Under Construction

by J. A. Armstrong

  “Why? I can take care of that for you right now,” Jameson said suggestively.

  “If you take care of that for me, neither of us will get any sleep and both of us need it,” Candace said. She kissed Jameson on the nose and pulled herself off the bed. “Stop pouting,” Candace called as she walked into the bathroom.

  “Who says I am pouting?” Jameson called out. She rolled over and sighed. She was exhausted and she could see the weariness in Candace’s eyes. She longed to be close to Candace again, to hold her, to make love to her softly. The thoughts were making her dizzy and she groaned in frustration. Jinx jumped up on the bed and rubbed against her. Jameson shook her head. “Not what I had in mind. What does she mean; pout? I don’t pout.”

  “Yes, you do,” Candace disagreed as she slipped into the bed behind Jameson and wrapped an arm around her. Jameson immediately turned and faced her lover. Candace raised her brow. “Mad at me?” she asked a bit playfully.

  “No,” Jameson said quietly.

  Candace pulled Jameson into her embrace. “I love you, Jameson. We have all weekend. I don’t leave until Monday morning.”

  “How did you get out of that fundraiser?” Jameson asked.

  “I just told them I had a more urgent matter to attend to.”

  “What’s that?” Jameson asked.

  “You,” Candace said with a kiss. “Now, go to sleep.”

  “You didn’t actually tell them that?” Jameson marveled.

  “Sure did,” Candace said. “Now, go back to sleep.”

  Jameson cuddled closer. She was already losing the battle to stay awake. “Can you pass some legislation to ban Mondays?”

  Candace kissed Jameson’s head. “Don’t tempt me,” she said before giving in to her exhaustion.

  ***

  Jameson was still groggy when she awoke and unsure if she had dreamed Candace’s homecoming. The light scent of a familiar perfume, the warm body pressed behind her, and the hand that held hers convinced her that Candace was very real. Jameson took the first deep breath she had in days. She ran her fingers gently over Candace’s hand and realized just how much she had missed the woman holding her. Jameson turned in Candace’s arms. She watched her lover sleeping peacefully, feeling an enormous sense of gratefulness. Jameson had never considered herself someone clever with words. She tried to show Candace, tried to tell Candace what she felt. Often, she felt inadequate in that capacity. Jameson’s teasing was often her way of saying “I love you” to Candace. It’s not that she didn’t say the words; she did. She feared that if she said them too often they would somehow become meaningless, and yet she felt she could never express her love enough to the woman beside her.

  Jameson kissed Candace’s eyelids and her nose softly before placing a tender kiss on Candace’s lips. “What are you up to?” Candace whispered sleepily.

  Jameson stroked Candace’s hip lovingly with her left hand and raised her right to caress Candace’s cheek. She brought her lips to Candace’s again and felt Candace immediately respond. The kiss continued slowly. It was an achingly emotional rediscovery for them both. Jameson heard a faint moan escape from the back of Candace’s throat, and she pulled away to explore Candace’s neck.

  “Jameson…”

  “Shh,” Jameson whispered in Candace’s ear. She nibbled on Candace’s earlobe and delighted in the sigh that escaped her lover. Jameson’s hands worked to lift the long T-Shirt Candace had worn to bed and remove it. She looked at Candace as if she were seeing her for the first time. Candace watched as love and desire flickered in Jameson’s eyes. Jameson had become entranced by the smattering of freckles that adorned the swell of Candace’s breasts. She was tracing patterns with her fingers around them. “So beautiful,” she breathed. Candace closed her eyes when Jameson’s touch was replaced by faint kisses.

  Jameson positioned herself above Candace and looked down on her longingly. Slowly, she kissed her way over Candace’s throat. Jameson continued bathing her lover in light kisses. She moved from Candace’s right shoulder across her chest, deliberately tasting every inch of skin along the way. Candace watched as Jameson continued her delicious assault. Jameson kissed both of Candace’s breasts, just over the tops before circling each of Candace’s nipples with her tongue. Candace arched her back instinctively. Jameson gently took a nipple between her lips and sucked lightly. “Oh…” Candace moaned.

  “Mm…” Jameson agreed. She lifted a hand to play with Candace’s other nipple and Candace threw her head back. Jameson played with Candace’s nipples, teasing, and taunting her until Candace’s body began to move involuntarily.

  “Jameson…God, you have no idea what you are doing to me,” Candace said through a ragged breath.

  Jameson knew exactly what she was doing to her lover. She had learned how Candace liked to be touched, and what sensations made Candace beg for release. Jameson had memorized every inch of the woman she loved, down to the freckles spread across her chest that reminded Jameson a bit of constellations in a night sky to the faint scar that ran across the bottom of her belly from the C-section she had needed to deliver Jonah. Jameson loved every piece of Candace, every freckle, every tiny scar, the laugh lines at the corner of her eyes, even the little stretch marks that could barely be seen on her hips. They were the unique physical parts of Candace that made her Candace Fletcher, and Jameson was completely in love with her.

  Jameson’s hand ran over Candace’s abdomen as it worked its way intentionally lower. She pulled back and looked at Candace whose face was flushed with desire. She stopped for a moment and kissed her lips sweetly, taking a moment to whisper in her ear. “I am going to make love to you until you beg me to stop,” she promised. She felt Candace’s breath hitch and her body shiver.

  Candace ran her hands over the muscles of Jameson’s back and moaned. Jameson drove her wild, not only the way that Jameson touched her, but Jameson’s mere presence. Candace marveled at the way softness and strength mingled in her lover. The combination was evident in everything from Jameson’s intelligence and humor to the way her body moved, and the way it felt beneath Candace’s hands. Jameson could be strong and commanding in one moment, and soft and vulnerable in the next. That made their lovemaking exquisite. It was like nothing Candace had ever experienced, every time. Candace lifted Jameson’s shirt and pulled it over her head. She let her hands glide over the curves of Jameson’s hips and up to her breasts. When her fingers brushed over Jameson’s nipples, Jameson moaned loudly. Candace leaned forward and kissed an already erect nipple lightly before making small circles around it with her tongue. She watched as Jameson’s eyes lost their ability to stay open against the wave of pleasure.

  Jameson should not have been surprised when Candace pulled her in for a heated kiss. The kiss set Jameson on fire. Nothing in the world could arouse her more than Candace’s kiss. She prayed that would never change. She pulled away and licked a steady trail down Candace’s middle. She stopped when she reached the top of a quivering thigh. Jameson pulled off Candace’s panties deliberately. She kissed her way up Candace’s legs, allowing her hands to continually caress Candace’s thighs and hips. She looked up to see the anticipation in Candace’s eyes. Jameson pulled Candace closer to her and breathed in the scent of her arousal. Just the sensation of Jameson’s breath on her made Candace writhe. Jameson held her firmly. She kissed Candace’s thighs and gradually moved her kisses inward.

  “Jameson…please,” Candace barely whispered. Jameson licked Candace gently, softly, slowly. “Oh God…Oh my, God….Jameson.”

  “Mm…” Jameson moaned. Her hands massaged both of Candace’s thighs as she continued exploring Candace leisurely with her tongue. Candace was shifting desperately beneath her in an attempt to focus Jameson where she wanted her. Jameson intended to take her time. She had missed Candace. Phone calls, emails, internet chats, text messages, they were all a sorry substitute for holding, touching, and feeling Candace. Jameson loved making love to Candace. She felt Candace’s hands entwine them
selves in her hair and she reached out to take hold of them.

  Candace thought she might lose consciousness soon if Jameson didn’t relieve the ache that had taken up residence in her body. Jameson was tracing over every inch of her center. Jameson would tease her with just enough pressure to start a slight flickering pulse through Candace, and then she would change direction as though she were searching for some treasure. Now, Jameson held her hands tightly. Candace screamed Jameson’s name when Jameson finally circled Candace’s clit deliberately with her tongue. “Please,” Candace begged. “Please, Jameson. I need you…I need to feel you…please.”

  Jameson responded immediately. She could sense Candace’s climax building from deep within. She circled the small point beneath her tongue again before capturing it between her lips and flicking her tongue over it in quick, repeated bursts. Jameson felt her own arousal building swiftly. The closer Candace came to release, the more Jameson’s center began to throb with need. She swirled her tongue in one direction and then the other, repeating the action over and over, increasing the pressure ever so slightly until she heard Candace cry out.

  “Yes…Oh....Oh my God,” Candace managed between explosions of blissful shudders.

  Candace’s entire body lifted from the bed. It took more strength than Jameson had expected to hold Candace in place. Candace was still trying to catch her breath when she felt Jameson begin again.

  “Jameson….what…oh God!”

  Jameson couldn’t stop herself. She savored every moment of Candace’s release and she wanted more. She let go of Candace’s hands and swiftly entered her lover with two fingers. Candace closed her eyes in a futile attempt to banish the flashing lights that accompanied the orgasm that followed. It came in an instant, without warning. Her entire body shook as Jameson’s finger’s twirled inside her in time with the constant flicking of her tongue.

  Jameson finally stopped. Candace was still quivering and Jameson moved to take her lover into an embrace. “Shh,” she whispered, kissing Candace’s head as Candace folded herself into Jameson. “I just missed you so much,” Jameson said. Candace didn’t answer. “Are you okay?” Jameson asked. Candace was trying to calm the rapid beat of her heart and catch her breath. She didn’t know how to tell Jameson that she was still reeling from the ripples of pleasure that had not fully subsided. “Candace?” Jameson asked again. Candace was shaking in her arms.

  “Just hold me,” Candace said. Jameson pulled Candace closer. “I don’t want to do that again.” Jameson was alarmed. “Be apart for that long,” Candace clarified. Jameson let out a nervous sigh. Candace finally moved to look at her. “Oh no…you thought I meant,” Candace stopped and kissed Jameson. “Sweetheart, you can wake me up that way whenever you want,” she said. “Unless I have to go to work.” Jameson was confused. Candace chuckled. “I just woke up and I need a nap,” she laughed.

  Jameson smiled. She would be happy to hold Candace, but she was feeling more aroused than spent. “Oh,” Candace said as realization dawned. She raised an eyebrow. “Not sleepy?” she asked.

  “I’m fine,” Jameson said unconvincingly. She startled at the feel of Candace’s hand removing her shorts.

  Candace bit her lip to quell another wave of tremors when she was finally able to feel Jameson’s arousal. “I see,” she said. Jameson’s breathing had become rapid and shallow. Candace stroked Jameson tenderly. The warm wetness beneath her hand was intoxicating. She kissed Jameson and then looked in her eyes. Candace moved to her back and pulled Jameson over her. “Come here.”

  Jameson’s heart began to pound furiously as Candace gently guided her. She felt Candace hold her hips and sighed when she settled above her lover. Candace groaned in excitement at the first taste of Jameson. “Perfect,” she said as she explored every inch of the softness that was Jameson. She heard Jameson’s frantic sighs. Even after all their months together, Jameson’s boldness faded when Candace made love to her. It only made Candace love her more; the raw vulnerability in Jameson that made itself known in these moments. Candace drew lazy circles around Jameson with her tongue.

  “Candace,” Jameson urged softly.

  Candace could feel the frustration in Jameson’s movements. She reached up and fondled Jameson’s breasts until she heard Jameson begin to faintly moan above her. She sucked gently and then moved her tongue up and down Jameson with hard, deliberate strokes. It was only a few seconds before she felt Jameson’s legs begin to shake. Wave after wave pounded over and through Jameson. She felt as if she were caught in an undertow. She would surface for a brief second, only to be held under again as the waves crashed over her. She pulled away, fearing that if it continued she would no longer be able to support her own weight.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized as she crawled up beside Candace.

  “What are you sorry for?” Candace asked, stroking Jameson’s hair.

  “I just…you are amazing, you know that?”

  “I love you,” Candace gave as her explanation. Jameson held onto Candace and breathed her in. “Tired?” Candace asked. Jameson was already asleep. “See what I mean?” Candace chuckled. “Good thing we don’t work until Monday.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Jameson walked into the kitchen. Candace was at the counter making coffee and Jameson snuck up behind her to cuddle close. Candace closed her eyes and leaned back into Jameson’s arms. “Good morning,” Jameson whispered in Candace’s ear.

  “Yes, it is,” Candace said. Jameson was nuzzling her neck and Candace sighed. “Jameson,” she giggled.

  “What?”

  “Are you trying to send me to an early grave?” she asked.

  “Why? Is your heart beating faster or something?” Jameson teased. “You haven’t even had coffee yet.” Candace laughed and finished the task before her with Jameson’s arms still holding her. “What are your plans today?” Jameson asked.

  Candace turned in Jameson’s embrace. “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On what your plans are,” Candace said.

  Jameson smiled and kissed Candace gently. “I thought maybe…antiquing?”

  Candace pursed her lips and squinted at Jameson curiously. “Antiquing?”

  Jameson knew that Candace loved to wander in and out of eclectic shops. Although, she was loathed to admit it, she enjoyed it too. Every item had a story and Jameson enjoyed imagining what those stories might have been. Who had owned that lamp or that ring? How did it come to be where it was now? And, she loved spending time with Candace. She felt a sense of pride watching how people responded to her lover, and how Candace engaged people so effortlessly.

  “Don’t you have to work?” Candace pointed to the plans still spread across the kitchen table.

  Jameson shrugged. “I have more important things to attend to,” she winked. “So? What do you say? Antiquing? Lunch? You and me?”

  Candace kissed Jameson’s cheek. “It’s a date.”

  “A date? Oh my God! I have a date with Senator Fletcher!” Jameson exclaimed playfully.

  Candace smacked Jameson and rolled her eyes. “Lunatic.”

  ***

  Jameson and Candace walked through the front door laughing. It had been a perfect day for them both. They had wandered through small shops, purchased a few items for the house, stopped for lunch at a small, hole in the wall café. They spent time talking about the renovation and even about their future. They traded playful banter on and off and sat on a bench under a large tree, eating ice cream cones and talking about their families. Candace had decided in May that they should start a new annual tradition and had been planning a large Fourth of July picnic. She had even convinced Marianne to come for a long weekend with Rick and Spencer.

  Jameson was a tad nervous. It was the first time their families would be together. Candace seemed completely unfazed by the impending event. Jameson was continually impressed by Candace’s ability to take a great many things in stride. She asked Candace when they began planning the barbecue ho
w she managed not to worry about what people said and thought about her. Was it from spending so many years in political life, Jameson wondered? Candace laughed.

  “No. Well, I guess that is part of it,” Candace said. “You have to have a thick skin in my job, Jameson. It’s true.”

  “I don’t know how you do it.”

  Candace laughed. “Mostly, it’s just a product of living,” Candace told her. Jameson looked bewildered. “You grow up, you get married, you work, you give birth to your children and you mourn your parents….I don’t know, you just learn along the way that you have to be true to yourself. I’ve lived long enough to know that some people will love me and some will loathe me. That’s life. I try to concentrate on the ones in my life and not worry so much about the rest.”

  “Yeah, but what about when they don’t approve?” Jameson asked nervously.

  Candace nodded. She knew that Jameson’s greatest anxieties surrounded Candace’s children’s acceptance of her, and Jameson’s siblings’ acceptance of Candace. “In my experience, if they love you, they’ll find their way to where you are. It just takes some people a little more time than others. If they don’t? Well, sometimes you just have to accept that and move on.” Candace watched tension etch Jameson’s features. “Relax,” she said. “You worry too much about things you can’t control, sweetheart.”

  They had been discussing the impending arrival of their families on the way home. That led to Jameson playfully calling Candace, Nana as they entered the house. “One title I will never earn!” Jameson stuck out her tongue behind Candace’s back.

  “Watch it,” Candace warned. “You’ll be sleeping with Jinx.”

  “Throwing me to the pussy ca….” Jameson almost ran into Candace, who had stopped abruptly.

  “Shell?” Candace looked at her daughter who was fast asleep on the living room sofa.

  “Shell?” Jameson repeated in surprise. She put her hands on Candace’s shoulders and felt the tension there. “I’m sure everything is okay,” she whispered in Candace’s ear.