Sparks Like Ours

by Melissa Brayden

While her experience thus far with Gia had been markedly different than with the men she had dated (and her lust meter was reading way off the charts), she still carried fear that sex would once again leave her on the outside looking in, wondering why the rest of the world found such power in an act she found relatively forgettable. On the other hand, where she and Gia were concerned, how could that be possible? The sex dream alone had been better than anything she’d experienced in real life. Still…as much as she looked forward to the night ahead, the fear shoved at her uncomfortably.

  Selecting a casual white dress, Elle blew out her hair, opting to leave it down with a slight curl. She found her bag just as the doorbell rang. “You got this,” she said to herself, and took a deep, fortifying breath.

  Gia looked gorgeous, of course, and Elle’s heart clenched pleasantly as she followed her out to the car. She wore black pants, heels, and a form-fitting blue top. But it was the way her gaze moved across Elle’s dress, her body, that sent sparks racing across every nerve ending Elle possessed.

  “I think white might be your color,” Gia said once they were in the car. Elle kissed her, not caring if she ruined her lip gloss.

  “If it always makes you look at me like this, then I may have to add to my wardrobe. Where’s dinner?”

  “Probably not somewhere you’ve heard of before. Is that okay?”

  “I love new places. Take me there.”

  “I love how automatically adventurous you are.”

  Elle shrugged. “That’s one of the best parts of life, discovering new things.”

  “I’m beginning to agree with that statement.”

  Gia was right. Elle had never heard of the small, out-of-the-way restaurant she had selected for them. The Orchard Inn, just beyond the outskirts of the city, was just as it sounded. The winding road up to the house was reminiscent of a fairy tale and the interior just as quaint. A small inn, complete with a downstairs dining room on the grounds of an apple orchard. Dark wooden floors and dark walls were accentuated with small candles on each table that gave the room an intimate, romantic feel. Dinner was served at 7:30 in one sitting to the various guests of the inn. Apparently, Gia pulled some strings to get them included.

  “I don’t know the owner or anything,” Gia said, referencing Elle’s outgoing disposition and the fact that she knew everyone. “Just a place I really like.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Elle said, feeling special. Gia had put some thought into this. “It’s perfect for tonight.”

  The menu was set and included a hearty green salad, likely from ingredients grown fresh on the property, filet mignon, vegetables, and a side of the most decadent potatoes, the likes of which Elle had never tasted. Dessert came in the form of a slice of lemon cake with a miniature chocolate milkshake on the side, a tiny red and white straw included. While the food was amazing, expertly prepared, it wasn’t the star of the show. Gia was. The way she looked at Elle across the candlelight, listened to her with those big, brown luminous eyes like everything Elle said held the utmost importance for her. Their conversation came easily, too. Elle had never dated anyone who shared her affinity for surfing, and with Gia, she could lose herself on the subject for hours.

  “Yeah, but the waves in Australia—I mean, no comparison. Bells Beach is insane. When I’m there, I never want to leave.”

  “We should go sometime,” Gia said, seeming to latch onto an idea. “Outside of competition and just eat, drink, and surf.”

  Elle rested her chin on her palm dreamily. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve taken a surfing trip that didn’t require me to compete?”

  “Which is why we should do it. Just think how romantic those beach sunsets are. I’ve never really gotten the chance to share them with someone I care about.”

  “I would love to watch a beach sunset with you, Gia. Your arms around me.”

  Gia smiled at her plate before raising her gaze to Elle’s. “I can’t come up with anything better than how that would feel.”

  “You don’t have to twist my arm. I’m in. I’ll even let you drop in on my waves.” She winked and took a final bite of lemon cake and pointed at Gia with her fork. “That’s a big testament to what I’m feeling for you.”

  Gia sat back appearing struck. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. And I could watch you eat cake for hours, if we’re being honest. The way you take your time, pull the fork slowly from your mouth…it’s really something. I think you should do it again.”

  Elle obliged, only slowing down the process further.

  They stared at each other as heat flickered between them. Elle set the fork down slowly. “Wanna get out of here?”

  Gia nodded, her darkened eyes giving Elle serious heart palpitations. Gia gave the best looks, always clear in their meaning and unapologetic. The biggest turn-on, really. She felt that look all over.

  Their intertwined hands rested in Gia’s lap on the car ride home as soft music played from the radio. The city had never looked more alive or more beautiful than it did as they traveled its winding roads. The hillside and all of its twinkling lights looked down on them. As they neared Elle’s neighborhood, the anticipation of what was to come was nearly all encompassing. Looking forward to finally capitalizing on all things she’d imagined doing to Gia rivaled the fear she had of not being able to engage the way she hoped. It was a mixed bag. What if sex was an utter failure for her yet again? What if she was broken?

  As they crossed the threshold of her home, Gia gave Elle’s arm a tug. She turned to face her, and Gia took both of her hands, intertwining their fingers. “You still sure?” The simple question, and the intention behind it, was all Elle needed. The nerves, her fear, disappeared in that moment, replaced by the warmth and strength radiating through to her from Gia’s touch.

  Elle took Gia slowly by the hand and led her through the darkened living room, down the short hallway, and into her bedroom. She turned on her small bedside lamp, because these were moments she needed to see. In fact, she wanted to keep every detail for herself.

  Before Gia could even ask, Elle met her eyes and nodded, granting final permission. She unzipped the white dress and it fell from her shoulders and caught around her elbows, exposing her light pink bra. She’d worn the one that dipped steeply in front, because it made her feel sexy. She didn’t need it, though, she realized. Gia made her feel sexier than she ever had in her entire life.

  Gia took over at that point. Moving slowly, she cradled Elle’s face in her hands, her gaze moving from her eyes, to her mouth, to her nearly exposed breasts. She didn’t say a word, just kissed Elle with measured precision. But when she came up for air, her breathing was ragged, and that did things to Elle. She dropped her arms, allowing the dress to fall to the floor. She stepped out of her heels, which gave Gia the height advantage. With Gia’s rapt attention, she unclasped her bra and watched as Gia took in her full breasts.

  “Oh my God,” Gia breathed, crushing her mouth to Elle’s. She wrapped her arms around Elle’s waist and hauled her close. She kissed down the column of Elle’s neck, to her chest. Her hands moved up Elle’s body, between them, to cup her breasts. She gasped as Gia increased pressure before dipping her head and lifting a nipple into her mouth. Elle threw her head back. She’d never experienced anything so physically powerful, and felt the acute results between her legs.

  “Wow,” she whispered, her own breaths came in fast little spurts. Elle’s hands moved to Gia’s shirt. She pulled it over Gia’s head and quickly unfastened her pants. Gia obliged and slid out of them, and the skin on display to Elle now increased her desire exponentially. That body. God. Help. Her.

  Gia lowered her onto the bed and lay down alongside her. Elle reached for Gia, needing more of the delicious sensations, craving something she didn’t have a name for. But that was wrong, because she knew. She was on fire, and throbbing, and wanted Gia inside her, desperately. Now.

  But Gia had other ideas and seemed to be taking her time
. She looked down the bed at Elle’s body, partially illuminated by the dim light from the lamp, and ran a finger from the waistband of her thong up to her breast, which she circled slowly. She kissed Elle and slid on top of her, placing a thigh between Elle’s legs. Elle closed her eyes at the jolt that sent right to her center, and pushed her hips against Gia’s thigh, once and then again. Gia, sensing her urgency, took the cue. “It’s okay,” she whispered, and slid her hand down the front of Elle’s underwear. Elle squirmed and whimpered at the intimate touch. At last. She closed her eyes and rolled her hips against Gia’s hand, amazed at the ever-building pressure and how fast it had all happened. She was that turned on. “Not yet,” Gia told her, and returned to sucking her breast.

  “Oh, God,” Elle managed.

  Before she knew it, her thong was off her body, which was good. So very good. Gia slid down the bed. The first sensation was Gia’s warm breath, which was almost Elle’s undoing. That was, until she felt her tongue. So many sounds came from her now. Sounds she’d never made before. With Gia’s arms wrapped around Elle’s legs, she held her in place and kissed her intimately, torturously so, before tracing patterns with her tongue.

  That did it.

  Elle raced toward orgasm, amazed by the power, the ferocity of the ever-growing tension. She’d never experienced anything like it, not even close. She twisted beneath Gia’s touch, her mouth, desperate, searching for release, moaning quietly without even meaning to. She was not in control of her own body, an entirely new experience. Quite the opposite, in fact, and it thrilled her. When she finally came, she did so quietly, shaking, lost in pleasure, like an exploding star. The experience stunned her. Nothing she could have done would have prepared her for the mental or physical impact of that moment. “Oh my God,” she whispered, as her hips thrust and Gia’s tongue continued to dance across her delicately. When the pleasure ebbed, Gia held her legs, and kissed the insides of her thighs as Elle’s body recovered, as she struggled to make sense of the very new experience.

  She tried to find the words to explain how good it felt for Gia to touch her, to be inside her, but nothing she came up with seemed adequate.

  “You’re not saying anything,” Gia said, after several extended moments passed. She’d joined Elle on the pillow, wrapping her arms around her protectively.

  Elle turned in them and kissed Gia’s cheeks, her nose, and sank into the warmth of her lips, kissing them extra thoroughly. “What am I to say about that unmatched experience?”

  “That’s a start.”

  She looked up, still searching for descriptors though her mind was at 50 percent. “It was dismantling.”

  “Dismantling,” Gia repeated. “Is that good?”

  Elle nodded, not quite finished. “And surprising. And torturous, until it wasn’t.”

  “Okay.” Gia smiled, picking up on the trend.

  “Then it was simply…decadent.” As they talked, Gia continued to touch Elle, who loved every second of it. Her stomach, her breasts, her collarbone, and more intimately along the insides of her thighs. “It still is, what you’re doing to me. I’m still humming over here, because you’re pulling new urges.”

  “That’s a good report card,” Gia said, and dipped her head to nibble on Elle’s neck.

  “Which should be rewarded, I would say.”

  Gia studied her briefly before going back to the tingle-inducing nibbling, probably unsure what to make of that sentence.

  It was clear Gia hadn’t come into tonight with any expectations, but Elle certainly had a few that had yet to be explored. “Which means it’s time for you to stop that.” She gently pulled Gia’s face back to hers and kissed her hard and fast. Pulling her lips from the dizzying kiss, she sat up and pulled Gia with her. “You might have to be patient with me.”

  Gia nodded, her eyes dark once again.

  Wordlessly, Elle unclasped the blue bra, freeing the breasts she’d been thinking about for weeks on end, anxious to get her hands on them at last. She looked up at Gia and smiled, her stomach dipping noticeably in appreciation of what she could only describe as simply beautiful breasts. Not large, but definitely not small. Perfectly round. She ran a finger from the top of each breast to the bottom before lifting one and taking the nipple into her mouth. The move pulled a groan from Gia, sending a bolt of arousal to Elle’s center. She was lost again in a haze of lust, longing to do so many things at once, like a kid who had been long denied the candy store. She spent a lot of time on those breasts, bathing them, running her tongue across each nipple, sucking one, then the other firmly. Maybe even too much time, but the quiet sounds Gia made told her the attention was not wasted. Somehow, they ended up lying down, Elle’s naked body on top of Gia’s. Elle wasn’t quite sure which of them had made that move, but she liked the feel of being on top, their breasts pushed together with delicious friction while her hips moved instinctively against Gia’s. She gave her head a small shake, attempting to clear it from the rush of sensations it juggled. But maybe it was better this way. Unable to think, she was unable to second-guess her actions. She had zero experience in what she was about to do, and in her present condition, that didn’t seem like a problem at all. She followed her instincts, her desire, and kissed a path down Gia’s stomach, taking her time and savoring each response she pulled, memorizing it.

  She kissed the insides of Gia’s thighs, licked them, heady with power and longing to take Gia to the places she’d just taken Elle. She slowly parted Gia’s thighs and delicately touched her on the outside of her underwear with one finger and first and then her entire palm. Gia hissed in a breath. Full of anticipation, Elle looped her thumbs through the black bikini briefs and pulled them down Gia’s legs. She took a moment to just stare, now wet again herself. She leaned down and tasted Gia for the first time. Lightly with her tongue at first, and then more deliberately with her mouth, her lips. Just as Gia had done, she made small, gentle circles with her tongue. Gia moaned and bucked her hips, looking for more. Elle matched that rhythm with her tongue. She watched for signals, Gia’s breathing, the increased movement of her hips, the intoxicating sounds she made. When she seemed close, Elle pushed her fingers inside, steadying herself from the overwhelming feeling of connection that hit all at once. Gia was no longer quiet, tossing her head on the pillow as Elle moved in and out, loving the sensation of Gia enveloping her. She didn’t want this to end, but to her surprise, Gia grabbed a fistful of the blanket beneath her and cried out, her hips going wild and then still.

  Elle exhaled in awe of the sight. Looking down at Gia’s naked body, spent and glistening, was perhaps the most beautiful image she’d ever seen. She made a point to memorize it for all time. “Are you sure it has to be over?” Elle asked, kissing the insides of Gia’s thighs, nibbling her way back to where she had been most effective just moments before.

  “Not sure I can withstand much more of that,” Gia said, with a laugh, and gently pulled Elle up the bed toward her.

  “That was so different from what I expected it to be,” Elle said, still processing.

  Gia nodded, allowing her to do so. “Can you tell me how?”

  “So much more,” Elle said, staring out the ceiling. She flung her arm over her forehead and exhaled. “All this time, this was here, and I had no idea.” She shook her head and looked over at Gia. “I’ve just been doing it wrong.”

  “I don’t know if wrong is the word,” Gia said, turning onto her side and smoothing Elle’s hair.

  “I do.”

  “So, are you okay?” Gia asked with a smile. Though it already looked like she knew the answer to that question.

  “I’m more than okay.” Elle sat up, not knowing what to do with herself. “I’m excited, and inquisitive, and also a little mystified. Did I say relieved? Because I’m that as well. So many battling emotions, but they’re all good, and powerful. Did I mention powerful? God.”

  Gia laughed. “You’re talking really fast.”

  “Am I? That would make sense.”
r />   Gia held out an arm. “Here. Why don’t you lie back down and take a deep breath.”

  Because Gia looked more than a little inviting, Elle returned to the pillow next to her and slid her hand onto Gia’s chest. “Yeah, this is better.”

  “Hi,” Gia said, quietly.

  Elle smiled. “Hi.”

  Maybe it was the proximity, or the few minutes it had been since they’d touched each other, but like a magnet they came back together. She wasn’t sure who’d made the first move, but that was all it took to ignite their passion all over again. Kissing, touching, and so much more.

  When they were happy and spent and barely able to move, they lay side by side facing each other, on the same pillow once again, in the very late—make that very early—hours. Neither one of them seemed to want to sleep. Elle, for one, needed to hang on to this night for as long as possible. It felt like her world had shifted dramatically, and she didn’t want to miss a single minute.

  “Why aren’t people having sex all the time?” she finally asked.

  Gia laughed quietly. “I mean…I think they are.”

  “They should. And like that. Exactly what we just did.” She shook her head. “That was the longest sex I’ve ever had.” She ran her fingers across Gia’s collarbone, still marveling at how soft her skin was, and that she had free rein to explore it.

  Gia grinned. “Really? I mean, I think we can beat that. You were…very much ready. It didn’t take much.”

  “No, it certainly didn’t,” Elle said, remembering with a smile.

  Gia’s suggestion alone had Elle wondering about another go-round. “I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to…enjoy someone so much.” She met Gia’s eyes, relieved—no, ecstatic—at how the evening had turned out. Sex with Gia had far surpassed her expectations, obliterated them, and had certainly put her fears to rest. She was not broken. “You’re beautiful,” Elle said. “And tonight was mind blowing. And I think it’s going to be hard to be a regular person out in the world when we could stay right here forever and just keep doing this. Forget everyone else.”