Coming Together: At Last, Volume One

by Alessia Brio, L. A. Banks, Lisabet Sarai

  Instead she watched Kit make her way through the crowd; that long thin body agile as it forced its way to through the chattering kids to the register. There, she was quick to order and Andrea admired Kit's hands as she used them to point out what she wanted from the overhead menu. Like small pale gold birds, they fluttered to and fro and against her will, Andrea could remember how warm Kit's hands were, how strong.

  Youth had given her that boundless warmth, but Kit was strong the way the gym-bound were, which made Andrea wonder about what else showed the gym results and that had her diving nose-first into her coffee. Thoughts like that were so not the way to keep a pleasant professional demeanor. Still, Andrea found her eyes following as Kit took her coffee and ambled toward the booth catty-corner to Andrea's.

  She wasn't surprised to see Kit pull a book from inside her bulky jacket but Andrea did do a double take when she recognized the cover. Without thinking, she called out, “Kit, you read Dean Koontz too?"

  Kit, halfway into her seat, twisted to face her, her eyes suddenly wide. “Miz Francis! I didn't see you there.” Her drawl was like a heavy dollop of sticky molasses down Andrea's back, making her swallow and squeeze her thighs against a flare of heat. “Uh, yeah, I like Koontz."

  Andrea only half forced a grin as she raised her book, the same one in Kit's hands. “He's my favorite mystery/horror writer,” she said cheerfully then waved Kit over even while bells sounded in her head.

  Inviting the target of your lust closer was just foolishness. But it was too late now as Kit, her eyes still carrying faint shock at seeing Andrea, meandered over and slid into the seat across from Andrea, her denim-clad legs briefly brushing Andrea's nylon-clad ones. She sipped her coffee and willed herself to ignore the tingles that rushed up and down her calves at the contact.

  When Kit was comfortable, Andrea managed a smile. “So what has you liking Koontz?"

  Kit smiled a little nervously. “It's scary in that real way, you know? There was one I was readin’ where the guy's like, weedin’ his lawn or somethin’ and he gets a ransom call. Just boom, out of the blue. Movies make it seem unrealistic but that, I dunno, it was real. Average guy and suddenly, he's bein’ told to make a whole lotta money appear like now."

  Andrea nodded. She remembered that book; it was one of her favorites and she still remembered shivering in her bed after she'd finished it. Dean Koontz could pen one chilling tale, yes sir!

  "How about Stephen King? Do you like him too?” She knew many people who liked to put the two authors up for comparison.

  Kit shook her head, her corkscrew curls flying. “Not as much ‘cause he's more horror and I like a good bit of mystery to go with my chills, you know?"

  Andrea laughed, delighted to find someone who thought exactly as she did. How strange to find something in common with someone literally two decades younger than she! While she understood her students and got along with many, it was more than a little rare to find someone who clearly loved reading as much as she.

  Andrea tossed out another author to keep the conversation going, curious to see how much more Kit and she had in common and before she knew it, they'd branched into other topics. They found they were both Democratic, liked listening to music from different countries, hated reality shows and doubly hated fancy expensive coffee.

  Laughing at Kit's expression at the word ‘latte', Andrea chanced a glance at her watch and was surprised to see that a good hour and a half had gone by. She couldn't remember having so much fun with just one person. She wasn't a dater by any means, finding first dates difficult and stilted but with Kit; everything had flowed so beautifully that she'd forgotten everything but the woman in front of her.

  And that, she realized with a jolt, was a bad thing. Andrea glanced into Kit's bright gaze, ready to make her excuses and escape this new disturbing development only to get snagged in the serious look in them. “Is there something wrong?” she asked, tilting her head.

  Kit bit her lip then took a deep breath. She'd taken off her jacket sometime in the conversation and wore a baggy black shirt that concealed any hint of womanly curves until she took that breath. Which meant Andrea could see the outline of a generous chest minus any of the betraying lines of a bra.

  The slick heat between her legs grew hotter and she had to fight not to squirm. Then Kit spoke and the soft roll of her voice made everything wetter and tighter. “I wanted to apologize, again for yesterday,” Kit said slowly. “It really was out of line and I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just ... I really like you."

  Andrea closed her eyes. Before it'd been only a little difficult to say no because she hadn't truly known Kit outside of the teacher-student sphere. But now, after learning more about her and talking to her more than Andrea could really remember talking to anyone that wasn't family, the idea of rejecting her unasked question was doubly difficult.

  "Kit, I...” She opened her eyes at the heavy sigh from across the table, finding Kit biting her lip and looking away.

  "You don't have to say it, Miz Francis. I know you're not interested,” she said bleakly.

  Andrea frowned hard, suddenly annoyed. “Do you have to keep calling me Ms. Francis?” she almost snapped. “We're not in school here. I think its okay if you call me Andrea and I call you Kit."

  Kit blinked and the cautious hope that rippled over her face made Andrea want to kick herself. First name basis? Was she nuts? Or just too needy to think straight? Kit cleared her throat and Andrea looked up reluctantly only to bite back a groan at Kit's small smile.

  "Andrea,” she said, testing it out. Andrea almost melted at the way her name rolled of Kit's tongue, wrapped in that heavy, thick-as-syrup Southern drawl. “Wow. I only said your name in my head. Uh, I mean...” Kit tried to make up for it but Andrea was already chuckling, feeling flattered and tender and amused all at once.

  Kit groaned and dropped her face into her palm. “I'm such a dork. You probably think I'm crazy now."

  Andrea chuckled again. “I'm actually very flattered. Though ... you did sound just a teensy bit crazy,” she couldn't resist teasing and was rewarded with another groan and an exaggerated eye roll of dismay. Then she sobered up and found herself reaching forward to touch Kit's arm, trying not to notice the way her dark skin looked against the pale gold of Kit's.

  "I can't date you only because I'm your teacher,” Andrea said, more for herself than Kit because she realized she wanted to date Kit. Hell, they were practically on one now. And that gave her an idea that wouldn't really help things but damn it, she really enjoyed Kit's company too much to just drop back into teacher/student mode without giving them both at least something.

  "But ... but I think if we bumped into each other again, maybe we could share a booth together? Talk about books some more?” Andrea was surprised to found herself holding her breath while Kit stared at her, those green eyes unblinking.

  Even her crazy curls were still. Then Kit smiled slowly, reminding Andrea of the steady rise of the morning sun. “I'd like that Miz ... Andrea. I'd like that a lot."

  Andrea smiled and breathed at the same time. “Alright then. That's great."

  That was just wonderful.

  * * * *

  Jamie crowed for a good hour when Kit told him the amazing news over the phone. “I knew she liked you. I can totally see it now. She'll be the prim housewife and you can be the husband with the porker of a strap on."

  She laughed in horror. “Oh, you're fuckin’ crazy, you know that? We're not even datin’ and you have us already married?” Kit's heart all but pounded out of her chest at the thought.

  Marriage. Man, she wasn't even finished with school yet! “Slow it down, Jamie. I have to get the date first."

  "You will,” he said with a confidence Kit wished she shared. “Hell, you're practically dating now. Bumping into each other in the same coffee shop at the same time and then sharing a booth to chat? Yeah, in my book, that's dating, baby. The only thing missing is the sloppy tongue action."

 
; The idea of kissing Andrea shot Kit's temperature through the roof. Between her legs, frosted heat blossomed, sending chills rippling through her thighs and straight up into her nipples.

  Rubbing them only made the chills stronger. “Gotta work up to that too,” she managed then froze when the sound of the front door slamming sang through the small house. “Oh shit, Dina's here and I think she's pissed."

  "Great, you're gonna get an earful,” Jamie's frown was almost audible. “Just lock your door and blast some tunes. She'll eventually slink away."

  "Yeah,” Kit mumbled and hurried to her bedroom door, shutting and locking it. Her room was technically the tiny guest room but it was private and since she no longer shared a bed with Dina, more than what she needed. Just a little longer, she promised herself. Granted, working a drive thru didn't give her a whole lot of spending money but she'd saved up enough of a nest egg to risk moving out, probably after graduation.

  Then with that certificate in hand, she was off to greener pastures. “I gotta go, Jamie. Got some homework. We'll meet up tomorrow and get breakfast, okay?"

  "Kay-kay. Sleep well darling and ignore the dragon bitch from hell,” he sang and Kit laughed as she hung up.

  Not a few seconds later, Dina Marshall was pounding on her door. “Open this fucking door, Kit!"

  Heart pounding, Kit stayed on her little twin bed, staring at the door like it was going to eat her. She hated that she was afraid of Dina but she'd never been what you'd call brave. She was kind of a bottom and very mellow. Sure, she may have dressed a little funky and made people think twice about approaching her but Kit had always been and would always be, more of the girl in any relationship, no matter her gentlemanly behavior.

  And unfortunately, she was a bit of a weak girl. “I don't want to talk to you, Dina,” Kit said and hated the wobble in her voice. “We'll just fight and I don't need anymore bruises."

  "I said open this fucking door,” Dina roared. “We need to talk about the phone bill. I'm sick of you calling that goddamn queen Jamie at all hours of the night. It's expensive and you sure as hell ain't making bank."

  Because Jamie didn't have a house phone and Kit didn't own a cell phone, Kit was forced to call his cell phone from the house phone, which unfortunately was a different area code and brought on charges. While Kit tried to keep track of the time she was on the phone with him, he was her best friend and sometimes they got sidetracked into talking about ... well, everything.

  Swallowing hard because Dina did have a point, Kit gingerly slid of the bed and on bare feet, padded over to the door where she unlocked it and cracked it open. Dina stood on the other side, a curvaceous half-black, half-Asian woman who was the epitome of lipstick lesbian. Even now, she wore a short, flared blue skirt that just barely touched the tops of her long thighs and a complicated top that was made up of crisscrossing white/blue straps. Her super straight, super shiny dark hair fell around her face and only seemed to emphasize the faintly slanted blue eyes, smooth brown skin and pouty red lips.

  At one point, Kit would have loved the sight of Dina's tall, athletic body so barely covered but now, she felt a little short and a lot scared. Especially when she saw that Dina wore her favorite pair of shoes with the ice-pick thin heels. A white sheet was clenched in one manicured hand.

  When Kit didn't open the door further, Dina's mouth tightened and she jerked the paper up, almost smacking the door with it. “Two thousand fucking dollars, Kit. What are you talking to him about that chalks up two thousand dollars in a month?"

  Blanching, Kit's fingers squeezed the doorknob tight. She'd never be able to pay Dina that. “I ... I didn't know. I'm sorry Dina but I didn't know I was on the phone for so long. I was tryin’ to watch the time, I really was."

  "I was trying, I really was,” Dina mimicked her, her flat California-bred voice mocking Kit's Southern drawl. “Well, try harder. I'm a banker's secretary, not the bank itself and I'm not gonna keep paying for your queen to talk to you. Either drop the cost or get the hell out, understand?"

  Kit nodded through the crack, nodded fast and knew she showed her worry at being homeless despite the fact that Dina used that threat whenever she wanted to intimidate Kit. Though Kit wasn't quite sure why she believed it since Dina would never actually kick her out. She liked tormenting Kit far too much to ever willingly give her the boot.

  What was worse is that she really had no other places to go. Jamie shared an apartment with two other guys and her parents were in a completely different state. If Dina ever truly decided to boot her out, Kit would be living on the streets unless she gave up on college and went back to Alabama to play the spinster lesbian daughter.

  She gave her head a mental shake and a dredged a weak smile for the gimlet-eyed Dina. “I promise to be more careful,” she whispered and Dina snorted, thankfully turning away with just the one threat.

  "I'm going out,” she threw over her shoulder. “If you cook something, clean the hell up and make something other than that greasy Southern chicken. I hate having a house that smells like goddamn KFC.” Then a door slammed and Kit was temporarily free of her ex. She closed her door gingerly and rested her forehead against it, her heart pounding.

  She was so lucky that Dina hadn't been mad enough to start a real fight over the bill. The woman was no holds barred and had a sharpshooter's aim with anything she could get her hands on. And sometimes, when it got too bad and Dina got in her face, Kit was blocking blows from the taller woman. It made her wonder, for the thousandth time how she'd missed Dina's cruel nature.

  Granted, Kit had wanted a somewhat bossy girlfriend because sometimes she just didn't have a clue how to act. Dina had fit the role so perfectly; a woman unafraid to be female who'd whipped Kit into shape, fed her and moved her into her house. It was partially because of Dina's urging that Kit was in school though Dina hated that Kit only wanted a general education associate's degree instead of a bachelor's or master's in something more ... productive, like the medical field.

  Even Kit could admit she'd been somewhat pussy-whipped for the year and half they'd dated until the backbone Dina had so often demanded she grow had finally pushed through enough for Kit to see that Dina was not trying to help Kit better herself but was trying to make her into Dina's ideal.... something. But whatever it was sure hadn't meant ‘equal’ and Kit had finally left her.

  Only to discover that she had no way to get permanently free without money and that Dina could hold a grudge with the best of them. And so she lived, in a state of fear and worry, terrified that one day Dina really would just boot her out or kill her in one of her temper tantrums.

  Kit closed her eyes and pretended she didn't feel the tear rise and fall. She just needed a little more time. And then she was sure she'd get away. Somehow.

  * * * *

  A week of ‘bumping into’ Kit made Andrea finally admit to the both of them that they were, indeed, dating. Her moral code shrieked in warning but when Kit's eyes lit up with the pleasure of hearing her officially say it, well that just about deafened Andrea to everything else. Nothing much changed except Kit's smiles were just a little bit more intimate and Andrea found herself imagining doing something else with Kit outside of coffee.

  Dinner, movie ... cuddling. She looked up from her cup and found Kit smiling at her, her hair as normal as possible in one long ponytail. Silky black bangs fell forward to cover one eye and brush a cheek. Andrea was amazed to see that it was so long and imagined it free and spread out on her pillows, spilling over her belly, her thighs...

  She cleared her throat when Kit started to blush. “Ah, sorry, spaced a little,” Andrea smiled and Kit just laughed.

  "Makes me wonder where you went,” she said softly, pointing at her eyes. “These were kinda smokin'."

  Andrea couldn't help the quick steamy smile. “I'll tell you soon,” she promised and almost melted when Kit's mouth fell open just a bit and her eyes darkened. Desire sat between them like a heavy stone dropped in water, sending out reverberating
ripples through them both.

  Kit blushed a little harder and Andrea couldn't resist reaching out a hand to trace over those reddened cheeks. The heat was intense, coating Andrea's fingers as she stroked the soft skin. She wanted to drop her fingers down and touch those parted lips but if she did, she'd be tempted to switch fingers for mouth and that just wouldn't do.

  Not yet when they hadn't even had a real date. Pulling her fingers away reluctantly, she captured Kit's fingers and reveled at the difference in skin tone, the way Kit's fingers were a little rougher than hers. If she remembered correctly, Kit worked in fast food and days of hitting buttons again and again had given her ever so faint calluses that felt so wonderful against Andrea's soft palm.

  "Go out to dinner with me tonight,” she said, squeezing and releasing Kit's fingers quickly before someone saw. Just because she was able to ignore her own teacher ethic didn't mean she should pretend everyone else would. It would be damning to be seen in intimate straits with a student.

  Kit's eyes turned soft and warm. “I'm off at eight,” she said. “But I don't have a car..."

  Andrea waved her hand. “No need. Just bring yourself and I'll take care of everything else."

  Kit smiled a little shyly. “Are all older women so decisive?"

  Andrea grinned. “If they've been raised right, you better believe it, girl.” That brought out shared laughter that had Andrea's heart thumping with warm emotions that were all mixed up. Lust, laughter and something that edged so close to another ‘L’ word that she turned a little skittish at the thought of it.

  "What would you like to do after the movie?” Andrea said to distract her mind from obsessing over the other word. “I don't care at all though I do admit to have a bit of a curfew. My first class is at noon tomorrow."