. She moved her tongue in and out of Jannika’s wetness and Jannika spread her legs even wider. Lee found Jannika’s clit with her tongue and spread her lips with two fingers, playing her tongue over Jannika’s clit while Jannika moaned and thrashed beneath her.
Lee’s hips began to jerk and she was wet and hot with desire.
Jannika grabbed wildly at the blankets. Her hips bucked. Lee slid two fingers into Jannika and Jannika’s body became still and tense as she contracted around Lee’s fingers.
Jannika growled a low moan as she came.
Lee’s back arched and her thighs gripped together. She cried out. “Oh yes. You are so beautiful right now.” Lee removed her fingers slowly and kissed the inside of Jannika’s thigh.
“Come here,” Jannika said as she tried to pull Lee up to her.
“I’m here.” Lee moved onto her side to be next to Jannika.
“If you touch me again, I’ll come,” Jannika said.
Lee slid her thigh between Jannika’s legs. “Let’s see about that.” Lee put her hand over Jannika’s pussy, then curved her middle finger so it slipped easily inside.
Jannika groaned and pushed herself down onto Lee’s hand.
Lee stroked in and out, curving her middle finger each time she pulled out.
Jannika gasped for air, opened her legs, and came hard while Lee held her.
Wetness coated the inside of Lee’s thighs as her hips pumped wildly.
Jannika’s left hand went in search of Lee’s center, urging Lee to open her legs. Jannika’s eyes never left Lee’s as she slid one finger into her. “You are burning up.”
Lee nodded.
“Let me fix that.” Jannika slid two, then three fingers easily and moved them slowly in and out as Lee rocked on her hand.
Lee threw her head back and groaned.
Jannika moved her thigh closer to her hand that was working Lee. Lee’s hand gripped Jannika’s hip, moving in time with her thrusts. Jannika turned her fingers slightly as she moved them in and out.
“Oh, Nick, yes.” Lee’s voice broke as she panted and gasped for air, her hips grinding down into Jannika’s hand and thigh.
Jannika kissed Lee’s neck.
Lee’s body relaxed and Jannika slowly removed her hand but kept her palm on Lee’s mound. Jannika slid her thigh away a few inches and continued to kiss Lee’s neck.
“Your hand.” Lee’s reply was a low growl.
“Hmm, what about my hand?” Jannika asked. “I’m not doing anything.”
“I know and it’s driving me crazy.” Lee moved her hips back and forth.
“Stay still for a minute,” Jannika said. She bent her head over Lee’s breast and circled the nipple with her tongue. Lee’s hips bucked. “Shh. Easy,” Jannika whispered to Lee’s breast.
“Oh my God, Jannika. I need to move.”
“Just another minute.” Jannika filled her mouth with breast, then slowly released Lee’s breast up to the nipple which she kept in her mouth. She teased the nipple with the tip of her tongue and applied a little pressure to Lee’s pussy with her other hand.
Lee flung her head back and small staccato moans filled the room.
Jannika sucked on Lee’s nipple and slid a finger into Lee’s wetness. Lee grabbed for the headboard with one hand and pushed against Jannika’s hand as she came.
“That was amazing,” Jannika said.
“Incredible.” Lee wrapped her arms around Jannika and Jannika gave Lee a little pat, then caressed the small of Lee’s back.
“Wonderful,” Jannika whispered.
“Marvelous,” Lee whispered back.
They kissed slow, relaxed kisses, exploring each other’s bodies with the fascination of new lovers. Jannika jumped when Lee kissed her right knee.
“Sorry,” Jannika said.
“Ticklish knees?” Lee propped herself up on one elbow alongside Jannika.
“Just one.”
“Just one knee?” Lee asked.
“I know it’s weird, but yes, just my right knee.” Jannika rubbed her kneecap where Lee had kissed it. “Are you ticklish?”
“Yes,” Lee said. “But I’m not going to tell you where. You’re going to have to find out.”
Jannika started pecking little kisses on Lee’s forehead and cheek. “There? There?” She stopped and looked at Lee.
“You know, don’t you, we just fulfilled about seven of my fantasies about making love with you,” Jannika said.
“Seven? How many do you have?”
“Hundreds, maybe thousands.” She bit her lip. “I’m hungry.”
“So you have a ticklish right knee, you get hungry after sex, and you have hundreds of sex fantasies about me?”
“Thousands.” Jannika grinned.
“Then let’s feed you, and maybe you can share a few of those fantasies with me. There’s some cold chicken and apple pie downstairs.”
“Yum.” Jannika jumped out of bed and threw on her shirt. “Let’s go.”
“And you jump out of bed after sex like the sheets are on fire.”
Lee grabbed her pants and shirt and put them on as she followed Jannika down the hallway to the stairs. She stopped in the living room to put a couple of logs in the woodstove. “I don’t want those beautiful long legs getting cold.”
“I probably should have put my pants on.”
“You never have to put pants on again, as far as I’m concerned.”
Jannika loved the way Lee looked at her. She took the roasting pan out of the fridge and they stood at the kitchen counter ripping pieces of chicken off the bird.
“This is fantastic,” Jannika said. “Do you like the skin? The crispy bits of skin are the best part. God, why does food always taste so good after sex?” Jannika popped a piece of skin in her mouth with greasy fingers.
Lee stepped closer. “Because after sex every nerve, every sense is heightened. Here, let me show you.” Lee took Jannika’s hand. “I believe you have some chicken grease still on your fingers.” She licked the tip of each finger while she looked at Jannika. Then Lee turned her hand over and gently kissed the palm, making small circles with the tip of her tongue.
Jannika’s knees buckled and a shiver zipped down her spine.
“You taste incredible. Hey, Nick.” Lee grabbed Jannika and held her steady. She whispered in her ear, “When do I get to hear about the rest of those fantasies?”
“How does in five minutes sound?”
“Too long,” Lee replied.
Chapter Eighteen
The bright November sun woke Jannika and she stretched the full length of the bed. Or tried to. Her heels hit the footboard. “Crap. Work.” She looked for a clock. “It’s only eight.” She breathed a sigh of relief and stretched her limbs again. Her body felt wonderful, her muscles were loose, and she wasn’t sure she could describe how she felt. She felt…new. Her face grew warm as details of their night together floated through her mind and connected, making one steamy mind movie. They didn’t get very much sleep last night. The sky was brightening when she’d finally closed her eyes, wrapped Lee’s arm around her waist, and backed herself closer to Lee’s warm body. But she felt rested. She felt better than she could ever remember feeling.
Her mind went back to those few long-ago weeks at Girl Scout camp. She’d had a girlfriend before that summer, but she’d never had the kind of all-consuming crush on anyone until she
’d met Lee. She’d spent hours at camp thinking about and hoping that Lee would touch her or kiss her. Later, those thoughts and fantasies became more explicit. And now she was in Lee’s bed and nothing she’d ever dreamed came close to the reality of them together.
And they might never have had this chance to be together if she hadn’t, several years later, taken the advice Lee gave her at camp, the advice that gave her the strength to leave her mother’s house. Lee was the first person to whom Jannika confessed her feeling of not being good enough, even as a baby, for her father to stick around. In the years since that summer, she’d worked through some of that with a few therapists. But the feeling of being not one hundred percent lovable dogged her until Lee came back into her life.
As she looked around the farmhouse bedroom and smelled coffee brewing, and heard either music playing or Lee singing, she thought she finally might be free. She was beginning to see herself through Lee’s eyes. She threw on a robe Lee must have put at the foot of the bed and followed the coffee aroma to the kitchen. She looked around for Lee, but didn’t see her.
The mudroom door opened and there stood a smiling rose-cheeked Lee. When their eyes met, Jannika knew she would remember the look on Lee’s face this morning, for the rest of her life. She liked the sound of that, the rest of her life. Hope fluttered in her heart for the first time in a very long time.
“Hey, Nick.”
“Hey yourself, beautiful.”
“I wanted to let you sleep in—you looked so relaxed and peaceful. I got the stove running and water’s hot for tea. I was fiddling with some things out in the barn.”
“I wish I didn’t have to go to work today, but Sarah’s covered a lot of hours for me lately.”
“Even though I’d love to have you all to myself today and continue what we started last night, I know you have a business to run. But I think we only covered a bare minimum of your fantasies.” Lee held her and spoke the words into the base of her neck as she filled the spaces between her words with kisses.
“You can’t do that and expect me to go to work.” Jannika felt the deep beat of desire thrum in her body. Her hands traveled over Lee’s back and into the curve of her lower back. She pulled her closer.
“I don’t want to be anywhere but right here,” Lee said. An internal video of the two of them together making many breakfasts and dinners in the farmhouse kitchen caught Lee off guard. She was used to taking relationships day by day ever since Shannon’s death, and the future didn’t factor in. Until now. She liked it but felt a touch of wariness. Having a future with someone also meant that future could be taken away.
“I don’t want to go.” Jannika took a deep breath. “But I have to.”
“I’ll make us some breakfast while you get ready for work, how does that sound?” Lee was finding it difficult to keep her hands busy and away from Nick’s warm naked body under the green checked flannel robe. Just one pull on that loose loop she had tied around her waist…No, concentrate on breakfast. It was easier for her to stay tuned in to her body’s desire for Jannika than it was to feel her heart soften and expand because of this beautiful woman. Even though she acted open and available, the truth was she hadn’t allowed any woman access to the deepest part of her heart. She was amazed that the thread of connection between her and Jannika hadn’t broken, even after eighteen years of life and love and heartbreak. Every time she talked to Jannika, touched her, and spent time with her, more threads seemed to wind around that initial connection, making it stronger and everlasting.
Jannika said, “I think I’ll enjoy the lovely breakfast you’re going to make, then stop by my place on the way to the store and take a shower and change.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Lee kept her hands busy whisking eggs in a bowl.
Jannika turned to go upstairs.
“Hey, Nick,” Lee said.
“Hey what?”
“Thanks for staying the night.” She let her happiness pour from her heart.
Jannika blushed. “You’re very welcome.” She flashed open the robe and ran upstairs.
***
Jannika got to the store five minutes before opening, humming U2’s “Beautiful Day.” Sarah met her at the door.
“Well, someone’s in a good…whoa. I know you’re my boss and everything.” Sarah lowered her voice, whispering, “But way to go, boss lady.”
Jannika felt her cheeks flush.
“I love when people are happy,” Sarah said. “It’s all around you. What would you like me to do today? Let’s do something fun.”
“I planned on changing out the displays on the shelves above the windows, if you think that’ll be fun.”
“I have a feeling anything we do today will be fun. I’ll get the ladder,” Sarah said.
“I’ll grab some books.”
Sarah held on to the stepladder, and they passed books back and forth, changing out the displays. They spent the remainder of the day busy helping many of their regular customers and two busloads of tourists who were on their way to a craft festival in the White Mountains.
She called Lee after she got home. “Hey you.”
“Hey yourself. I’ve got some lasagna in the oven and thought you might like to come over for dinner tonight. I’d also like to show you my park, maybe Sunday?” Lee asked.
Everything that had happened with Lee the past couple of days was wonderful and terrifying too. Was it all too good to be true? That she could be with her after all these years? Doubts flashed through her mind.
“Lee, I think I need a night at my place. To…I don’t know. My day started out great as you know, but then it went downhill. Sunday sounds great, though.” She knew that if she was alone with Lee at the farmhouse, she’d be spending the night again, which sounded wonderful to all of her body but only part of her brain. Things felt almost too easy and too comfortable with Lee. She was in unknown territory and didn’t trust her footing.
“I’m disappointed that I won’t be seeing you tonight, but completely understand about needing time to yourself.” Jannika warmed to Lee’s understanding. “When I feel overloaded, I need to get away and be by myself. I usually go to the woods.”
“Am I supposed to say color me surprised? It’s interesting that for both of us elements of our jobs are also what replenishes us.”
“We both love our jobs. I’ll pick you up late morning on Sunday. Around eleven?”
“But we might talk before then, right?”
“I hope so,” Lee said. “Good night.”
“Good night.” She hoped a night alone would be exactly what she needed.
Chapter Nineteen
They drove south, passing two-hundred-year-old farmhouses set close to the road and clusters of new homes set down long driveways and built on old farmland. Jannika thought the new developments tried in vain to hold on to a bit of history with names like Orchard Estates, The Maples, and Birchwood Acres. The vibrant yellows and reds of the October trees were gone, only the stubborn brown oak leaves remaining on the trees. She loved fall in New England and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
“There was frost on the pumpkin this morning, as my grandmother used to say.” Lee reached over and held Jannika’s hand.
“And I saw two woolly bear caterpillars this morning in my driveway. I can never remember, is it when the brown bands are large there’s a bad winter coming, or is it the black bands?” She thought she sounded like a high school student. Part of her did feel like a teenager again around Lee. And now they were going to the state park. Into the woods. She felt physically charged at the prospect of being along in the woods with Lee. Again. She tried to pay attention to the conversation and not how Lee’s lips formed words.
“The black bands. How did yours look?”
“I think there was a lot of black on the ends, not much brown,” Jannika said. She turned her head to look at Lee and squeezed her hand. She decided to tell Lee what she was feeling instead of trying to act cool. “This might sound weird, but I
feel like I’m noticing things again since we met. Small things, like the woolly bears.”
Lee picked up Jannika’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Not weird at all. I seem to be waking up with my batteries fully charged lately. I think it has something to do with the company I’ve been keeping.” Lee flashed a big smile. “I can’t wait to show you Watts Lake. It’s a great little park. I think it’s going to be a good fit for me.”
Lee stopped the truck at a metal gate.
“Do you need any help?” Jannika asked. She wanted to be helpful. She wanted Lee to think she was competent.
“Sure.” Lee put a hand-carved key ring in the shape of a loon in Jannika’s hand and handed her a blaze-orange vest from the back seat. “Hunting season. You can unlock the gate, let me through, then lock her up again.”
Jannika put on the vest, managed the gate, then hopped back in the truck. She noticed Lee watching her and felt her ears grow warm.
Lee drove down a pine needle carpeted road and pulled the truck into the Park Manager Only spot next to a small brown house with white trim. They hopped out of the truck. Lee put on her orange vest and Jannika handed her the loon key ring.
“Let’s take a walk around, and then I’ll show you the cabin and the office on the way out. You might want to grab your hat and gloves. It can feel colder in the park than out here in the parking lot.”
“I don’t think I ever feel cold when I’m close to you.” Jannika pulled on a hat and mittens that Aunt Gunnie knit her a couple of years ago. She had a chest full of hats, mittens, sweaters, and afghans that her aunt had made her since she was a little girl. Whenever she wanted to feel close to Aunt Gunnie, she would snuggle up with one of her multicolored crocheted afghans. She’d lost some of them when she left her mother’s house, but Aunt Gunnie was a prolific knitter and crocheter.
Lee’s cheeks turned pink and she offered her arm to Jannika.
They walked the roads of Watts Lake State Park while Lee told her the history of the park and identified trees and bushes along the way. Their breath made little clouds in the crisp November air. Lee pointed to one of the park’s lean-tos.