Joie de Vivre

by Micheala Lynn

  Riley and Susan came wandering into the living room just as the clock ran out. Lisa threw her arms around Caroline, both jumping up and down. The Lions had won! She flashed a bright smile at Riley. Lisa noted that out in the kitchen with Susan, probably debating something esoteric, she had missed the entire game.

  But something seemed off. Was it her imagination or was Riley agitated? Had their discussion been more heated than usual? Or was it something else? Was Riley perhaps upset that she had spent the afternoon in here with Caroline watching the game? She reached out and pulled Riley in close, her voice barely above the commotion on the TV. “Hey, babe, everything okay?”

  Riley gave her head a little shake, her expression immediately clearing. Still, she avoided her eyes. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

  “Are you sure? When you first came into the room, you looked like your favorite puppy had died.” She poked Riley in the ribs in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “No, nothing like that.” Riley laughed weakly. She then quickly pointed to the TV. “So, how’s the game? Who’s winning?” She smiled a little too wide.

  Lisa narrowed her eyes. She felt Riley wasn’t being entirely truthful. That laugh of hers wasn’t genuine and that shit-eating grin—what was up with that? And since when did she take such an interest in football? Something was most definitely up. “Are you sure you’re okay, Riley?”

  “Yeah, it’s nothing.” That same fake grin. “Believe me.”

  Lisa frowned. Believe me. For the first time, she had a hard time doing just that, believing her.

  Just as she was about to speak, Riley threw an arm around her shoulders and smiled, this time looking like the Riley she had come to know. “Sorry, hon. I was just thinking about what Susan and I were talking about. I guess I was still in that conversation.”

  “Okay, no biggie.” She patted Riley’s hand. Maybe she had blown things out of proportion. God knows Riley could be in her own little world at times. Even that first night in the grocery store, Riley had been in her own little world. So, that had probably been it—still in the conversation with Susan. Those two were definitely two peas from the same intellectually-deep pod. “Well, you missed a really great game—the Lions won.”

  “And which ones are those again? The blue ones?” Riley winced.

  “Yes, Riley, the blue ones,” laughed Lisa.

  The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking over wine. Riley once again seemed her old self, jumping up many times to wildly gesticulate her point. Lisa smiled as Riley flung her arms wide while talking for what must’ve been the fifth time in as many minutes. “Geez, Riley, with as much as you talk with your hands, how is it that you talk and drive at the same time?”

  Riley froze in midsentence, her mouth hanging open. Susan guffawed, rolling about in the loveseat she was sharing with Caroline. “Lisa’s got you there, Riley. How do you drive that monster truck of yours while talking?”

  “That’s what knees are for.” Riley rolled her eyes and then turned to Lisa with lips pursed. “And I’ll get you for that later, Ms. Funny.”

  “Oooooo, promises, promises.” Lisa waggled her eyebrows.

  “Believe me, you won’t have just promises to look forward to when we get home.”

  Susan now clapped her hands over her ears. “Oh my God, Riley. TMI, TMI.”

  “No kidding. I don’t even want to know.” Caroline pointed from Riley to Lisa. “I swear, you two are perfect for each other.”

  Lisa took in Caroline’s words—you two are perfect for each other. She liked to think so too. Still, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Riley had not been entirely honest with her earlier, as if she were hiding something. She couldn’t quite push the image of that shit-eating grin on Riley’s face and that fake, hollow laugh from her mind.

  * * *

  Riley rolled over on her side, propping herself up with her arm, still gasping for breath. She looked down at Lisa lying beside her, a thin sheen of sweat covering her body and a deep flush painting her skin starting just above her breasts, traveling up her neck to the top of her forehead. Her swollen lips and deep, dark eyes still showed her arousal. Riley had never seen a more beautiful sight.

  She was going to hate going back to work tomorrow. These past four days off for Thanksgiving had been great—sleeping in late, watching silly old movies and making love once, twice, sometimes three times or more, every night. She had needed this, especially in light of the talk she’d had with Susan. Maybe all she needed to do was keep work and her personal life separate. Work was work, personal was personal, and as Rudyard Kipling said, “Never the twain shall meet.” Put simply, Lisa didn’t need to know.

  Lisa stared up at her, her face still ruddy. “What are you thinking about, babe? You seem a million miles away.”

  Riley blinked, snapping herself out of her reverie. She let out a soft laugh. “I was just thinking about how beautiful you are, especially with this afterglow.” She reached down and lightly traced her thumb over Lisa’s swollen bottom lip.

  “I don’t know about afterglow, but I certainly like the evidence of you on my lips.” She slowly ran the tip of her tongue over her full lips. “Mmmmm, I can’t ever get enough.”

  “You keep that up and I just might lose control again.”

  “Promises, promises.”

  Riley quickly rolled over and straddled Lisa, their hips pressed together. She sat upright and stared down into Lisa’s eyes as they grew dark again with fresh arousal. She slipped her hand between their mounds, feeling both Lisa’s burning wetness and her own, and began a slow grind with her hips.

  Lisa threw her head back and closed her eyes. She tore at the sheets with her left hand, her fingers opening and closing, opening and closing. She knotted the fingers of her right hand in her hair as her skin once again flushed. Her breathing became ragged, a low, soft moan escaping her lips. Gasp, moan—gasp, moan—again and again—building—building.

  The low, deep sound, the sound of Lisa’s building arousal, nearly pushed Riley over the edge. There was something primal, something that needed no words, that passed between them when they made love. If only everything were as simple. But she didn’t want to think about that, not now. The only thing that mattered was the moment. Just Lisa and her, nothing else.

  She gradually quickened the rhythm of her hips, feeling her own excitement grow with each thrust, with each grind. Faster and faster, harder and harder. The heat between them was almost unbearable. Whether it was Lisa or her, or the two of them together, she wasn’t sure, but the wetness between them turned into a hot gushing flood. That feeling on her fingers, on her hand, drenching her mound and covering her thighs—she couldn’t take it any longer and she felt herself beginning to tip over the edge of her orgasm.

  “Oh, Lisa, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

  Lisa looked up and grabbed Riley, a hand on each shoulder. She peered directly into Riley’s eyes. “Look at me, Riley, look at me. I want to stare into your eyes as you come.”

  That was all the encouragement she needed. Her orgasm ripped through her body, radiating out from her center, up her spine and down through her legs. Her thighs contracted again and again. Wave after wave rolled through her body as she stared into Lisa’s deep blue eyes.

  Just as her orgasm began to subside, Lisa ground against her one last time, sending herself over the edge of her own orgasm. She opened her mouth and let out a long guttural cry. That sound, the sound of Lisa as her orgasm peaked, sent yet another wave rolling through her body. The moment seemed to go on and on. Was it seconds, minutes, hours? She didn’t know. Her orgasm went on and on. Finally, all energy seemed to drain from her. She sat there still straddling Lisa, their hot wet bodies pressed together, a feeling nearly as good as the orgasm itself.

  “I love to watch you while you come.” Lisa smiled up at Riley. “You’re so beautiful.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you. I can see all your passion, all your desire, all your zest for l
ife.”

  She didn’t know how to respond. Of course Lisa was beautiful when she was having an orgasm—she was beautiful all the time. But for Lisa to feel the same way— “Well, you’re beautiful too. Especially all your lovely sounds.”

  “Really?” Lisa laughed. “You like the sounds I make?”

  “You had better believe it. They twist me up inside.”

  Lisa stared up for a long while before answering. “The sounds I make twist you up inside?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “Lisa, everything about you twists and me up inside.” Riley felt a lump rising in her throat and swallowed hard. That was it right there—Lisa twisted her up inside. That more than anything was why she was worried. She hadn’t felt this way about anyone, not one person, not since Deana had disappeared. She had used her job to keep people at a distance. But with Lisa, it was different. Any distance felt like too much. Yet with her gruesome job how could she not keep a distance—for Lisa’s sake?

  * * *

  Lisa sat up in bed, unable to sleep. After making love she usually slept like a baby, but not tonight. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t seem to shut her mind off. And she wasn’t the only one. Riley tossed and turned beside her, flopping all over the place and muttering in her sleep, more so than usual.

  She slipped out of bed quietly and walked naked up the dark hallway into the living room. There she dropped into her favorite recliner, kicked her legs up over the arm, flipped on the reading light and grabbed her book. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well read and what better book to while away a sleepless night than a sweet lesbian romance. But try as she might, she couldn’t get into it. She had read the same line at least a dozen times and still didn’t know what it said. She tossed the book back on the end table.

  Groaning, she hopped up and paced back and forth through her dimly lit living room. Why couldn’t she sleep? It had been a great Thanksgiving break—well, except for Riley’s odd moment.

  She then froze in midstride. What if there was something wrong and Riley was hiding it from her? Could Riley be sick and not tell her? Could she be—no, she wasn’t going to do this. She wasn’t going to stand there and convince herself that something terrible was going to happen, that something might happen to Riley. Yes, she had lost Jessie. It wasn’t fair that she had cancer. It wasn’t fair that she had died. It wasn’t fair that they didn’t get to spend the next fifty years growing old together. But that had been Jessie. Of course she missed her every day, but that didn’t mean the same thing was going to happen with Riley. She was simply letting her fear and paranoia get the best of her.

  With that thought she turned out the light and headed back to bed. When she slipped quietly under the covers, Breslin lifted his head to glare at her from where he was sleeping at Riley’s feet. She giggled softly to herself. “Traitor cat.”

  As she said those words, Riley again tossed in her sleep and muttered. “…can’t…tell Lisa…no…”

  Lisa’s heart froze in her chest. Maybe she did have something to fear after all.

  Chapter Twelve

  Riley punched in the last grades for the semester’s classes just as Susan popped her head into her office. “And to what do I owe the pleasure…?”

  “Wow, someone’s in a great mood.” Susan flopped down in the empty chair beside Riley’s desk. “How uncharacteristically Riley of you.”

  “Good one.” Riley rolled her eyes. “You know, contrary to popular belief, I’m not always in a dark mood.”

  “Just every time I see you.”

  “Huh, perhaps there’s a statistical correlation between my dark mood and you. Maybe you bring the worst out in me.” Susan might like to tease her, but she could give it right back.

  Susan thought for a moment, tapping her finger against her cheek. “Nah, that can’t be it. I bring the best out of people, just ask Caroline. Your dark mood is more a universal constant. I’m not sure it correlates with anything.”

  “Well, not today. Chalk it up to an anomaly then, but I’m in a good mood. The semester’s done and unless something pops up I’ve got the next three weeks to kick back and relax. Well, except for that pretrial mess next week.” She couldn’t believe it had gone this far. She figured as soon as Mr. Evans and his girlfriend lawyer saw the load of evidence the University had against his baseless claims, they would drop the suit, turn tail and run. The lawyers had thought that too. But no, Mr. Evans was being an even bigger pain in the ass than she’d thought possible.

  “I can’t believe that they have a case.”

  “I have to give it to Mr. Evans, he’s a tenacious little bastard. If only he had put that much effort into his schoolwork instead of hitting on every woman in the department and thinking he was the all-time rock star of Forensic Anthropology. And that lawyer girlfriend of his is nearly as bad. I don’t know what reality she’s living in, but they’re trying to make this some big lesbian conspiracy reverse discrimination civil rights case.” Riley gritted her teeth.

  “Wow, Riley, you really know how to attract them. Do you think there’s a chance they could win?”

  Riley snorted, throwing her hands up. “Hell if I know. I never thought it would get this far.” A conspiratorial look crossed her face. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve myself, though.”

  Susan leaned in close. “Oh, I’ve got to hear this. What diabolical plot, what fiendish plan, could the great Dr. Kate Riley have come up with?”

  “I can’t really say at the moment, but if all goes well, come next Wednesday Mr. Evans should thankfully disappear from my life for good.”

  Susan slapped her hand down hard twice on Riley’s desk. “Well, good. Here’s good riddance to bad people.”

  “You said it.” She was going to spend the next three weeks focusing solely on the most important one—Lisa. She jumped up from her desk and grabbed her jacket. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Once in the hall, Susan clapped her on the shoulder. “So, any big plans for the holidays? You know you and Lisa are expected at our house for Christmas dinner.”

  Riley suddenly stopped, her heart racing. Plans, she had plans all right. But how could she explain them to Susan? How could she tell her when she only had a vague idea herself—spend it with Lisa? For the last couple weeks, something had felt off, something felt strained.

  Susan spun around, her eyes narrowing. “Hey, is everything all right between you two? This isn’t about what we talked about on Thanksgiving, is it?”

  Riley finally sighed. “No, it’s not that. Lisa’s been really down lately, reserved and distant. I think it’s the little girl’s death.”

  Susan had been listening, bobbing her head. “I know what you mean. Caroline’s been a bit down because of that too, even though that little girl wasn’t in her class. They’re all a pretty close family at that school, so when something like that happens, it hits them all pretty hard.”

  “That’s what I figured.” Hearing Susan say that Caroline was going through the same thing helped. “I was planning on devoting the next three weeks pretty much all to Lisa.”

  Susan’s mouth gaped open. “Oh my goodness, this is a whole new Riley.”

  She could feel the color rising in her cheeks. “So, do you have any other sagacity on how I might cheer up Lisa?”

  “Be there, Riley.” Susan nodded her head firmly. “Just be there. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.”

  That sounded easy enough. But she was a person of action. She wanted to be doing something and “just being there” seemed too passive.

  As if reading her thoughts, Susan threw her arm around her shoulders. “Trust me, Riley. All you need to do is be there.” And with that they stepped out into the cold December afternoon.

  * * *

  Lisa smiled as she pulled into her driveway. Riley’s truck was parked out front. The past two weeks had been strained, but the text message Riley had sent her earlier had given her cause for hope. She hadn’t got it until right befo
re leaving work. It was short and to the point—typical Riley—but also sweet in its brevity. You’re my everything, surprise waiting. What more could be said in five words? Perhaps there was nothing to worry about after all.

  She hustled to her house, flipping up her collar to keep out the bitter wind. All day it had been getting colder and now the first flurries of the season were whipping in the frigid air. Thank God it was Friday. If it were going to get nasty and snow it was better that happened over the weekend when she could stay home. However, her young students would much rather have it during the week. Even in kindergarten they knew the excitement of a snow day.

  Her ears were freezing as she scrambled through the door, a swirl of snowflakes following her. The warmth of her house wrapped around her like an old comfy blanket and she breathed in deeply. But instead of just the usual smells of her house—eucalyptus hanging on the wall, the mulberry incense she was so fond of, the cinnamon potpourri in her warmer—there was something else floating in the air, something almost intoxicating. She quickly stripped out of her jacket, threw it haphazardly on the coat tree and kicked off her boots. She then scampered up the hallway to her kitchen and the source of that exquisite aroma.

  However she was shocked to see Riley standing there wearing her apron, oven mitts on both hands. “Holy crap—Riley the domestic Goddess.”

  “Hush.” Riley rolled her eyes, a wry smile on her lips. “I do know how to cook, you know, even though I rarely get the chance.”

  “Hey, you’re not going to hear me complain. After the cold today, this is a real treat. Is this what you meant when you said, ‘surprise waiting’?”

  “Yep.” Riley couldn’t look prouder. “I figured since this was the last day of the term and I got my grades in early, I’d come home and whip you up a special dinner. I know it’s been a little crazy the past couple weeks.”