“I’m fine. I’ll snack on the pot pie and order a pizza if I get hungry later.”
“Okay, sugar.” Rose opened the door and looked back over her shoulder. “Tell Nicole I said hello if you see her, and don’t forget to pick up that other bottle of water.”
“Oh, I didn’t notice. Thanks.”
Rose hesitated for a second and winked before closing the door.
Lindsay waited a minute or two before retrieving the other bottle. She couldn’t possibly know, could she? Lindsay wondered as she took another swallow of water. Sunday was nap day for her mother. Rose was more religious about that than church. She readjusted her robe and realized she smelled and probably looked like she’d spent the night having wild sex, which she had. Amazing, mind-blowing sex.
She’d been nervous while she waited for Nicole to return, but when Nicole walked in all flushed, her wet hair clinging to her face, something…snapped. In the span of a millisecond, Lindsay made up her mind that if this was going to happen, she’d approach it no holds barred. The animal inside had been caged for so long, and when she opened the gate, it sprang out uncontrollable and wild. Lindsay made no attempt to hold anything back.
*******
She sprinted up the stairs to find her bed empty. The bathroom door was wide open, and Nicole was nowhere in sight. “Where are you?”
Nicole jerked the shower curtain back with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Toothpaste went everywhere when she asked, “Was that Rose?”
“Yes.” Lindsay ran a shaking hand through her hair. “The conversation was so strange, and she was grinning the whole time.”
Nicole stepped out of the bathtub and rinsed her mouth. “You know her better than I do, but I swear she knows.”
“I don’t think she’d be this giddy or cool about it.” Lindsay leaned against the doorjamb. “But I can’t deny that her behavior is bizarre.” She grabbed Nicole’s hand and dragged her back to bed where she drank the entire bottle of water, then reached for Lindsay with lustful intent clearly displayed in her eyes.
“Wait, let me brush my teeth.”
“There’s no time,” Nicole said with a laugh as she tried to drag her down.
Lindsay squirmed away and dashed into the bathroom where she brushed with record speed. When she walked out of the bathroom, Nicole lay on her back with one hand tucked behind her head, the sheet up to her waist. “I didn’t dream the whole thing, did I?” Lindsay asked as she approached the bed slowly.
“It was a dream come true,” Nicole said softly. “This is happening fast, you know?”
Lindsay untied her belt and sat next to Nicole. She took one of Nicole’s hands and laid it on her lap, tracing the veins with her fingertips. “You’re not an experiment. I know now more than ever what I want. What I don’t know is just how to keep it.”
“I knew beforehand what you were up against, and I came for you anyway. I want what’s between us to grow, and if we have to keep it a secret forever, then so be it.”
“I can’t make you any promises.” Lindsay held up a hand when she saw the hurt immediately flood Nicole’s eyes. “I don’t mean about us,” she amended quickly. “I can’t give you any time limit on when I’ll tell my family the truth.”
Nicole visibly relaxed. “There’s no pressure.”
Lindsay shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. “Last night, I didn’t care if anyone saw your car in the driveway all night. I wanted you so badly that it didn’t matter. That’s a little scary in the light of day.”
Nicole grinned. “And I didn’t care that I had to walk six blocks in the cold with a wet head.” She ran her finger down the opening in Lindsay’s robe. “To be honest, I ran half the way.”
Lindsay fingered one of the wild locks of hair that hung down Nicole’s shoulder. “You look like a woman who spent the night rolling around beneath the sheets.”
Nicole laughed as she pulled Lindsay on top of her. “We didn’t roll under anything but each other.”
Lindsay kissed her slowly. “I’m deeply in like with you, Nicole Allen.”
“That feeling is very much mutual.” Nicole pulled the robe from Lindsay’s shoulders. “I’d like to spend the day showing you just how much.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you even on the same planet with me?”
“Huh?” Lindsay looked up from the paper just before Rose snatched it away.
“You’re not even reading. You’ve been staring at the same page for thirty minutes. The phone rang twice, and you didn’t even flinch.” Rose watched Lindsay out of the corner of her eye as she filled her coffee cup. “Are you feeling okay? You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine.” Lindsay looked around for something to occupy her and keep her out of her mother’s line of sight.
“I was telling you that I got a great deal on a turkey. It’s taking up half my freezer right now.”
“That’s great.” Lindsay smiled. “We’ll have plenty of leftovers.”
Rose lowered her head and looked at Lindsay over the top of her glasses. “You complain every year about having to eat leftovers for the week after. As I recall, last year, you wanted to make barbecue ribs for Christmas because you were sick to death of turkey.”
“I’m in the mood for bird, Mom, what can I say?” Lindsay feigned interest in the key-making machine. “We need to clean this thing. It’s getting grimy.”
“Are we seeing Nicole tonight?”
“Ah, no.” Lindsay shook her head. “I hadn’t planned on it. I’m gonna go back to my office. I’ve got a couple of calls to make.”
Rose looked at her oddly. “All right then.”
Lindsay walked away, feeling painfully guilty for lying. She was seeing Nicole that night but after everyone else had gone to bed. Alexis would be back Wednesday, and Lindsay wanted every second of alone time she could get with Nicole.
She’d begun denying her attraction to Nicole not long after they’d met. Now the floodgates were open, the craving was constant, and it made her feel totally off-kilter. Every waking moment, she wanted to know what Nicole was doing, thinking. More than that, she wanted to have her hands on that body, her mouth on… “Lord, help me, I’m useless.” Lindsay closed the office door behind her. She’d never known a longing like this—sweet and agonizing at the same time.
*******
Nicole set Deana’s rod and reel behind the front counter. “Thank you for the lessons and for loaning me that.” She jerked a thumb at the rod. “I’m in your debt.”
“Catch anything?” Deana asked excitedly.
“Oh, yes, and it had a mouth on it.” Nicole felt a tingle race up and down her spine as she remembered watching Lindsay kiss a burning trail down her stomach.
“A bass?”
Nicole nodded. “I think that’s what Lindsay called it.” Nicole took out her phone and displayed her catch.
“Not bad!” Deana said with a laugh as she handed the phone back to Nicole.
“How’re we stacked up today—busy?” Nicole hoped for a hectic pace that would keep her mind off the woman across town who had dominated her every thought. Otherwise, time would creep by at a snail’s pace until she could see her again.
“Surprisingly slow for a Monday. I was going to spend the morning sprucing up the lobby if you don’t mind. You know, dust and throw away the old magazines.”
“That sounds fine. Thanks for being so industrious.” Nicole drummed the counter with her fingers. “You’re bucking for a Christmas bonus, aren’t you?”
Deana shrugged. “It’s not expected, but I sure won’t complain if a few extra duckies are swimming around on my check.”
Nicole grinned and retreated to her office. She had begun cleaning off the surface of her desk when Christmas came back to mind. “Shopping, that’s what I need to be doing.” Her fingers danced over her computer keyboard as she tried to summon the perfect gift for Lindsay. What token of affection could she give without drawing attention?
; “Nicole, you have a call on line one. It’s Ms. Juneau,” Deana said over the intercom.
“Well, hello, Ms. Juneau,” Nicole said as a warm feeling washed over her.
“I can’t work, I can’t think, and I can’t seem to find a place to hide from my mother.” Lindsay sighed dramatically. “You’ve ruined me.”
“We’re in the same boat. I’m just hoping I don’t neuter something by mistake.”
Lindsay chuckled softly. “The stakes are much higher for you. I may only load an extra bag of feed or two, and no one will complain about that.”
“Keep slinging that feed, honey. I’m loving the muscle tone.”
“I’d like to sling a leg over—”
“Stop that right now,” Nicole whispered as she closed her door. “You have me messed up enough.”
“I won’t deny that makes me very happy. I’ve looked at the clock at least a million times since I got here this morning.”
“Me too,” Nicole admitted with a long sigh. “Is Peepers feeling all right? Need me to make a house call?”
“Oh, don’t tempt me. Want to know what I’m doing right now?”
“Don’t.” Nicole sounded miserable. “Okay, yes.”
Lindsay’s laugh was low and sexy. “I’m making a mental list of all the things I want to do to you.”
“Stop it!”
“You asked.”
“You goaded. I’m so weak.” Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose. “This morning, I poured coffee into the cat food bowl. Bieber and Bounce nearly took my arm off.”
“I can’t top that. Don’t you need anything delivered? Isn’t anything broken over there?”
Nicole pulled up the day’s schedule. Her next appointment was two and a half hours away. “My sink is leaking in the master bath.”
“Really?”
“No, but it will be by the time you get here.”
Lindsay spoke a bit louder. “You’ll need a pipe wrench for that and maybe a few washers. It’s definitely a do-it-yourself thing. Try that before you go to the expense of having a new faucet installed. Oh, no, we’re slow today. I can run the stuff by within the hour.”
“Are you talking to me?” Nicole asked.
“It’s no problem at all. I’ll be there soon. Oh, and Mom says hi.”
Nicole pulled the phone from her ear when she heard the dial tone. She got up and walked into the reception area. “Deana, Lindsay’s gonna help me repair a leaky faucet. Will you call me if anyone comes in?”
Deana looked up from her dusting. “Sure will. Tell Ms. Juneau I said hello if I don’t get to see her.”
“I will, thanks.”
Nicole went back to her house and straightened up a few things. She eyed the sink faucet in her bathroom. It was dry as a bone. “We’re pathetic.” She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned.
Bieber pounced on the shoelace on her sneaker while his brother gave himself a bath in the corner. “Could you two behave while I have company?” She reached down and picked up Bieber. “If we end up in my bed, would you and your sibling refrain from attacking our feet under the covers? We really need to discuss this at length. My toes aren’t your toys.”
Bieber replied by biting her on the thumb. It was a soft bite, but his message was clear—neither he nor Bounce had any intention of playing nice.
“That’s what I thought.” Nicole sighed and dropped him gently on his brother. They began rolling around on the floor in a play fight.
Nicole straightened more of the house and had resorted to pacing when she heard a knock on the back door. She opened it to Lindsay, who was carrying an assortment of tools that she promptly deposited on the kitchen table. She smiled at Nicole and held up both hands defensively. “I know I got racy on the phone, but it’s not all about sex.” She paused and chewed her bottom lip. “Okay, a lot of it is about sex because I just can’t get enough of you.”
“I’m so not offended.” Nicole took Lindsay into her arms.
Lindsay buried her face in Nicole’s neck and breathed in deeply before pulling back to run the backs of her fingers across Nicole’s face. “I just had to see you, smell you, touch you. I keep thinking that this is one marvelous, long dream and I’m going to wake up and be very disappointed.”
Nicole took her hand and kissed the palm. “I’m real.” She kissed each one of Lindsay’s fingers. “And this is all real.”
Lindsay chewed at her bottom lip again. “Am I…” She sighed when Nicole kissed the inside of her wrist. “I don’t have a lot of experience. I worry that—”
“You don’t compare to the others by a long shot.” Nicole grinned when Lindsay’s shoulders sagged. “That was mean of me. I should’ve begun that sentence by saying you are the most exciting lover I’ve ever known. You meet me in the middle, and more often than that, you overpower me. You turn me on more than my wildest fantasies, and you know why?”
Lindsay raised a brow. “Because I’m like an out-of-control octopus?”
Nicole laughed. “Well that, too. It’s right between us.” She pressed Lindsay’s hand to her chest. “This is right.”
Lindsay leaned in and kissed Nicole. “You want to know when I found you absolutely irresistible?”
“The minute you met me, like I did you?”
Lindsay shook her head. “When we met, I thought you were extremely attractive, but I couldn’t let myself go there. I was too afraid to hope. It was when you told me you lied about why you were at my house the day you pulled Mark McCreedy’s hair. You were disheveled, your face was flushed, and I wanted to kiss you right there in my front yard. Ow!”
“Bieber, we talked about this.” Nicole bent down and plucked the kitten off of Lindsay’s pants leg. “Go maul your brother.” She rubbed Lindsay’s leg with an apology.
“You’re making this very difficult to prove this isn’t an all-about-sex visit.”
Nicole regarded Lindsay seriously. “It’s not just about mind-blowing, powerful sex. We both know that.” She filled her hands with Lindsay’s soft hair and kissed her with a fervor that seemed to belie the point. Lindsay responded in kind as Nicole pushed her slowly toward the bedroom.
Clothes flew in all directions before the women landed on the bed naked and clinging to each other as though they were living their last second. Lindsay’s hands were blazing a fiery trail over every expanse of skin she could claim. Nicole broke the kiss and spoke breathlessly. “I want something from you.”
“Anything.” Lindsay looked into her eyes.
“Grab the headboard or clutch the sheets, but just for a little while, let me have my way with you.”
Nicole’s heart pounded as Lindsay slowly reached out on either side of her and fisted her hands in the sheets. The muscles in her forearms flexed, along with her body nestled beneath Nicole’s. “For a little while.”
Nicole shook her head and moved off Lindsay. “Turn over and do the same.”
Lindsay didn’t hesitate. She flipped over onto her stomach and grasped the pillows above her head. Nicole ran her fingertips down Lindsay’s spine, enjoying the way the muscles flexed and the skin rose in goose bumps in the wake of her touch. “You are so absolutely perfect,” Nicole said before kissing Lindsay’s shoulder. “Try not to make a sound. All I want to hear is your breathing.”
“Are you afraid someone will hear us?”
Nicole kissed Lindsay’s ear and ran her tongue around the edge of it. “No, I want complete control of you, even the sounds you make. Spread your legs wide.”
A breath rushed out of Lindsay’s lungs as she complied.
“No more talking. No sound.” Nicole climbed between Lindsay’s legs and kissed a slow trail up her spine, starting at her lower back and ending at her neck. She lowered herself fully atop Lindsay. “All you will hear is your own breathing and my response to loving your body.” Nicole gripped Lindsay’s forearms and began to grind slowly into her backside. The shuddering breath that Lindsay released sent a jolt of electricity through every f
iber of Nicole’s being. She laid her cheek next to Lindsay’s ear, her erratic breathing matching Lindsay’s. “I’m so turned on by you that just doing this brings me so close to the edge,” Nicole said shakily.
Lindsay hissed between clenched teeth but didn’t utter a word.
Nicole increased the pace, moaning softly against Lindsay’s ear as she shook beneath her. When she felt herself losing control, she rolled off of Lindsay. “Turn over.”
Lindsay’s eyes were wild and wide as she stared up into Nicole’s. Every muscle in her body stood out beneath the skin. Her nostrils flared as Nicole once again lowered herself atop her body and began grinding into her. Nicole wanted to kiss her, but her breathing was so labored that she buried her face between Lindsay’s neck and shoulder. “You’re so wet, I can feel it.” Lindsay inhaled sharply when Nicole pushed harder against her and gripped her wrists. “I’m so fucking close, and you haven’t even touched me.”
Lindsay was breathing like she was running a marathon as she wrapped her legs around Nicole and tried to increase the contact. Their bodies slid easily against each other as the moisture between them continued to gather. “You make me so wet that when you go back to work today, I’ll still be between your legs.” Lindsay surged up off the bed, unsuccessfully biting back a cry as she shuddered repeatedly beneath Nicole.
“Your ‘little while’ is up,” Lindsay said as she forcefully shoved Nicole onto her back. She climbed between Nicole’s legs and pushed her knees up, spreading her legs wide. Nicole reached for her, and Lindsay pushed her hands away. “Don’t touch me. It’s your turn to grab the sheets, and I’m going to watch you as you come for me.”
Nicole craned her head back and clamped her eyes shut when Lindsay entered her in one swift stroke.
“Look at me, Nicole. Open your eyes,” Lindsay commanded shakily.
Nicole swallowed hard as her eyes fluttered open and tried to focus. “You’d come again if I touched you, you’re still on the edge,” she said, wishing Lindsay would allow her to make that happen.
The Secret of St Claire Page 13