by Karis Walsh
Berit shrugged and Tace appreciated the honesty of the gesture. “Maybe. Or maybe I’ll like it more every semester. When we were together, I was happy here. I was inspired and interested—not just in my classes, but in you and in this place.”
Tace wanted to celebrate, wanted to grab Berit and kiss her, but she wasn’t convinced Berit was really staying. For how long? Were they only prolonging their inevitable and painful separation? “What if you like it less every month? What then?”
Berit wrapped her arms around Tace again. “Then we decide what to do next. Together.”
Tace shook her head, but she put her hands over Berit’s, sighing at the familiar feel of her.
Berit pulled one hand away and skimmed her fingers through Tace’s hair. “I love you, Tace. I spent my life roaming, without a home, and I finally found what I didn’t even know I’d been searching for. You’re my home, Tace. Whether we stay here or eventually move on, I want us to be together.”
“No running away to Syria?” Tace asked, resting her head back on Berit’s shoulder, daring to believe that Berit was staying here for her. Knowing that in the future, if they decided it was necessary, she’d leave here to be with Berit. All that mattered to Tace was being with Berit, and she finally was sure Berit felt the same way.
Berit laughed. “I promise.”
Tace turned her head and kissed her then, pressing her back flush against Berit’s chest. She felt the familiar arousal Berit always ignited in her, but there was depth to the heat between them because desire was joined with gratitude and love.
Berit broke away from the kiss and whispered in Tace’s ear, punctuating her words with flicks of her tongue. “I have one more very important question for you. Will you move back into our bedroom?”
Tace nodded, not trusting her voice because her throat was suddenly parched. She leaned her head back on Berit’s shoulder again while Berit kissed her neck, drawing out the sadness and tension Tace had been carrying inside. Berit moved her hand from Tace’s hip, under her shirt, and up her rib cage until she held Tace’s breast in her palm. She massaged her gently at first, and then with short, rapid movements as Tace moaned and arched her back. Her response to Berit’s touch was sudden and intense, and she spread her legs wider to give Berit easier access when she reached to unbutton Tace’s jeans.
Berit’s hand moved down her stomach and into her pants, and Tace knew Berit could feel how wet and ready she was. Berit groaned against her neck and bit her shoulder. Tace came hard and fast, without warning, and she trembled in the comforting circle of Berit’s arms. As soon as she could catch her breath, she turned and eased Berit down to the ground.
Tace kissed her, moving from her mouth, down the tendons in her neck, across her collarbone, and back to her lips. She’d never get her fill of Berit, never get over the wonder of finding her and being loved by her. She braced her hands on the ground above Berit’s shoulders and lowered her hips until they were pressing hard against Berit’s.
She watched Berit’s face as she started to move against her, rubbing against the crotch of Berit’s jeans. Their hips moved together in unison, as if they were fused together. Tace lowered herself to her elbows, never breaking the contact or cadence of their lower bodies. She kissed Berit, long and slow in contrast to the ever-increasing movement of their hips, and poured everything she’d been keeping inside into the kiss. Fears eased, doubts removed, love returned. Tace dug her fingers into the wet mud, tangled them in the slender blades of grass, and the jerk of Berit’s hips when her orgasm overtook her made Tace come again.
Tace rolled to her side and lay on her back next to Berit, twining their fingers together.
“I love you,” Tace said when she had enough breath to talk again. “More than this town and more than my job here.”
“And I love you.” Berit turned her head and nuzzled Tace’s shoulder. “I always thought I needed constant change in my life, but what I need is you as a constant in my life. I can stay in one place or travel the globe, as long as you’re with me.”
“Always,” Tace said. She squeezed Berit’s hand gently. “Here or anywhere. We’re in this together.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“This is how you pack?” Tace asked. She pulled small bundles out of Berit’s suitcase and laid the shirts and pants on the bed, smoothing the wrinkles and folding them neatly. “Everything is wadded up in here.”
Berit sat on the bed and watched Tace tidy up her unruly clothes. “I never saw a reason to bother. After four months on a dig with no showers and only the same three unwashed outfits to wear, you stop caring about a few wrinkles.”
Tace put the clothes in a pile, large to small, and stuck them in the suitcase. “Please tell me you’re planning to use the hotel’s shower at some point while we’re in Greece. Or are you nostalgic for the authentic dig experience?”
Berit held up her right hand. “I swear I will take regular showers. As long as you take them with me.”
“Deal,” Tace said.
“I can’t wait to see Athens with you,” Berit said. She lay back and put one arm behind her head, staring at the ceiling and picturing the places they’d visit. They were traveling for her work, thanks to an offhand suggestion Tace had made one day. She’d looked around Berit’s office at all the bowls and trinkets Berit had collected over the years and that she’d finally gotten out of her storage lockers. Too bad Whitman doesn’t have a Classical Studies museum, Tace had said. You could be curator and we could travel the world looking for things to exhibit. Berit had laughed at the idea at first, but then she’d given it more thought. Thought led to an official proposal, and now she had the chance to start her museum from the ground up. She wouldn’t exactly be digging up the finds herself, but she’d still enjoy the search and discovery. Tace somehow—even without trying—made life better, in every way.
“And I can’t wait to be there with you, seeing part of your world and going places you went with your grandfather.”
Berit smiled. She’d feel closer to him there. She’d even be introducing him and Tace, in a way. “I’ll like that,” she said. “But we’re going to make some memories of our own, too.”
“Plenty of them.” Tace grinned at her before taking a pair of shorts out of a drawer. “Am I packing too much?” she asked.
“Yes,” Berit said. She yanked the shorts out of Tace’s hand and tossed them on the floor. She grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto the bed. “I don’t mind how much stuff you bring, but I do think you’re spending too much time packing.”
“Oh, really? Can you think of a better use of my time?”
Berit could, as a matter of fact. Ideas sprang immediately to mind. “To start, you could take those clothes off.”
“Why don’t I start with yours, and we’ll see how things go.” Tace used both hands to push Berit’s tank top up her body and over her head.
The slow crawl of Tace’s hands over her skin made Berit gasp as a shimmer of goose bumps followed in their wake. Berit felt her nipples grow hard even before Tace lowered her head to take one deep into her mouth.
Berit held Tace’s head close to her breast and she squirmed as Tace sucked harder, exactly the way Berit wanted her to. Berit whimpered with pleasure when Tace kissed her belly, inching her way down her body.
Tace reached the barrier of Berit’s sweatpants and she lingered there, licking hypersensitive skin and moving the pants over her hips one millimeter at a time until Berit was going to go mad for her touch. Tace finally pulled Berit’s sweats down her legs and dropped them off the bed. She nestled herself between Berit’s legs and caressed the skin of her inner thighs.
Berit watched Tace’s long, slender fingers as they moved over her skin, touching everywhere with teasing lightness, but never going high enough to ease the growing ache between Berit’s legs. Berit wanted to urge her to hurry—take her now and let her come—but other parts of her wanted to draw out the time she was with Tace, milking every ounce of pleasure and cl
oseness she could get out of Tace’s touch.
Berit closed her eyes and sighed when mouth replaced fingers in the exploration of Berit’s body. The silky rasp of Tace’s tongue was familiar to her now. Berit had always fought against familiarity, preferring instead anonymity and unpredictability. She knew every part of Tace’s body intimately, but the knowledge only added to her excitement and pleasure.
Berit opened her legs farther at the insistence of Tace’s hands, and then her back bowed upward when Tace touched her gently with the tip of her tongue. Berit moved with her, feeling her energy coiling inside her as Tace moved deeper. Berit hung on the cusp of an orgasm, calling Tace’s name and asking for more, crying out with pleasure when Tace offered everything she was.
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.
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
Love on Tap by Karis Walsh. Beer and romance are brewing for Tace Lomond when archaeologist Berit Katsaros comes into her life. (987-1-162639-564-0)
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Starstruck by Lesley Davis. Actress Cassidy Hayes and writer Aiden Darrow find out the hard way not all life-threatening drama is confined to the TV screen or the pages of a manuscript. (978-1-62639-5-237)
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Midnight at the Orpheus by Alyssa Linn Palmer. Two women desperate to make their way in the world, a man hell-bent on revenge, and a cop risking his career: all in a day’s work in Capone’s Chicago. (978-1-62639-607-4)
Spirit of the Dance by Mardi Alexander. Major Sorla Reardon’s return to her family farm to heal threatens Riley Johnson’s safe life when small-town secrets are revealed, and love may not conquer all. (978-1-62639-583-1)
Sweet Hearts by Melissa Brayden, Rachel Spangler, and Karis Walsh. Do you ever wonder Whatever happened to…? Find out when you reconnect with your favorite characters from Melissa Brayden’s Heart Block, Rachel Spangler’s LoveLife, and Karis Walsh’s Worth the Risk. (978-1-62639-475-9)
Totally Worth It by Maggie Cummings. Who knew there’s an all-lesbian condo community in the NYC suburbs? Join twentysomething BFFs Meg and Lexi at Bay West as they navigate friendships, love, and everything in between. (978-1-62639-512-1)
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Ready or Not by Melissa Brayden. Uptight Mallory Spencer finds relinquishing control to bartender Hope Sanders too tall an order in fast-paced New York City. (978-1-62639-443-8)
Summer Passion by MJ Williamz. Women loving women is forbidden in 1946 Hollywood, yet Jean and Maggie strive to keep their love alive and away from prying eyes. (978-1-62639-540-4)
The Princess and the Prix by Nell Stark. “Ugly duckling” Princess Alix of Monaco was resigned to loneliness until she met racecar driver Thalia d’Angelis. (978-1-62639-474-2)
Winter’s Harbor by Aurora Rey. Lia Brooks isn’t looking for love in Provincetown, but when she discovers chocolate croissants and pastry chef Alex McKinnon, her winter retreat quickly starts heating up. (978-1-62639-498-8)
The Time Before Now by Missouri Vaun. Vivian flees a disastrous affair, embarking on an epic, transformative journey to escape her past, until destiny introduces her to Ida, who helps her rediscover trust, love, and hope. (978-1-62639-446-9)
Twisted Whispers by Sheri Lewis Wohl. Betrayal, lies, and secrets—whispers of a friend lost to darkness. Can a reluctant psychic set things right or will an evil soul destroy those she loves? (978-1-62639-439-1)
The Courage to Try by C.A. Popovich. Finding love is worth getting past the fear of trying. (978-1-62639-528-2)
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Officer Down by Erin Dutton. Can two women who’ve made careers out of being there for others in crisis find the strength to need each other? (978-1-62639-423-0)
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White Horse in Winter by Franci McMahon. Love between two women collides with the inner poison of a closeted horse trainer in the green hills of Vermont. (978-1-62639-429-2)
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