You Make Me Tremble

by Karis Walsh

  Iris kissed her then, causing explosions in Casey’s body. She had been torn up by her abrupt departure from the island and from her conversation with her father. Anxious about the changes to the planned trajectory of her career. Frantic with the realization that Iris might not want her back.

  The subtle movement of Iris’s lips against hers and the rough wetness of Iris’s tongue cleared away those negative emotions and left her filled with something unfamiliar. Joy. Pure and huge and overwhelming.

  Casey felt a moment of panic as the emotion threatened to frighten her into calculations or numbers or some other sort of distraction. But then Iris was there, sliding her fingers into Casey’s hair and pressing her hips against Casey’s, and she stopped fighting. She let the love and happiness settle inside her without lessening them or shoving them aside. Casey rested her trembling hands against the small of Iris’s back and felt herself settling into the sensation of coming home.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Iris unbuttoned her denim jacket and stretched out her legs, maximizing her exposure to the gentle late-spring sunshine. The Twins—now nearly full grown but still as rambunctious as ever—vied with her for control over her pen and notebook. She gently pushed Watson’s nose away while she tried to think chilly Christmas-y thoughts. Snow and carols, TV specials and shiny snowflake-patterned wrapping paper. The rich flavors of dried fruit, nutmeg, and brandy baking together to make her favorite fruitcake. The shelter animals festively dressed in colorful fleece-lined winter blankets. Casey, waking her early on Christmas morning wearing a Santa hat and nothing else…

  Iris’s attention wandered, and Holmes took the opportunity to grab her notebook and pull. Iris didn’t relinquish her grip, and several pages tore messily out of the book. Iris got up and ran after the goat, snatching the pages again before Holmes could swallow them. She went back to her folding chair, pushed Watson’s front hooves off it, and sat down again.

  A few months ago, she had briefly considered sending the Twins to a goat rescue center, hoping to find good homes for them. When she had mentioned her idea to Casey, though, she had looked at Iris with as much horror as if Iris had suggested getting rid of her precious rock collection. Iris shook her head. That had been the same Casey who complained about the Twins every time they managed to get into the bed of her truck and tried to eat her instruments. Iris had quickly dropped the subject. Apparently, the Twins were now permanent residents of the shelter, along with two of the gray cat’s kittens. Casey didn’t call any of these animals hers, even though she was the one who took care of them most of the time.

  Iris hugged her notebook safely against her chest and let her thoughts wander back to this past Christmas. She and Casey had spent many evenings with friends, sharing the kinds of evenings Iris had hoped for when she had hosted her dinner party before Casey’s return to the island. They had made a long-delayed and bittersweet trip to visit Chert and his family. They had spent hours in the kitchen together, while Iris tried to teach Casey how to bake.

  For all her insistence that she was a scientist at heart, Casey had a definite compulsion to create. She usually deviated from recipes, adding unusual ingredients and experimenting with the methods and steps that Iris meticulously followed. Some of her attempts had been spectacular, some rather horrible.

  Iris smiled and started to sketch a few of the images that captured the wonderful holiday she and Casey had spent together. A kitchen counter covered with ingredients and mixing bowls, with a checked towel tossed haphazardly across the corner. A decorated tree with presents and sleeping cats tucked underneath. A retriever happily carrying a dog bone with a big red bow on it. The poems followed, matching the future season with words of home, friends, and love.

  Iris finished the last greeting card and was folding her chair when she heard Casey’s truck pull into the parking area. She hurried out to meet her, with the Twins leading the way. She paused at the door to the kennels and watched Casey climb out of the truck and pull two cookies out of her jacket pocket for the goats. She was struck by the emotions she always felt when she saw Casey after even a day apart. Love and wonder, gratitude, and a physical pull toward her that had only grown stronger the more they were together.

  Iris breathed a whispered thank you. That Casey had come to the island in the first place, and that she had come back again after running away. Iris couldn’t imagine being without her, even though she couldn’t really explain the difference Casey had made in her life. Iris still had the same friends, the same long work hours, the same responsibilities. But the life that had seemed not enough before was suddenly precious to Iris.

  She met Casey halfway across the lot and wrapped her arms around Casey’s neck, drawing her into a deep kiss. Casey’s hands slid under her jacket and across her ribcage, pulling her flush against her body.

  Casey pulled away a few centimeters and rested her forehead against Iris’s. “Mmm. What a great welcome home,” she said, her voice sounding a little breathless. “I missed you today.”

  “I missed you, too,” Iris said. She tugged the corner of her jacket out of Watson’s mouth and gave Casey another quick kiss. “How was work?”

  “Good.” Casey draped her arm across Iris’s shoulders as they walked toward the kennels. The dogs—alerted by the crunch of gravel and their internal clocks—started to bark in anticipation of dinnertime.

  “Ian and I took the boat to Matia Island and hiked one of the sandstone ridges. Most of the island is closed to the public, but I can take you over there sometime. You’d love how peaceful it is.”

  “It’s a wildlife refuge, isn’t it?” Iris asked as they started pouring kibble in dog bowls. “Did you see anything interesting?”

  Casey shrugged with a sheepish expression. “Ian kept talking about all the birds he was seeing. I guess it’s some sort of breeding area for them. I think he mentioned some sort of sparrow…Or was it an eagle?”

  Iris laughed. “You were too busy looking at rocks to look up and see a bird, weren’t you?”

  Casey grinned. “Maybe. Here, I’ll take Mickey’s dinner.”

  Iris handed her the bowl without a word and watched her head down the aisle to the little terrier’s run. She knew how much Casey had changed her life, making her world brighter and better, but she could see a difference in Casey, too. She was more open here on the island. To the people, the animals, and even to her past. She had been slow to get over losing Chert to his family, though, and she had ignored Agatha and Leo’s attempts to find her a dog. Iris had stayed out of their pet matchmaking, but she’d had her suspicions about Mickey for some time now.

  She finished doling out meals to the dogs and wandered over to where Casey was standing next to Mickey’s kennel, her fingers wrapped through the chain-link diamonds. The little scruff of a dog was kindly called mixed breed on Iris’s intake forms, and he had been in the shelter for three months. Casey regularly took one of the dogs with her when she did fieldwork, and Mickey had gone on more than his fair share of outings.

  Iris stepped behind Casey and kissed the side of her neck, feeling Casey’s answering sigh vibrate deep inside her. “What’s on your mind?” Iris asked.

  “I was thinking…I mean, since he doesn’t seem to have anybody, and he likes the cats…” Casey paused and started again. “Well, would you mind if we kept him?”

  Iris hugged Casey close. “I wouldn’t mind at all. We can move him into the house in the morning.” She laughed and sifted her fingers through Casey’s hair. “You know, for all the loneliness and sadness we went through as kids, we seem to be doing quite a remarkable job of building a family together. A strange family, but a good one.”

  Casey turned in her arms and traced Iris’s cheekbone with her fingertips, drawing a flush of heat to the surface everywhere she touched Iris’s skin. “You’re all I need. I love the friends and animals we’ve gathered around us, but you are what matters most to me.”

  Iris closed the small gap between them and kissed Casey,
pressing her against the metal fence as their lips and bodies moved together with a growing hunger.

  “Why don’t we go back to the house now,” Iris said with a sharp inhale as Casey softly bit the sensitive part of her neck where it met her collarbone. “I want to get a head start on my next set of greeting cards, and I have some ideas I’d like to run by you. I’m thinking about a line of erotic Valentine’s Day cards—”

  Casey laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward their home before Iris could finish her sentence.

  About the Author

  Karis Walsh is the author of lesbian romances including Rainbow Award-winning Harmony and Sea Glass Inn, as well as a romantic intrigue series about a mounted police unit. She’s a Pacific Northwest native who recently relocated to Texas with her goats. When she isn’t writing, she’s playing with her animals, cooking, reading, playing her viola, or hiking in the state park.

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