Threads of the Heart

by Jeannie Levig

  Dusty moaned and straightened.

  Without a word, Tess took the nozzle from her grasp and fitted it into its holder. She knew what she wanted—a slow, luxurious, hot, sensuous shower. She had dreamed it, fantasized about it, even considered trying to orchestrate it during the past few months. Her body raged with want, with the need for the release only Dusty had ever been able to give her, but she wanted this, too. She stepped beneath the stream of water and, lifted her hands to her hair and let herself be soaked.

  She watched as Dusty’s eyes raked over her naked body. She could feel them as tangibly as though they were fingers running over her, touching her, teasing her, taking her. Her desire heightened even more.

  As Dusty’s gaze grew hungrier with each passing moment, Tess lathered some shower gel between her palms and stepped close. She gasped at the touch of her erect nipples against Dusty’s warm, supple flesh.

  Dusty slipped her arms around Tess’s waist as Tess slid her soapy hands up Dusty’s back. She stroked, made circles, dipped low, traced Dusty’s spine, until her entire backside was slick and sudsy. The sensations from their bodies working against one another teased Tess at least as much as she intended to tease Dusty. She squeezed her thighs together, trying to allay her craving for Dusty’s touch. Then she moved her hands to Dusty’s front.

  Dusty stood straight. She dropped her arms to her sides, a curious, small smile on her lips. Her breathing was ragged, her eyes hooded.

  Starting at her shoulders, Tess spread the gel down to Dusty’s hands, sliding her fingers in and out between Dusty’s. She caressed Dusty’s stomach and made her way to her breasts, palming her stiff, engorged nipples, massaging them between slippery fingertips.

  Dusty groaned. Her lips parted. She began a slight thrust of her hips.

  Tess moved closer, pressing herself to Dusty’s mound. She slid her hands lower, wanting to feel Dusty’s arousal, but before she reached it, Dusty gripped her wrists.

  With a jerk, she pulled Tess against her and claimed her mouth. As she sucked her bottom lip, she turned them both and pushed Tess against the hard tile.

  Tess fell into sweet surrender.

  Dusty’s mouth stilled. She gazed at Tess. A teasing glint, one that said something like, you wanted to play? burned in her eyes. She held Tess’s body against the wall with her own then raised Tess’s arms above her head and pinned them.

  Tess’s desire flared hotter. She released a low groan.

  Dusty began to move. She slid her breasts, her stomach, her mound, her thighs against Tess’s, the lather creating a sensuous glide. She set an excruciatingly slow pace, circling up and down, from side to side, occasionally slipping a thigh between Tess’s.

  Tess’s nipples grew larger, tauter, and the pulse between her legs more intense with each stroke of Dusty’s flesh. She moaned under the pressure, whined each time Dusty brushed her throbbing need.

  Dusty kissed her, hard and deep. Then, she leaned back and let the warm jets of water stream between them, rinsing away the lather, tantalizing Tess’s aching nipples. She sucked one engorged nipple into her hot mouth.

  Tess cried out and thrust against her.

  “Oh, yeah.” Dusty moaned. She grazed the tip with her teeth while she stroked the other nipple between skilled fingers. She took her time, suckling, circling, savoring, slowly driving Tess insane.

  Tess hissed in a gasp. “Yes.” She whimpered. Whatever Dusty was doing with her mouth, it was that thing she did that could almost give Tess an orgasm all by itself. She never knew what it was exactly. She just knew how much it made her ache. She tried to pump her hips, but Dusty pressed her too tightly. She wanted release, needed it, and yet, she didn’t—not quite yet. She groaned. How did Dusty know that? How did she always know? Tess’s knees grew weak, and her legs began to shake.

  Dusty slid a thigh between Tess’s and moved it against her. “Now?” she asked. She leaned in more firmly.

  Tess’s arousal rose in her throat. “Oooh, yes,” she cried.

  One hand still at Tess’s breast, Dusty moved her mouth to Tess’s ear as she caressed Tess’s wet center. “Let me hear you.” Her breath was hot. “I’ve always wanted to hear you.” She thrust her hips, quickening her pace.

  Tess met each with her own. She let out a cry with each stroke. Her orgasm built. As it peaked, she gripped Dusty’s shoulders and pulled against her. She screamed with pleasure as spasm after spasm racked her body.

  “Oh, Tess. Baby.” Dusty nibbled her ear. She continued a deliberate yet gentle rhythm until the last of Tess’s shudders subsided.

  *

  Dusty held Tess against the shower wall and breathed her in like a fine wine.

  Head back, eyes closed, her breath feathering through parted lips, she was so beautiful.

  Was Dusty dreaming? Had Tess really come to her and told her she loved her? Had they really just made love with no restraint, no restrictions? Had Tess really said she wanted to be hers? How had all that happened in just a few hours? Dusty’s mind burned with questions as fiercely as her body flamed with need. She placed a gentle kiss on Tess’s lips. “Baby?” she said.

  “Hm?” Tess only slitted her eyes. She smiled. “I love you.”

  Dusty went weak. Her breath caught. “I love you,” she managed.

  Tess twined her arms around Dusty’s neck and moved her lips over Dusty’s in a languid kiss.

  Dusty felt overwhelmed—too much emotion, too much desire. “Come to bed with me,” she murmured.

  “Yes.”

  They toweled each other dry, caressing one another between more kisses. In the bedroom, Tess backed Dusty onto the bed and crawled up over her.

  If Dusty was dreaming, she had no intention of waking any time soon.

  Tess lowered herself fully onto Dusty’s length and buried her face in her neck. She lay motionless.

  Dusty held her and drank in the moment. Her body ached with need, but so did her heart. Her heart needed this closeness. It needed a minute to savor Tess’s earlier words. I want to be yours. Could this truly be happening?

  Tess’s mouth moved on Dusty’s skin. “It’s been so hard being away from you,” she murmured. She sucked Dusty’s earlobe and flicked the tip of her tongue over the sensitive spot behind it.

  Desire throbbed between Dusty’s thighs. Her memory of her grief over the past couple weeks mingled with the overwhelming feeling of completeness in what was happening now, bringing a hard lump into her throat. “I just thought you were done with me,” she said. Her voice trembled. She knew Tess would hear the tears that threatened, but she didn’t care.

  Tess stilled again. “I doubt I will ever be done with you,” she whispered. Her tears spilled onto Dusty’s neck.

  She tightened her grasp around Tess.

  Tess gently bit Dusty’s earlobe and tugged it. She caressed the other one between her fingertips.

  Dusty closed her eyes and moaned. She slid her hands down Tess’s sides. With all the months of exploring each other, Tess knew exactly how to excite Dusty, but today, it probably wouldn’t have mattered what she did. Dusty was flying high.

  “I want you.”

  “Yes, baby. I’m yours.” Dusty gripped Tess’s hips and lifted her own, pressing her mound against Tess’s.

  Tess drew in a sharp breath. She kissed Dusty’s neck—once, twice, sucked it, nibbled it, until Dusty’s thrusts reached a steady pace. Then she rose, straddling Dusty and shifting backward.

  Dusty stared, unable to tear her attention from the view of Tess above her, naked, gazing down at her with—yes, there it was—love. The light of day bathed her skin—a sight Dusty had never seen before—and she was flushed with her own desire once again.

  Her eyes never leaving Dusty’s, Tess moved down and parted Dusty’s thighs. Her warm breath on Dusty’s swollen flesh drew a deep moan from her, and Dusty raised herself to meet Tess’s luscious mouth.

  Tess kissed her, a full, unrestrained kiss. She pressed her lips firmly against Dusty the
n slid her tongue inside her heat.

  Dusty opened wider for her just as Tess licked her full length. She cried out and clenched her fists into the comforter. As Tess’s mouth worked against her, she felt Tess’s fingers tenderly coax hers open and intertwine with them.

  Her tongue moved slowly at first, stopping occasionally to suck and kiss.

  Dusty’s breath came hard and fast. One of Tess’s hands slipped from hers, and she felt gentle fingers slide inside her. She pressed back into the mattress. “Oh, yes, baby, yes,” she cried.

  Tess thrust in deeper at a steady pace while still sucking and licking Dusty’s hard clit.

  Dusty’s orgasm ripped through her. She writhed on the bed, giving Tess every jolt, every pulse, every shudder of her release. Finally, with a groan, she relaxed, her fingers combing through Tess’s hair.

  In seconds, Tess was over her on her hands and knees. Need, not love, burned in her eyes. She lowered her torso, offering Dusty a stiff engorged nipple.

  Dusty took it hungrily at the same instant she found the apex of Tess’s open thighs. She entered her with a quick thrust.

  Tess moaned and pushed against her fingers.

  Dusty sucked hard on her nipple and waited for Tess’s hips to begin to pump. She knew they would. She let Tess wriggle on her unmoving fingers for just long enough to feel her muscles clamp around her before she shoved deep inside and ground the heel of her hand against her clit. She took Tess completely, the way she knew Tess wanted it when she was like this. With her free hand, she softly pinched Tess’s other nipple.

  “Ooh. Oooh.” Tess’s voice was hoarse. “Oooh, Dusty.” Tess keened and ground herself into Dusty’s grasp.

  Finally, they lay in each other’s arms, listening to their breathing, their calming heartbeats, the breaking surf against the beach.

  “Thank you,” Tess said.

  Eyes closed, with images and declarations of the past hour drifting through her mind, Dusty felt the words more than she heard them. “Mmm. If we’re gonna be together, you’re gonna have to stop thanking me every time we make love.”

  “Or maybe I should thank you more,” Tess said, a smile in her voice.

  Dusty considered the statement. She turned onto her side and faced Tess. “I’m confused,” she said.

  Tess brushed a lock of hair from Dusty’s forehead. “About what?”

  “Why…” How could she put it? “Why, all of a sudden, do you want to be with me?”

  “It isn’t all of a sudden. I’ve wanted it for a while. I just thought you wouldn’t want a relationship with me. With anyone, really, but certainly not with me.”

  “You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted a relationship with,” Dusty said.

  Tess studied her. “Why?”

  “I…I dunno.” How stupid could she sound? Wasn’t this the moment she was supposed to have all those romantic, perfect things to say? “I’ve never fallen in love with anyone else. I think you’re the one I’m supposed to be with.” She touched Tess’s swollen lips. “I’m a better person since I fell in love with you.”

  Tess kissed her fingertip. “I don’t know about that.” She smiled. “You’ve been pretty amazing with me from the start. You brought me back to life, Dusty. You and Maggie.”

  There. There was one of those perfect things. Embarrassed by the significance of the statement, Dusty blushed. “You mean your friendship with Maggie, right?” The joke lightened the moment. “Not you and Maggie like this.” She wiggled her finger between them.

  Tess laughed and stroked Dusty’s cheek. “Yes. My friendship with Maggie. I haven’t been with anyone but you in four years.”

  Dusty thought of JoAnn, the Halloween party, Tess’s frequent absences for the past several weeks. She knew she didn’t have the right to feel any particular way about JoAnn, but she couldn’t stop herself. She averted her eyes. “What about…”

  Tess cupped Dusty’s chin and brought her gaze back to her own. “I haven’t been with anyone but you in four years,” she repeated. “And I haven’t wanted to be.”

  Dusty felt ridiculously happy. She’d never been the jealous type, but the thought of Tess with JoAnn had tortured her. Or maybe it’d been the thought of not being with Tess ever again that’d tortured her. She shrugged it off. She was right here with Tess now, and JoAnn was nowhere in sight. “I haven’t wanted to be with anyone else for a while, either. I mean, it hasn’t been four years.” She grinned and gave a small shrug. “It’s been five months, except for the night I found out about JoAnn. But five months is kinda a long time for me.”

  Tess fell silent, tenderness in her eyes. “Yes, it is. I didn’t know that.”

  “How would you?” With a start, Dusty realized they were talking, not just about Baxter or where Maggie was or what needed to be done around the house before a gathering. They were talking about themselves, about their feelings, about actually being together. They were having the conversation she’d been wanting. It was time to say everything. “Tess, I love you. And I don’t want anyone else ever again.”

  “I love you, Dusty.” Smiling, Tess closed her eyes. She looked like she was just taking in the words and their meaning. “This is the most remarkable day I’ve ever had. Who knew, even when we woke up this morning, we’d be lying in each other’s arms talking about really being together?”

  “I did.” She rolled onto her back and slipped her arm around Tess. “All that being snippy with you and leaving and coming here was just a ploy to get you alone for once. I even paid Eve to help.”

  Tess cuddled against her and laughed. “Oh, really? Well, you were certainly clever about it. I didn’t suspect a thing.”

  Dusty chuckled. “I’m very good, you know.”

  Tess sighed. “Yes, you are.” She circled Dusty’s bare nipple with a fingernail. “Very good.”

  Dusty slipped her hand over Tess’s and squeezed it. “I do have one concern, though.”

  Tess stilled. “What is it?”

  “I dunno how compatible we are. Really,” Dusty said, drawing out the words.

  Tess lifted her head from Dusty’s shoulder and gazed up at her. “We are different, but a lot of couples are different.”

  “Yeah, but you voted for blue M&Ms. What’s up with that?” Dusty shook her head. “Now purple, that’s a solid, respectable, gay color. You know, there’re lavender triangles and there’s lavender jewelry.”

  Tess narrowed her eyes. “Blue’s in the pride rainbow.”

  “Yeah, but really—”

  “Do you want to know the real reason I voted for blue?” Tess snaked onto Dusty’s body and kissed her lightly on the lips, her breasts cushioned against Dusty’s.

  Dusty sighed, desire stirring within her. “Sure.”

  Tess gazed at her. “It’s the color of the eyes of the woman I love,” she whispered.

  Dusty stilled. She knew she’d never get tired of hearing those words, of being that woman, but she couldn’t let this pass. She laughed. “I don’t even think we were sleeping together, then.”

  Tess moved against her. “We were. And even though I might not have known I was in love with you—or would fall in love with you—I had looked into those beautiful eyes while you held me.” She hugged Dusty’s shoulders, rubbing her breasts against Dusty’s. “When you moved closer to kiss me.” She flicked her tongue across Dusty’s lips. “While you were inside me.” She slid her hand between Dusty’s thighs.

  Dusty groaned.

  They made love again and then drifted off to sleep, entwined around one another.

  When Dusty woke, she found Tess resting on an elbow, looking down at her. “Hi,” she said. “Whatcha doing?”

  “Staring at you. And thinking.”

  “’Bout what?”

  “I have a dilemma.” Tess trailed a fingertip along Dusty’s collarbone. “I want to go home with you, to our home, and have Thanksgiving dinner with our family. I want to tell them I’m in love with you and that I want to spend the rest of my life in y
our arms. I want to go to sleep tonight with you and wake up with you tomorrow and the next day and the day after.”

  Dusty kissed her. “Sounds like a great plan,” Dusty whispered against her lips. “I don’t hear the dilemma.”

  “I also want to stay here with you and have some time to ourselves.”

  “Mmm, equally great, as far as plans go,” Dusty said. “How about this? We get up and go home for dinner and share our news with everyone. Then we come back here and make love and walk on the beach and eat takeout for the next two days. I have the place through the weekend.”

  “And I thought I loved you before.”

  “So, are you ready to get dressed and head home for dinner?” Dusty grazed Tess’s cheek with her thumb.

  Tess hesitated. “What time is it?”

  Dusty glanced at the clock on the nightstand behind Tess. “Three-ish.”

  Tess lowered her eyelids. “One more time?”

  Dusty groaned and eased Tess onto her back.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Addison lifted the turkey from the oven and set it on the rack on the counter. It smelled and looked delicious, as did anything Maggie cooked. Eve and Sammi were putting the finishing touches on the table setting, and Maggie was busy pulling out serving dishes for all the trimmings and sides. The holiday dinner was ready, and Addison was so happy to be home, but she felt a hole in the celebration with Tess and Dusty absent.

  Dusty, they’d already known that morning, wouldn’t be there. She was just out doing what Dusty did—though Addison did feel, given it was her homecoming as well, Dusty could’ve changed her plans—but where was Tess? She’d told Eve she’d be back in time for dinner. It wasn’t like her to just disappear without telling anyone where she was going.

  “What are you thinkin’ about, luv?” Maggie slipped her arm around Addison’s waist and shifted her away from the cupboard that held the accessories to the good china. She opened the door and squatted in front of it.

  “Just wondering where Tess is, and wishing Dusty was here.” She took the gravy boat from Maggie and helped her to her feet. She pulled her into her arms. “But I’m glad you’re here.”