“Uh. Oh. I’m sorry. What?”
“I was just wondering what you were thinking about so hard.”
Teal let her eyes wander slowly down August’s length and back up to her face. “I’m sure it must have been important, but I can’t seem to remember right now.” August’s appearance had stolen more than her thoughts, and her words sounded a bit breathless.
August sniffed the air. “Something smells really good.” She pushed off from where she was propped and sauntered forward, her eyes never leaving Teal’s. “What’s for dinner?”
“Beef stroganoff.” Teal lifted the lid on a large skillet and turned off the flame under it.
“One of my favorites.” August edged closer. “But I smell something different. Something sweet.”
Teal ran her finger along the inside of the bowl on the counter and held it up without breaking their gaze. “I made dessert. Butter rum cake. Want a sample?”
August’s mouth was warm as she sucked the buttery sweet glaze from Teal’s finger.
Teal nearly moaned as a jolt of pleasure rolled through her groin. She swallowed hard. “How does it taste?”
August’s eyes darkened. “You tell me.” She closed the final distance between them, and her lips were soft against Teal’s. Her tongue, sweet and buttery, played against Teal’s. Her hips pressed against Teal’s in a slow, languid roll.
Holy mother. Teal wasn’t a religious person, but kisses from August might change her opinion about the possibility of heaven and perhaps a goddess, after all.
August eased back from their kiss and trailed her mouth down Teal’s neck.
Teal closed her eyes to concentrate on the tingle racing down her arms and swelling her breasts. “I could serve dessert first if you want.”
August stopped and briefly rested her forehead on Teal’s shoulder. Teal rubbed her hands along August’s long, lean back.
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry,” August said, stepping back. “I’m out of line. You’re an employee—”
But Teal wasn’t going to let her back away. She cupped August’s face in her hands and drew their mouths back together. August stiffened, then relaxed and opened to her. Teal swung them around and backed August against the counter. She pressed her hips against August’s and smoothed her hands down August’s soft, strong shoulders. She palmed August’s small breasts and tweaked her hardening nipples through the thin cotton tank. They were both panting when she retreated, her mouth still a breath away from August’s. “I want you so bad I’m about to combust.”
She’d never been so desperate, so wanton, but she had a sudden inspiration. Teal stepped back and stripped off her shirt. August watched silently, her chest and neck flushing as Teal reached behind to release the hooks on her bra and let it drop to the floor.
“Teal.”
“I want you, August.” She reached for the bowl of leftover icing and smeared the buttery glaze on her nipples. “I’m the chef, and I say dessert first.”
August grabbed the back of her tank and yanked it over her head to bare her chest, too. Then her mouth was on Teal’s breasts, her tongue hungrily bathing the glaze from her nipples. Teal dropped her head back and held onto August’s shoulders. “Bed,” she gasped. “I want to feel you naked against me.”
August didn’t cease from her pleasurable task but slipped her arms around Teal and under her hips, lifting her. Teal reflexively wrapped her legs around August’s hips as she walked them out of the kitchen, their meal still on the stove.
*
August carefully lowered Teal onto the bed, kissing down her smooth belly as she removed Teal’s jeans and panties. August dropped the clothes to the floor and straightened where she stood beside the bed. The setting sun seeped in past the open blinds and glowed soft across Teal’s naked body. She was so beautiful.
Teal stared back, her dark eyes half hidden by thick lashes, and August slowly opened the fly of her jeans, button by button. She hooked her fingers in her briefs and slid them from her hips, then kicked them aside. She stood for a moment, letting Teal take her in. Teal licked her lips, and August’s belly clenched at the signal. Teal wanted to taste her. Yes. She wanted to taste Teal, too.
She began with her tongue along the arch of Teal’s foot, then mouthed on the sensitive inside of her ankle. She gently flexed Teal’s legs up and apart as she crawled onto the bed between them, pausing to kiss and suck the pulse at the back of her knee. Teal trembled when she trailed kisses upward along the inside of her thigh, then spread her wide to nibble at her swollen clit. She dipped lower and plunged her tongue inside, coating her tongue in the salt and musk that was all woman, all Teal. She held firm as Teal’s hips surged upward.
“August, please. I’ve wanted you for so long.” Teal’s fingers tightened in her hair. “Don’t tease. Not this time.”
She clamped the tender flesh gently in her teeth to stay the flow of blood as Teal’s clit plumped to near bursting, then slid her fingers inside and stroked. She relaxed her jaw and licked at the surging flesh as Teal’s heels hit the bed and her hips lifted again. As August sucked, her spirit soared when Teal’s breath faltered and then held and her body bowed taut. She smiled and stroked as Teal’s orgasm and voice let loose. She was a screamer. The knowledge that she caused that exclamation of appreciation swelled her ego and her sex. It drove her hunger. She wanted to hear it again and again.
She continued to stroke as she kissed a path up Teal’s belly, nibbled on Teal’s tasty breasts, and kissed along her neck. She withdrew and entered again with three fingers, stretching her wide and thrusting deep. She pressed hard against the rough spot that many women found pleasurable. Teal gasped.
“August, August.” Teal moved with each thrust, wrapping her legs around August, opening further to her.
August laid her thumb against the side of Teal’s sensitive clit and reared up, bracing on one arm and curling inward to rub her own throbbing clit against her knuckles as she pumped her hips into Teal.
“August, I’m going to, I’m going to—” Teal drew in a deep breath.
“Come for me, Teal.” August clamped her teeth together as sensation gathered in her groin and swelled. She pumped and stroked, pumped and stroked. “Come with me. Come hard.”
She couldn’t hold it any longer.
“August, oh God.” Teal arched again as she climaxed.
Orgasm bucked August, and she rode it out with a yell until her insides unclenched and she collapsed on top of Teal.
The quiet seemed unnaturally loud with both their hearts beating wildly. August shivered when the air conditioner blew a frosty stream across her sweating body. She stirred. She must be crushing Teal, but she didn’t want to move. She wanted to stay inside her forever. She wiggled her fingers.
Teal moaned. “Can’t. I need some recovery time.” But Teal’s arms came around her, stroking her back.
August lifted her head from Teal’s shoulder and smiled as she wiggled her fingers again. “Are you sure? Sometimes all you need is a different position.”
Teal lifted her head and kissed her.
August took it as an invitation and kissed her back, battling her tongue against Teal’s and humming her approval. Teal’s arms tightened around her, and then they were rolling and Teal was on top.
“A different position is a good idea,” Teal said, her voice syrupy rich, her words thick with intent. She closed her eyes and moaned as she clenched August’s fingers inside one last time, then withdrew from them. She pinned August’s arms at her side and moved down her body with her mouth, tasting nipples, tonguing her navel and nipping the inside of her thigh to make room for where she wanted to be.
August closed her eyes when Teal’s mouth found her. Sweet Jesus, it’d been a long while since she’d felt pleasure like this. “Teal, sometimes it takes me a while like this. Especially the second time.”
Teal hummed. “You taste so wonderful.”
“Oh, right there. God, that feels good.”
Teal abandoned the spot and sucked her. “Just relax. I’m in no hurry.” She slipped a finger inside, then two, and stroked.
“Yeah, I like that.” Christine had never had the patience to really please her.
Teal flicked her tongue against the exact spot she’d found before, and August twitched.
Ten years and Christine never seemed to remember that her most sensitive place was on the left side of her clit. Teal had marked it the first time. She grabbed Teal’s free hand and squeezed. “Don’t stop. A little harder inside and I’m going to come.”
Teal lifted her head. “Are you ready? Because I could do this all night.”
August groaned. “Please. I want to.”
Teal sucked her and stroked a few times before stopping again. “You want to come or you want to do this all night?” The teasing in her voice nearly sent August over without her tongue and fingers.
“I need to come now, and maybe all night, too.”
Teal hummed as if considering the request, but her strokes were firm and deep. And when she lowered her head, her tongue was strong and unerring. Gut-clenching sensation boiled up in August’s groin and burst forth to flow through her body in wave after wave.
As her orgasm abated, August floated in a pool of utter satisfaction. She’d forgotten what it was like to be totally sated, to have another woman desire her so completely and make love to her with such hunger.
Teal’s soft voice penetrated August’s fog of contentment. “Hey. You still with me?”
“No. I think you killed me. I’m sure I heard angels singing.”
Teal laughed and August smiled. She loved that sound. She drew Teal close. “I don’t want to get up. I’d like to stay in bed, naked, with you all night. But I was too nervous earlier to eat lunch, so I’m starving. And BJ will be coming home soon from his poker night.”
Teal smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. “It cost a quarter of the rum cake I baked for you, but BJ won’t be back until morning. He’s spending the night with a lady friend.”
August was surprised. BJ had never mentioned having a lady friend. “Really?”
“Yep.” Teal propped up on one elbow and trailed her finger down August’s chest, between her breasts. “So, how do you feel about eating in bed?”
August couldn’t stop her slow smile. “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?”
Teal slapped her lightly on the chest. “That’s not what I was talking about. Give me five minutes to reheat some stroganoff, and I’ll bring dinner in here.” She slid out of bed and pulled on her jeans.
“I love picnics, but let me help. You get the stroganoff, and I’ll get the wine and dessert.” August cast about for her jeans, too.
“I thought we just had dessert.”
August stopped, her jeans halfway up her legs, and looked at Teal in exaggerated horror. “There’s a limit?” She was pleased that her antics again triggered Teal’s throaty laughter.
“I certainly hope not,” Teal said.
Chapter Thirteen
Teal snuggled deeper into the warm body spooned against her back and entwined her fingers with the ones resting between her breasts. August’s deep, even breathing caressed her neck and shoulder. Teal never thought she’d feel such absolute contentment.
They’d been tentative with each other the first night BJ had returned, standing in the hallway at bedtime, shuffling their feet. Finally, August had held out her hand.
“Sleep with me?”
Teal slipped her hand into August’s, and they wordlessly picked up where they’d left off the evening before. August didn’t hesitate the next day. As they said good night to BJ, August took Teal’s hand and led her again into her bedroom. They’d slept together every night since. BJ never commented, and a week later when his poker and date night came around again, it seemed like it had always been that way.
But would that change…tomorrow, or next week, or next month?
August had unfinished business with Christine. And what would August say when she discovered that Teal had lied about who she was? Not exactly lied, but she hadn’t been fully truthful. August stirred, and Teal realized she was squeezing the hand she clutched next to her heart too tight. The icy ball of fear in her chest roiled her stomach. Oh God. She was falling in love with August. Really falling in love. She thought she’d loved Lauren, but now she realized she’d only been riding a high of hormonal attraction and infatuation with the power Lauren wielded in Congress. She didn’t want to be on August’s arm; she wanted to be in her skin, in her head, in her heart.
What was she going to do if August wasn’t feeling the same, didn’t feel the same when Teal finally told her the truth? She felt sick at the thought. She took a deep breath. Plan B. She always had to have a Plan B.
The Washington political jungle seemed so morally bankrupt and disgustingly disloyal now that she’d spent these past weeks with real, honest people. She couldn’t go back, couldn’t remember why she’d ever wanted to be part of it before.
She’d been brilliant at marketing a candidate, but could she market an idea? She’d been researching August’s idea for a grass-fed-beef operation. Maybe she could study other organic operations—dairy without hormones. She could cash in her nest egg and maybe talk her sister, Gray, into joining her in the business venture, but turning farmer would be a constant reminder of August.
She closed her eyes and, since her brain didn’t seem to want to shut down, tried to think through some details of her fallback plan. Her thoughts, however, only returned to the woman warming her back—August, tall and sexy in chaps and her Stetson pulled low over her gray eyes; August, head flung back and mouth open in a soundless gasp as orgasm grabbed her, then groaning and bucking as it flowed through her; August, face soft in the moonlight as she worked her magic fingers and watched for the pleasure on Teal’s face.
Teal grew wet and aroused as the scenes flickered through her brain. Her hips and belly reflexively clenched, and warm lips moved across the ridge of her shoulder to her neck. She trembled. August never forgot Teal’s neck was one of her erogenous triggers.
“I thought you were asleep.” August’s voice was low and husky.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“No, I’m sorry. If I’d been paying attention, I’d never have dropped off with you still wanting.”
“I…I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t seem to get enough of you. I’m sorry.”
“Never apologize for wanting me, for wanting more.” August disentangled their hands and trailed her fingertips lightly down Teal’s stomach. “Let me take care of you, baby.”
August slid her fingers into Teal’s damp curls, unerringly finding her swollen flesh. Teal closed her eyes and brushed her hair back to expose more of her neck to August’s feasting mouth. August tugged at her earlobe with her teeth, and a jolt of sensation shot down to her clit. God, she could come like that. It wouldn’t take much. Bells were already ringing in her head. Wait. The ringing was real. “The phone.”
“Let it go to voice mail.” August’s fingers swirled over the spot that made her gasp.
But the house phone rarely rang. Teal summoned every ounce of her waning willpower and cupped August’s hand to still it. “BJ isn’t here, and it could be an emergency. It could be Pops.”
August instantly rolled onto her back and grabbed the phone from the table on her side of the bed. “Hello?” Teal felt August’s tense body relax. “Angela, hey. No, I wasn’t asleep yet. BJ isn’t here. What’s up?”
Teal could hear Angela’s muffled voice, fast and urgent as August listened.
“Okay. Listen. BJ’s in town. Call his cell. Do you have that number?…Tell him to meet me there. It’s halfway between us…No problem. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Teal scrambled out of bed as August rose, pulled on jeans, and rummaged in her dresser for a shirt. “What’s wrong?” She began to dress, too. Had Reyes or his henchmen found August? No way was she letting Au
gust go off alone, even if BJ was going to meet her. “Is it Reyes?”
August flashed a wry grin. “Nope. Just a cowboy who needs his posse around him. There’s a roadside bar halfway into town that’s a local hangout. Apparently, Tommy’s had too much to drink, and a biker whose group was passing through has been hitting on Tommy’s date. Tommy’s trying to take on the whole group. The bartender called Brick. He’s on his way, too, but asked Angela to call BJ to give him a hand. The biker isn’t alone, and the bartender is afraid they’ll make hash out of Tommy if we don’t get him out of there.”
They climbed into the farm truck, and Teal barely had time to click her seat belt into place when August gunned it down the dusty drive, squealing the tires as she turned onto the blacktopped highway.
*
The lights of the Lock & Load roadhouse were a beacon in the black, moonless night, and August fishtailed into the gravel parking lot, sliding neatly to a stop next to Brick’s truck. Damn, she still had it. Her blood sang like she was a teen again, cocky and sure, as she trotted to the door with Teal hurrying to keep up. Before she went inside, she stopped, took off her hat, and handed it to Teal. She quickly braided her hair back while she talked. “Stay behind me unless things start flying. Then I want you to find a safe spot near the door or behind the bar.” She tucked the braid into her collar and took her hat from Teal, settling it low on her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve done this before.”
She didn’t see BJ’s truck yet, but she wasn’t going to wait. After all her haste, she sucked in a deep breath and sauntered casually inside. She was just in time, too. The biker wasn’t the stereotypical middle-aged bald guy. His sleeveless jean jacket was open to reveal a chest as muscled as his tattoo-covered arms, but he had a young, handsome face. Tommy’s date was smiling uncertainly at him while Tommy tugged at her arm. Brick was trying to persuade both that it was time to leave, but the girl didn’t look convinced. The other bikers had taken notice and were gathering to watch the show.
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