“What you’re going through is hard and hurtful. Most of all, confusing. I know because I’ve gone through it too. If I’m willing to risk it all, are you?”
Brie covered her face with her hands. “I care.”
Jordan pushed Brie to the floor gently and kissed her. When she raised up, Brie’s eyes were still closed. “Do that again,” Brie said.
Jordan did and this time she started at the collarbone, worked her way up the neck, skimmed the jaw, and finally, found her mouth.
Jordan propped herself on an elbow, ran her hands through the shining hair below her. “See, it’s still there.”
“Come here. I’ve missed you.” Brie said, but she had a small smile on her face. Jordan almost groaned when Brie held her tightly. “Sit up,” Brie whispered against Jordan’s ear. The next few seconds were magic to Jordan. Brie had her sweater and bra off in a second and sat before her, naked from the waist up.
“Your turn,” Brie said. Jordan could not move, so Brie took the T-shirt off her and tossed it on the couch. “Drooling,” she murmured and pushed Jordan to the floor again. She stretched out very lightly across Jordan’s skin, barely brushing her but igniting her to the tips of her fingers. The only sound was their heavy breathing.
“Follow me,” Brie said, taking Jordan’s hand. She hopped, trying to get out of her sweats, and by the time she got to the bedroom, every hair on her body rose as she saw the naked body in front of her. “Here we are,” Brie said softly and moved Jordan onto the bed.
It wasn’t anything like Jordan thought it would be, but somehow more than she had hoped. A thrill settled between her legs. Brie kissed her stomach, up her ribs to the neck, the hollow of her throat, glanced off an ear, and finally landed securely on her lips. Every time Brie kissed her, Jordan needed more and instinctively lifted into Brie. They groaned. Fingers slipped between her legs, teasing the inside of her thighs. “Brie,” Jordan gasped helplessly.
“Shh, just enjoy. Remember, I said you only needed the right person to”—and she touched her carefully—“touch you…tend you. Ah, you’re wet. This is right. I told you so.” Brie opened her, slowly, gently. Jordan tried to breathe, every piece of her begging for Brie’s hands. She floated for a moment as a warm mouth covered her breast and enclosed her nipple. She pushed upward for more as a thumb teased her clit and she came unexpectedly and hard.
They collapsed back into the pillows, their ragged breathing the only sound. When Brie started to pull out, Jordan caught her hand. “No. Stay.” Her body was still throbbing. “Don’t you dare move.” Jordan captured Brie’s mouth, tasting her lips, then her smooth cheeks and jaw. Neither said a word until Jordan whispered, “More,” and impaled herself on the fingers again.
Brie put two more fingers inside the slick heat and skimmed herself across the now sweaty body beside her. She ran her tongue around the hard nipple, heard Jordan groan, and stroked harder. Tightening muscles warned her and she grazed the nipple with her teeth, then bit lightly. That did it and Jordan raised up. Brie held her, feeling the powerful orgasm trap her fingers. When the tremors stopped she took her hand away and they stretched against each other.
Jordan tried to breathe, her eyes closed. Finally she whispered, “That was a land speed record for me.”
Brie kissed her, aware of her own aching desire lurking just beneath her skin. “Hold me,” she said, wanting the arms around her that always made her feel safe.
Jordan’s eyes were still closed. “I could stand a lot more of that,” she said, settling Brie under her own body. “More.”
Brie moved Jordan’s hand between her own legs and bit her lip as Jordan’s fingers tentatively explored her. She stared into eyes full of smoldering heat.
“God. You’re wet,” Jordan said. “This is sexy.”
“I want you right…there,” Brie said but felt Jordan hesitate, and she spread her legs to encourage her. She pulled Jordan’s mouth down to hers for a long, passionate kiss and pushed against her fingers until they were deep inside. Every nerve in her body snapped as Jordan’s warm lips moved up her stomach to her breasts. She shoved her hands in Jordan’s hair, said her name as the orgasm pulled her into the familiar haze. She held on to Jordan with everything she was worth.
“Wow,” Jordan exhaled.
When she had enough breath to talk, Brie whispered, “I was afraid.”
Jordan wiped the tears from the corners of Brie’s eyes. “Afraid?”
“What if something happens…to you?”
“Is that what this is about?” She stared into Brie’s eyes. “Let’s get every day we can. I don’t want to miss a single moment.”
“I mean it. It makes me shake just to think of it.”
“Wait,” Jordan said. “Think of how we met. That was chance. The same random moment that you’re afraid of. Look at us now.”
Brie gave her a slightly dazed smile. “Yes. Look at us.” She threw her arms around Jordan, holding her hard.
Jordan tucked Brie’s trembling body against her. They held each other until they fell asleep. Somewhere in the darkness of the night they both woke at the same time, turning to each other, and went at each other like a couple of kids. Finally, sweating and breathing hard, they lay side by side, staring at each other.
“I love this, lying here, naked with you. You’ll never know how much I’ve looked at your body, the different ways. Here, let me show you something.” Jordan straddled Brie, her hands flat on Brie’s hips, thumb to thumb. “This area, from just above the tattoo to here, on your thigh. This is what I sketched. I love it. And if you’d ever told me I’d love a woman’s breasts, I’d have laughed in your face.” She cupped the beautiful breasts under her. “Yum.”
Brie laughed at Jordan’s kidlike gleefulness and pulled her down into a heap on the bed. Still playful but worn out, they fell asleep again, tangled together.
The next morning, Brie looked across the bed and ran her fingers through the dark hair. Lifting the covers, she surveyed the body. She hadn’t touched another woman’s body in over sixteen years. She paused as she traced between the firm breasts. Jordan certainly had been creative. Jordan jerked and her eyes flew open. Brie smiled at the well-kissed lips and the satisfied eyes.
Gray eyes blinked above a very sexy smile. “Come here. I can’t move.”
Brie covered Jordan with her body, then propped herself on her elbows over her. She brushed the hair out of Jordan’s eyes and pulled the covers over their heads.
*
Jordan set her coffee cup down, half listening to the voices from the little office next to the kitchen. Karen had come in that morning, ruffled Brie’s still-damp hair, smiled at both of them, and gone into the office without a comment.
She smiled. Never had she been so teased or satisfied. No one had taken her to the heights Brie had. Ever. She poured more coffee and watched a small bird in the tree beside the window. She had thought her life was over, but here she was, beginning again. They’d made love, not just had sex, last night.
“Jordan, did you order breakfast for Karen?” Brie called and triggered a quick memory of her crying out her name last night.
“Yes,” Jordan said, shifting in her chair as her body responded to the memory. Someone knocked at the door. “It’s here, Brie.”
They talked about Brie’s book while they ate. Karen was congenial over coffee afterward. She asked about Jordan’s kids, her husband, and her business. Jordan was surprised to discover that Karen had begun her professional career as a carpenter with her father, going to college at night. They talked about carving a bit as well.
Brie let them talk as she put notes into her laptop, interrupting occasionally with questions for Karen. The tapping of the keys stopped for a moment and Jordan looked up to see Brie’s eyes on her, warm and happy. Jordan lost the thread of the conversation and turned back to Karen’s wide smile.
“Okay, you two,” Karen said, stuffing papers into her briefcase. She hugged Brie and shook hands with Jordan, handin
g her a business card. “Just in case.” She grinned as she left.
“One more cup of coffee?” Jordan asked.
Brie sat down across from her, a question on her face.
“Thomas Teller talked to me about Niki’s foundation. The new project.”
Brie’s face lit up. “Does it make you happy?”
“I’m hanging on the moon. That and last night and sitting here now, with you. I’ll begin on the project when Thomas’s house is finished. I’ve already been looking over the plans at home and had a meeting with them while you were gone. Brie, you’re welcome to be any part of this that you want.” She reached for Brie’s hand.
“I hope so,” Brie said with a sexy smile.
“You should have seen how excited the kids were when I showed them where I was going to fly,” Jordan said with a laugh. “They like you so much, Brie.”
“I like them,” Brie said. “Their mother too.” She took their cups to the sink. “I have something I want to buy them, if you’ll let me. It’s on the way out of town, toward the airport.” She glanced at her watch. “We’d better pack if we’re going to do that and get to the airport on time.” Brie started to leave but turned back and settled into Jordan’s lap. “You promise? Every day? Every single moment?”
Jordan took her face in her hands and searched the solemn blue eyes, saw the glance of fear. “I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
When they got home, the Milwaukee airport was bathed in unusually mild November air. The world felt easy and comfortable. Jordan laced Brie’s fingers in her own. “I can’t get enough of you,” Jordan said and bumped Brie gently with her hip.
“I’ll miss you tonight,” Brie said with a slow, inviting smile. She bumped Jordan back and they both staggered a little. “I feel a little drunk.”
Jordan pulled Brie to her. “Tonight? I hadn’t even thought that far. I think I’ve lost my mind.”
“It’s safe, I’ve got it,” Brie teased gently.
“Maybe you could stay the night? Remember, we have your gifts. You’ll have a hard time getting away from the kids. A sleepover?”
*
Jenna and Tyler were thrilled with the gifts but especially the cowboy boots Brie had bought them, just as Jordan had predicted. Brie and Jordan made spaghetti for dinner because both kids loved the meal. Jordan’s mother joined them and they talked about New Mexico. Jenna kept interrupting with questions about cowboys and Indians until Brie promised to tell her all that she had seen after dinner was over. Brie took the kids after the meal, promising lots of stories about the Southwest. Jordan and her mother cleared the dinner dishes. After they were done and her mother had left, Jordan stopped at Jenna’s bedroom. Brie was just pulling the covers up over a sleeping Jenna.
“Asleep?” Jordan asked.
“She loved the stories,” Brie said.
Jordan frowned. “What’s wrong with her bed?” She stepped inside and pulled the covers back. Jenna was still wearing her cowboy boots. “Brie,” she whispered and took the boots off carefully.
Brie smiled at her impishly. “What’s one night? And they’re perfectly clean. C’mon, meanie.”
“I’m not mean. It’s not good for her feet. Jeez, I’m just being a mom. Sometimes I have to remind them that I’m the adult in the house.” Jordan shook her head. “Will you make a fire while I take out the whip so I can beat our son before he goes to sleep?” she said and left.
“Our son?” Brie repeated to herself.
Later, they collapsed on the couch in front of the fire. “My God,” Brie said. “How do you do this every night?”
Jordan pulled her into her lap. “You’ll get used to it. See, the trick is the whip. You have to know how to beat them without leaving a mark.”
Brie giggled at that thought. They both sighed and let the fire warm them. Brie snuggled into Jordan and closed her eyes, almost asleep.
“Brie, do you remember the first time you were here?” Jordan’s voice startled Brie.
“How could I forget? I’d had such a hangover that morning and Emma saved my life.”
“I was isolated then,” Jordan said. “I’d cut myself off from everything. You came along and it was…I could breathe again. Even if I hadn’t fallen in love with you, that’s what you’ve done for me.”
“Love?” Brie felt slightly dizzy for a moment as she kissed Jordan hard. “I swear I never thought another person in the world would say that word to me ever again. Or that I’d ever say it to anyone else.”
The firelight glinted off the gray in Jordan’s eyes. “You haven’t said it yet.”
“Love.”
“And?”
“More love.”
“Brie,” Jordan said as her hands trailed up across Brie’s stomach to alert breasts, already waiting for Jordan’s touch, “let’s go to bed.”
“What’s wrong with…here? The couch?”
“Kids. That’s what’s wrong with here.” Jordan grinned and shoved them both upright. “However, we do get to shower together.”
“Okay,” Brie said good-naturedly. “I can take your clothes off just as fast there as I can here.”
*
“My God,” Brie gasped.
“You’re incredibly inspiring,” Jordan said, worn out but happy. She kissed Brie’s stomach and crawled up her body, collapsing beside her. “Where’d you get that tattoo?”
“I lost a bet with Niki.”
“You like to bet, don’t you? Do you feel like telling me?”
“Sure. This one’s easy. We loved football and, that week, I had to go out of town for school. Niki was normally pretty sloppy about football stats, so when she called me and wanted a bet on the Packers, I thought, no problem. The bet was a tattoo, anywhere.”
“And?”
“I lost. I’d been busy, hadn’t noticed that our ace receiver was out for a couple of weeks. For once I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Oh, I like Niki’s style.”
“Oh yeah? Want to bet? You lost the last one.”
“Did you choose the naked lady?”
“No, she did.”
“You can have it taken off, you know. But I hope you won’t. I like it.”
“You would.” Brie looked at Jordan’s eyes. “Here, let me hold you. You’re worn out.” It didn’t take long and Jordan was sound asleep. Brie looked out the window at the oak tree and the almost-orange moon behind it. What a wild few days this had been, but she no longer felt as if she was carrying a bomb around inside herself. She smiled in the dark, thinking of her therapist. That woman probably would forgive her for last week. The therapist had told her to be patient with herself. Amen, Brie’s tired mind repeated as she turned over and snuggled against Jordan, falling into sleep.
“Move over, sweetie.” Niki nudged her.
“Where are your clothes?”
“You took them off earlier.”
“I don’t think so,” Brie said and ran her hands through the curly hair. “Miss you.”
Niki nodded. “I know. Me too.” She braced herself on her elbow, looking at Jordan.
“She’s a good person, Brie.”
“It was natural, just like you.”
“Yeah.” Niki laid back down and rubbed Brie’s stomach. “I miss your laugh. Your skin. The way you finish a kiss…I’m sorry this has been so hard. Promise me something, Brie.”
“Anything.”
“Treat her as good as you did me.”
“I just loved you, Niki.”
“And you love her. Be happy, baby.” She kissed Brie thoroughly. Brie remembered the mouth instantly and…
Jordan wrapped an arm tightly around Brie, pulled her very close. Brie woke up, confused and disoriented for a moment. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, holding Jordan’s hand.
*
The next morning, Jordan fixed breakfast for the kids and let Brie sleep. She got the kids out the door in time for the school bus and then sat at the kitchen table. Brie appe
ared in the kitchen, hair standing up. Her T-shirt was on backward and inside out.
“Coffee?” Jordan offered, laughing at Brie’s T-shirt. “You’re batting five hundred.”
“What?” Brie said, her voice still full of sleep.
“Your T-shirt.”
Brie looked down and then fiddled with the collar. “Oh.” She took her shirt off.
Jordan inhaled deeply at the sight of Brie in only a skimpy pair of panties in her kitchen. It was a wonderful morning. “How about some waffles?” she asked as Brie took her first drink of coffee.
“Yum,” Brie said and put the shirt back on, yawning.
Jordan bent and kissed her on her way to the stove. “I have a surprise for you today,” she said. “But you have to wear more than a T-shirt and underwear.”
“At least I’m wearing underwear.”
Jordan gave her a warning look.
They walked to the studio together later, each carrying a fresh cup of coffee.
Jordan opened the curtains to the windows and the overhead skylights.
“I’ve never seen your studio in the daytime,” Brie said, turning slowly. “What an unusual light. It’s almost blue.”
Jordan turned and held out a carving. “For you.”
“Oh,” Brie said. “It’s Charlie.”
“Does it look like him?”
“Yeah.” She began to laugh. “You’ll never know how much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Brie kissed her and hugged her tight.
“I also wanted to show you what I’ve done to our lady.”
“Our lady?”
“It is, Brie. It’s ours.”
Brie walked around the tall, slender statue in the center. “I can see more of the details in daylight. The rosy wood with green highlights, here and there, and the subtle colors you’ve added. You’ve lightened the eyes and…a subtle dimple?” She grinned at Jordan. “She seems taller, determined,” Brie said and swallowed hard. It was beautiful, almost ethereal.
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