Lakeside Hospital Box Set

by Cara Malone

  The wait was only about five minutes, but to Lily, it felt like twenty. She was vacillating back and forth between excitement and terror – this was it. In another ten minutes, they’d be alone in a beautiful hotel room, nothing standing between them. There would be no pagers going off, no doctors bursting into the call room and no patients to get back to.

  And Lily still wasn’t sure she was ready to open herself up to Mercedes.

  Sure, she was more than ready to open her legs – Mercedes had kept her in a constant state of eager anticipation for the last month, and she’d been admiring Mercedes quietly for a long time before that. But sooner or later, every single woman Lily had ever been intimate with had left her sooner or later because of her scars, and she was really hoping that her relationship with Mercedes could reach its natural conclusion when she went back to Seattle in December instead of being forced to end sooner.

  It would be a shame if she took one look at Lily’s leg and recoiled the way her high school girlfriend had, or said it was fine but slowly withdrew from Lily until there was nothing left between them, like several of the girls she’d dated in college.

  “The botanical garden is supposed to be really something,” Mercedes said, distracting Lily from her worry as the taxi pulled up to the curb. “We could do that tomorrow before our flight. And if you’re feeling up for it later tonight, I was thinking we could go to the Phoenix Theater. They’re performing Fun Home.”

  “Oh, I wanted to see that,” Lily said. “That’s a great idea!”

  “Good,” Mercedes grinned. “I already bought tickets just in case they sold out.”

  “Were they expensive?” Lily asked, her brow knitting with concern. She wanted to add you shouldn’t have, but Mercedes didn’t give her the chance.

  “No,” she said casually. “And if you decide against it, it’s no big deal - we’ll just let the tickets go.”

  Lily checked her watch. It was a few minutes past four o’clock, and if they decided against going to the theater, she could imagine what they might be doing instead. Her cheeks colored involuntarily at the thought – as much as her past experiences told her not to let the night end romantically, she was pretty sure Mercedes would break down the last of her willpower the first time she pulled Lily into a kiss when they were alone in their hotel room together.

  That was why, the moment they returned, Lily rushed across the room and snatched her overnight bag off the bed. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said. “I feel sweaty from walking all over the city.”

  Well that’s seductive, she thought, but Mercedes just smiled and said, “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Lily went into the bathroom and shut the door behind herself. She put her hands down on the counter and took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the large mirror above the sink. There was only one bed in their hotel room – Mercedes had booked it before she’d even met Lily – and there was no way she’d survive a whole night with the temptation of lying next to Mercedes.

  It was going to happen, and if Mercedes decided she didn’t like Lily anymore after… she took a deep breath. Well, this relationship – or whatever they wanted to call it – only had two more months left, anyway.

  Might as well have fun, Lily thought as she turned on the water in the shower.

  When she emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, she was wearing a midnight blue negligee that accentuated her curves as the silky fabric flowed over them like deep water. It had been difficult to find one that came to her calves, hiding the scarring on her thighs, but she’d put it on at home and stood in front of her mirror for a long time to make sure it looked sexy and not like a muumuu or something an octogenarian would wear.

  There were delicate bits of lace over the bodice and her breasts had been growing a lot lately, swelling seductively over the thin cups of the negligee. Mercedes seemed to enjoy the pronounced curves of Lily’s hips and ass, and the silk fabric did a good job of drawing attention to those, too. She felt sexy in it, even as her heart pounded nervously in her chest.

  As she stepped out of the bathroom, turning off the light and pausing in the doorway, all the blood in her face rushed to her ears and she wondered if she was insane.

  What if she was completely wrong about Mercedes this whole time? What if she was presuming something that wasn’t actually there and Mercedes took one look at her in that ridiculous negligee and started laughing at the very idea that they would have sex tonight?

  All of those wild, illogical thoughts were vying for space in Lily’s head, so much that she nearly missed the cartoonish look of desire on Mercedes’ face.

  “Holy shit,” she said. “You look incredible. Come here, baby.”

  Mercedes was practically salivating as she took Lily in, and when Lily ventured away from the doorframe, Mercedes took her hand and turned her around to admire the view from all angles. Lily closed her eyes as she turned and felt Mercedes’ hand gliding over the silk fabric on her ass, then sliding around her hip and trailing lightly over her breast. Her nipple perked up, and then she opened her eyes.

  “Do you want me?”

  “More than anything,” Mercedes breathed, leaning in to kiss Lily.

  She pulled back before Mercedes got to her lips and said, “I have one condition.”

  “Okay,” Mercedes said. “What is it?”

  “I told you that I’m self-conscious about my scarring,” Lily said.

  Understatement of the century, she thought, but she’d never tried this approach with any woman she’d been with before – the honest one where she set boundaries from the start. She’d always assumed that they might as well get it out in the open right away, but with Mercedes, there was a possibility that they could have a complete, temporary relationship without ever having to deal with it.

  “I want the lights out,” she said. “And I’d like it if you avoided touching my right thigh.”

  “Okay,” Mercedes said with a frown. “We don’t have to do this-”

  “I want to,” Lily said, taking Mercedes’ hand. Mercedes had hardly touched her yet and already her entire body was afire, ready for her, and she wanted to make sure Mercedes knew that. She brought Mercedes’ hand to her mouth, kissing and sucking slowly on each one of her fingertips while she watched Mercedes’ expression turn from hesitance to thinly veiled desire. When she was done, she let Mercedes’ hand drop and said, “I just don’t want you to stop wanting me.”

  “That could never happen,” Mercedes said, but she could see the gravity in Lily’s eyes so she said, “What if I touch your thigh on accident?”

  “I can handle that,” Lily said. “Just don’t get caught up in the heat of the moment and think that I’ve changed my mind about the boundaries – I won’t.”

  “Okay,” Mercedes said. “Should we have a safe word in case I get too close for comfort?”

  “Pineapple,” Lily said. “Thank you.”

  She turned out the lights in the room while Mercedes went over to the windows and drew the blackout curtains across them – the sun hadn’t even gone down yet, but the heavy drapery did a pretty good job of blocking out the light. Lily found the bed first, crawling into it, and then she felt the mattress shift and saw Mercedes’ silhouette as she climbed in beside her.

  “You’re an incredible woman, Lily Thomas,” she said as she put her hand on Lily’s stomach, then inched it slowly up to find her breast. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you.”

  “I know I’ve never met anyone like you,” Lily said, and then she found Mercedes’ cheek in the dark, putting her hand on it to guide their mouths together.

  They spent a long time kissing, allowing the heat to build slowly between them using nothing but their lips and tongues. Lily’s body was throbbing with desire before Mercedes even moved her hand beneath the silk cup of her bodice, the warmth of her hand meeting the warmth of Lily’s breast.

  Lily let out a long-held sigh, a mix of contentment and desire as
she relaxed against Mercedes’ body. She’d never felt so at home with anyone before, and she’d never had the courage to be so open with anyone before, either. It was like Mercedes’ hand was made to cup Lily’s breast, her lips made to press against Lily’s, their hips meant to lock together.

  I love you. Lily thought the words would not be totally untrue in that moment – the swell of happiness she felt in her chest certainly made them feel true, even if it would be crazy to actually say them. I love you at least in this moment, she amended, and then she turned off her mind and allowed herself to be completely present with Mercedes in the dark, on a king-sized bed in Phoenix.

  Apparently, that was her version of heaven.

  Mercedes was being tender with her, moving slowly and intentionally so that Lily could anticipate every move of her hands, every touch of their lips. It soothed her and allowed her to relax as Mercedes’ hand glided over the silk on top of Lily’s hip, then carefully avoided her thigh as she moved her hand beneath Lily and grabbed her ass, moving their bodies hungrily closer.

  As their hips connected, Lily let out a yelp of unexpected pleasure, biting onto Mercedes’ lower lip and craving more of her. She worked the buttons of Mercedes’ crisp white shirt, spreading it open and sliding her hands beneath the band of Mercedes’ bra. When her small breasts were free, the outline of her pert nipples was just visible in the low light and it sent a wave of desire through Lily.

  She bowed her head to lick and nibble lightly on them and Mercedes arched her back, groaning deliciously into the darkness above Lily’s head as she circled her arms and legs around Lily and clung to her.

  “I want to make you come,” Mercedes breathed, her hips moving against Lily’s body and making her core heat up with desire.

  “I do, too,” Lily murmured into the swell of Mercedes’ breasts.

  And then Mercedes’ hands were on her shoulders, pushing her onto her back on the mattress. She rolled on top of Lily, straddling her hips quickly while also somehow managing to be careful of her belly.

  She kissed Lily deeply, then slid the spaghetti straps of her negligee down over her shoulders. Lily helped her, shimmying out of them and letting the silk pool around her waist as Mercedes freed her breasts. Her hands were on them next, sending electric pulses through Lily’s body with every stroke of her nipples against Mercedes’ palms. Lily involuntarily moved her hips upward, seeking closer contact with Mercedes’ body as she pulled Mercedes’ shirt all the way off and threw it aside.

  Next, she worked on the button at the top of Mercedes’ slacks, fumbling with it as her body throbbed distractingly and her brain insisted that all attention should be on the fuzzy, wonderful feeling that was slowly filling her to the brim, and on the way Mercedes’ perfect little breasts looked outlined by the small amount of light coming through the curtains.

  Lily tried to pull her down so she could put her mouth on them again, but Mercedes resisted, instead rolling to the side and moving her hand down Lily’s stomach. As soon as she felt Mercedes’ fingers between her legs, using the soft, slightly cool silk fabric to heighten her arousal, she forgot all about her desire to make Mercedes groan again.

  All she wanted was more of this – more and more and more until she melted into a puddle of pure erotic pleasure.

  “Does that feel good?” Mercedes asked, studying Lily’s expression as her fingers ran up and down through the silk.

  All Lily could do was nod emphatically. Her words were stolen, her tongue thoroughly tied, and it felt like her entire body was throbbing and begging for release. She took Mercedes’ hand, pressing her palm urgently against her as she raised her hips to meet it and Mercedes took the cue, rubbing harder, faster, until both of them were breathless.

  Lily grabbed the fabric of the negligee, gathering it up until Mercedes could put her hand beneath the hem. Lily dangled her right leg over the edge of the bed so it was out of the way because it would have killed her to say the word pineapple in that moment, then she gave no more thought to her scarring as Mercedes’ hand touched her.

  Her fingers glided through Lily’s wetness, parting her lips and making her shiver. She found her clit, circling around it a few times as she kept her gaze locked with Lily’s eyes. Lily bit her lip, wondering how much longer she could keep herself in this moment, and then Mercedes bent down to kiss Lily in the same moment that her finger plunged inside of her.

  Lily moaned against Mercedes’ mouth and her whole body clenched around her, and then the wave of desire broke. She came loudly, arching her back and balling her hands into fists in the sheets as Mercedes kept pumping one finger, then two between Lily’s thighs.

  It was one of the most intense orgasms of her life, long and so complete that she lost track of her surroundings, her mind, everything except her body and Mercedes lying beside her. She’d rarely ever trusted another woman enough to open herself up like this thanks to her leg, but Mercedes made her want to try – and if she could do that much with two fingers, what else was she capable of?

  Certainly more than the thing with batteries that had been keeping Lily company most of the nights of her life.

  As she finally came down from the powerful waves of her orgasm, Lily laughed self-consciously and wondered how much of a spectacle she’d made of herself. She looked at Mercedes and her embarrassment must have been written on her face.

  Mercedes wrapped her arms around Lily, pulling her close, and said, “God damn, that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Lily kissed her, their tongues dancing over each other, and a new hunger started to rise in her – not to be pleasured but to make Mercedes come just as hard as she had.

  11

  Mercedes

  Lily and Mercedes managed to make it to Fun Home, but only because Lily insisted it would be a waste of money not to go. Mercedes had spent more of the musical focused on teasing Lily – holding her hand, running her hand up and down her left thigh in the dark – than actually paying attention, and it had still been one of the best theater performances she’d ever attended.

  They went right back to the hotel room after that, ordered room service, and said to hell with the botanical gardens in the morning, preferring instead to linger in bed together. By the time they got back to Evanston on Sunday evening, they were happily exhausted – and Mercedes didn’t want the fun to end.

  “I have another crazy idea, since you were up for the first one,” she said as they got into her rental car, which had been waiting patiently in the overnight parking lot at the airport.

  “Oh yeah?” Lily asked.

  “Do you want to meet my family?” Mercedes asked. Lily’s eyes went a little wider than usual in surprise and Mercedes hurried to add, “My sister’s having a little barbeque get-together tonight and I promised her I’d make an appearance. She keeps telling me how good a grill master her husband is, so I bet the food will be good. We don’t have to stay long-”

  She was rambling, but fortunately Lily saved her from herself. She cut her off, saying with a smile, “I’d like to meet your family. Is your mom going to be there, too?”

  “Yeah,” Mercedes said.

  “How’s that going?” Lily asked.

  Mercedes sighed. It sure had been nice to avoid thinking about that for the last 48 hours, but the vacation was over. “It’s going okay. The kitchen is mostly cleared and she seems to be getting along with her therapist – I just hope she keeps seeing him after I go back to Seattle.” As she pulled out of the airport parking lot, she started second-guessing herself again and said, “You know, you don’t have to meet my family if you don’t want to – I could just take you home, or we could go to my apartment and I’ll skip the barbeque.”

  “I want to,” Lily said, taking Mercedes’ hand reassuringly. She smiled and said, “And if you’re up for it, you can come meet my family sometime. My mom’s been asking about you.”

  Mercedes grinned. “You told your mom about me?”

  “We’re a pretty close family,
” Lily explained. “I tell my mom everything.”

  “Everything?” Mercedes asked. “Maybe I don’t want to meet her, then.”

  Lily laughed. “Okay, not everything. But I told her that I met a woman who’s smart and funny and beautiful, and an intimidatingly good doctor.”

  “That’s sweet,” Mercedes said, leaning over the center console when she got to a red light to give Lily a kiss. “I told my family I’m tapping a fine piece of ass.”

  Lily laughed and punched Mercedes in the arm. “Jerk.”

  Jewel’s house was a cute little bungalow in the suburbs. Mercedes had never actually been there before – she’d been meeting her sister for weekly dinners at restaurants around Evanston and Chicago for the last few months, and she’d seen her niece and nephew at those meals a couple of times, but she was reluctant to actually go to their home.

  That would be too much like being a real member of the family, and not one who had solid plans to resume her life on the west coast in a month.

  Lily made it easier to walk up the stone pathway to the front door. She looped her arm in Mercedes’ and that act alone steadied her. As they rang the bell and waited for Jewel to greet them, Lily asked, “So what do we tell them – we’re friends? Coworkers?”

  “After this weekend, you want to go back to being coworkers?” Mercedes asked with a frown.

  “Well, no, but we can’t really be dating, can we?” Lily asked. She put her hand on her stomach – it seemed to be an endearing nervous tick whenever she was thinking – and then her eyes lit up and she grabbed Mercedes’ hand. “The baby’s kicking again!”