Waiting in the Wings

by Melissa Brayden

  Her long eyelashes fluttered open and she pushed herself up on her forearms. “Oh God, Jenna.”

  I looked up at her. “Are you okay?”

  She grinned and kissed me softly. “It’s just…a lot.”

  “Is that good?”

  She nipped at my chin. “Yeah, I’d say it’s good.” Her voice slipped back into a whisper. “But there is this little matter of clothing.” I loved her whisper. She sat up, straddling my hips, and pulled me up with her. We were face-to-face. She slowly pulled the tank top over my head and sat back, letting her eyes travel down my breasts, seeing me for the first time. For a moment she didn’t say or do anything, which left me feeling more than a little vulnerable. Finally, she looked up reverently.

  “You have the most amazing body. You’re so beautiful.” She proceeded to remove the rest of my clothing piece by piece. Slowly, methodically. It was excruciating and it was wonderful and it was exhilarating all at the same time. Though I wanted to even things out, my need to touch her was stronger. I buried both hands in her hair and pulled her mouth back to mine, the kiss hungry and no longer slow. I pushed her gently back onto the bed and covered her body, deepening the kiss. The damn T-shirt was still in my way, but I made quick work of it. My hands moved immediately to her full breasts, kneading one slowly, then the other. Adrienne’s breath caught as my thumb began to circle her nipple. I felt her hips begin to move automatically against my thigh and I took that as a good signal. I captured that nipple in my mouth, my tongue moving across it in circles.

  “You’re driving me crazy, Jen.” I felt her hands on my hips, pulling me down harder against her.

  I couldn’t wait any longer and moved down the bed. I pushed myself onto my left forearm and with my right reached down the front of Adrienne’s shorts. She lifted her hips to receive me. The slick warmth I found was so welcoming and so soft that I needed better access. I pulled the shorts down the small curve of her hips and settled between her legs. Adrienne immediately pulled my lips to hers, plunging her tongue into my mouth as I began to move on top of her. She easily matched my rhythm until finally she pulled her mouth away, her breathing ragged.

  “Please,” was all she could manage, and I could feel she was close.

  Even though I felt ready to explode myself, I focused on what I wanted more. I placed my hand between us and let my thumb brush circles around her clit as I inserted two fingers into her depths. Adrienne threw her head back in response, a small moan escaping her lips. The feeling of her enveloping me was unreal. I matched the rhythm she had already established and picked up speed. When I felt her on the brink, I lifted my head and watched as her body arched and sheer pleasure washed over her. At first she cried out, her arms pulling my body hard against her as she rode out the final waves of orgasm silently, her lips slightly parted. In this moment, she was the most radiant creature I’d ever seen. I was in awe of her. As the last tremor left her body, I simply stared. She looked up at me, shaking her head and pulling me up to her.

  “I couldn’t describe that if I tried.”

  “Was it all right? Was I—”

  “Were you not here just now?” She laughed nervously. “I’m usually a little more in control. You kind of caught me off guard.”

  I was still processing the amazing thing Adrienne had said to me when I felt a warm sensation on my breast. I gasped as Adrienne’s mouth covered my nipple, her tongue lightly teasing. “Wow. Speaking of effect,” I gasped.

  She rolled me over and continued her exploration, moving on to my other breast and using her tongue to trail a path up to my neck. I threw my head back as she traced the heated column with sensuous kisses. She had no way of knowing this, but my neck was one of the most sensitive spots on my whole body. She found my mouth and kissed me, pulling my bottom lip into her mouth and sucking ever so softly. My God, this woman knew what she was doing. The intense throbbing between my legs only grew stronger and I wanted her to touch me more than anything in this world. As if she could read my thoughts, she gently pushed my legs apart as her fingers began to wander. I turned my head on the pillow and moaned.

  “You feel amazing, Jenna. Hold on for me.”

  “I’m not sure I can.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  Her fingers continued to tease. Giving me just enough and then pulling back. My hips sought her out and there was some sort of sound escaping from my mouth, I think. Adrienne moved down my body. As she did, she laced her fingers through mine and held on. When her tongue brushed across my clitoris, I pushed my free hand into her hair, silently asking for more. The intensity of the sensations she was eliciting in me were new and shocking at the same time. I felt her everywhere, down to my fingertips. As she increased pressure with her tongue, I felt familiar stirrings as my muscles began to contract. Right on cue, Adrienne pushed her fingers inside me, shattering any remaining restraint I had. She moved with me insistently, and it was only a moment before I rocketed completely over the edge. Ecstasy filled my veins, causing my body to spasm uncontrollably as I clung to her. The remaining shockwaves of pleasure cascaded through my body, and I woke slowly from the sweet oblivion Adrienne had sent me into. I became aware of my surroundings once again and of Adrienne resting her warm cheek on my stomach, her arms around me in a protective embrace. I felt safe and incredibly happy.

  “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now,” she said. “But that was above and beyond I’d say.”

  I nodded in silent agreement, still a little shaky on words at the moment. Adrienne moved up the bed and settled in next to me, moving the hair gently off my forehead. I ran a hand absently down her body, stopping at the small temporary tattoo. “I’m thinking that tonight we discovered a super power or two you already possess.” She opened her eyes, her smile filled with amusement. Adrienne pulled me to her so I was partially lying across her. I nestled my head into her shoulder, feeling tired, happy, and connected to her. At some point, I must have drifted off. I can’t say for sure when that happened because I was holding on to those lingering moments of silence.

  Chapter Four

  It must have been the sound of running water from the shower that woke me from the deep sleep. At first I thought I had dreamt the night before with Adrienne, but a quick glance around the much larger hotel room reminded me that all was very real. I smiled into my pillow and sighed with content. It felt good. I felt good. I just hoped she felt good. We hadn’t talked about the night we’d spent together. It hadn’t been my goal to sleep with Adrienne when I came to her room last night, but I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t occurred to me somewhere in the depths of my subconscious. I didn’t get a ton of time to ponder that particular detail before the bathroom door opened. Adrienne emerged in a fluffy white towel looking as alluring as she always did. She paused when she saw I was awake and smiled shyly. “Hi.”

  “Good morning,” I answered, sitting up.

  She walked to the bed, sat next to me, and leaned in, lightly greeting my lips with hers. “How is it you look so goddamn good when you wake up in the morning? It’s criminal.”

  “I do?”

  “You do.” She finished the kiss we’d started.

  “So last night,” I said.

  “Was unexpected,” she concluded matter-of-factly.

  Unexpected. Hmm. While there was some truth in that statement, “unexpected” wasn’t the first word that popped into my mind when I thought about the night we’d shared. I would have gone with “amazing” or even “earth-shattering,” but that was just me.

  “Yes, it was certainly unexpected.”

  “Are you okay with everything? First I say we should keep it light, and then the very same night I practically attack you.” She walked toward the window. “It’s strange. It’s like I don’t know if I’m coming or going when I’m with you, Jenna. You’ve got me all turned around, and it’s a little unnerving.”

  I followed behind her, pulling the sheet with me. “We could stop. Is that what you’d prefer?”
<
br />   She turned back to face me. Biting her lip, she shook her head solemnly. “No.”

  “Then I would definitely say I’m okay with last night.” Adrienne’s face softened at my reply and she took my hand in hers. “But for the record,” I said, gesturing to her attire, “you’re going to have to stop parading around in towels all the time. I don’t think I can take it.”

  “What do you mean all the time?”

  “If you’ll think back, the first day we met you were wearing a towel. It was all I could do not to drool all over you. Probably wouldn’t have been a great first impression.”

  “Oh.” She chuckled. “You mean the day you invaded my dressing room.”

  “Yes, that would be the day.”

  “Well, if I’d known then what I know now, I might have dropped that towel.”

  The idea stopped me short. Adrienne smiled triumphantly at what I could only imagine was a shocked expression on my face.

  “Well, aren’t we proud of ourselves?” I said, pulling her to me and kissing her, what I’d been dying to do since she entered the room.

  “We are. We are quite proud of ourselves,” she answered, deepening the kiss before gently pulling away. “I hate to cut this short, but I have a media thing at eleven and that means I have to hurry.”

  Damn. “I suppose that means I have to let you go now.”

  She nodded ruefully. “Unfortunately, it does. But I plan to see you later. I hear there’s a kick-ass show in town with a new actress. I also hear she’s hot. I thought I might check it out.”

  “Oh, that sounds intriguing. Maybe I’ll see you there.”

  “If you’re lucky.”

  As Adrienne headed to the bathroom to continue getting ready, I couldn’t help watching her go. As if sensing the attention, she dropped the towel on her way. “Fuck,” I murmured to myself, staring after her in defeat. I heard soft laughter emanate from the bathroom.

  Once Adrienne departed for her interview, I took my time showering and tidying up the room before deciding to head back to my own less than impressive accommodations to catch up on e-mail. I pulled open the door and was startled to find myself face-to-face with Sienna, her hand mid-knock. We stared at each other in confusion for a moment before Sienna finally recovered enough to speak.

  “Jenna,” she said acknowledging me flatly. “I was looking for Adrienne. Is she…” She was looking past me into the room, and it occurred to me there were very few explanations that would make sense here.

  “Um, no, she’s not in. I think she had a TV interview with Channel Four this morning.”

  “Oh,” she said, still confused. “Then what are you doing in her hotel room?” Before I could answer, I saw the realization cross her face and the confusion was quickly replaced with anger. “Did you stay here last night?”

  What could I possibly say? Adrienne had asked that we keep things low-key, but she hadn’t asked me to go as far as lying about it. Not to mention, I was a horrible liar, and had been ever since the first grade when I cut off most of my hair and told my mother I had no idea how it happened. It was a no go. Before I could rationalize any further, the words were out. “Kind of.” Nice, Jenna.

  “Kind of?” she repeated derisively, and I could see the situation darkening.

  “It’s none of your business, Sienna. You should probably talk to Adrienne.”

  “Well, you’ll have to excuse me then. I wouldn’t want to interrupt your walk of shame.” She gave me the full force of her arctic stare, and before I could get another word in, Sienna turned and stalked down the hallway. Ouch.

  I arrived at the theater that night a little ahead of the half hour call time, hoping to catch a few moments with Adrienne. I had to admit, I had a problem on my hands when it came to her. I was completely captivated by her physically, plus I liked her a lot. I looked forward to the time we spent together and realized fairly quickly the alarm bells going off in my head might be hard to ignore for much longer. I was also aware that for Adrienne, I was a temporary distraction and probably nothing more. That’s what we’d agreed upon, after all. But the feelings I was beginning to experience for her worried me. Was I really going to be capable of keeping things light as far as Adrienne was concerned? That kind of lingering question mark sucked. I signed in and said a few hellos before heading down the hall to her dressing room. As I approached, I noticed the door wasn’t wide open as she usually kept it. It wasn’t exactly closed either, and as I approached I could hear voices. Specifically, Adrienne’s and Sienna’s voices. My first instinct was to about-face and respect their privacy, but there was a little part of me that couldn’t resist catching a few snatches of what was being said. I conveniently stopped in the hallway to study something interesting on my phone, doing my damndest to look busy. Ah, it has buttons and a touch screen. Fascinating.

  “You don’t have a clue what you’re doing and you know it,” I heard Sienna say.

  “This is not something that’s up for discussion. It’s my life, Sienna, and I choose not to share the details of it with you.” Adrienne sounded calm, which was good.

  “What happened to staying professional, keeping relationships and the drama they bring away from the tour? Those were your words, am I right?” Sienna was practically shouting now.

  “First of all, that’s not what this is, and if you took the time to speak with Jenna, you’d see that you’re way off base about her.”

  “If there’s anything I can say about this girl, it’s that she’s drama. We’re arguing right now because of her. You can’t deny that.”

  “I’m sorry if my spending time with her hurts you, Sienna. But it’s not a big deal. You have nothing to be jealous of.”

  My heart slammed to a halt. So there I had it. Time to squelch those feelings and immediately. I heard movement inside the dressing room and made a hasty retreat so as not to be noticed. I felt bad for eavesdropping. It seriously wasn’t my style. However, I had to admit it was a conversation I probably needed to hear. It did mean Sienna was going to be none too happy with me. So what else was new?

  I didn’t see Adrienne before the show but felt relieved when she caught my eye and smiled in the wings prior to the opening number. This was becoming our pre-show ritual, and I liked it. I also reminded myself that she was aware of my exchange with Sienna and she was still smiling at me. All might still be well with the world.

  The show went by in a whirlwind of high-energy song and dance. As a cast, we were on our game and the crowd ate it up. I put the notes Craig had given me to good use that night and felt much more confident about my performance. As the curtain closed, Lanie wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed. “I think we’re gonna make it after all, kiddo”

  I beamed. “Laverne and Shirley!”

  “Mary Tyler Moore,” she corrected me.

  “Oh. Can I still be Laverne?”

  “Cool.”

  I realized Lanie was feeling much of what I was in regards to finding her footing within the show and the cast. She leaned in and spoke quietly in my ear. “FYI, the word on the street is you have more than one reason to be giddy. I expect full details later.”

  My heart sank. “Who else knows about last night?”

  “More like who doesn’t.”

  Well, so much for keeping things quiet. I promised to fill Lanie in on everything later and with a quick kiss to her cheek, I headed down the hall to get out of costume and makeup. As I passed Adrienne’s dressing room, I impulsively stuck my head inside to see how she was. She was sitting on the small couch in the corner of the room staring off into space. I leaned against the doorjamb, intrigued by her pensive expression. “Penny for your thoughts?” I said.

  She turned at the sound of my voice and smiled slightly, sinking further into the couch. She looked tired. But that never seemed to dampen her mood. “You already own most of my thoughts lately, so I’m thinking payment won’t be necessary.”

  My heart skipped a little at that information and I came further in
to the room and sat on the couch. We simply looked at each other for a moment. Given that the show was physically and emotionally exhausting for me, I could only imagine what it was like for Adrienne, who played a much more demanding role. Not to mention the fact that she’d spent the afternoon doing press. She was surely beyond exhausted. I took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here. I know what you need.”

  “And what is that?” she asked, arching her eyebrow seductively.

  I couldn’t help but laugh as I sat her down in front of her dressing table. “Behave yourself. It’s not what you might think. But first we both have to change out of these costumes, and I have a stop to make. Meet me in my room in an hour?”

  “You’re on. But I have to warn you, I can barely move.”

  “Luckily, moving won’t be called for,” I called out, slowly pulling her door closed as I left.

  It was exactly one hour later when I heard a knock on the door of my hotel room. I glanced around the room one last time before opening the door. Adrienne was dressed in the same designer jeans, forest green shell, and high-heeled boots she was wearing when she’d left for work that morning. Her feet had to be killing her, yet she still had a smile on her face.

  “Hey there,” she said sweetly.

  I decided I liked the sound of her voice. A lot. “Hi yourself.” I took her hand and pulled her gently into the room, setting her dance bag next to the door. The entryway was dimly lit, but I could make out her features just enough. She looked at me curiously, no doubt trying to assess what I was up to.