Well. Almost.
* * *
Half an hour later, Piper glided her SUV to a stop in front of Lindsay’s house and put the gearshift into Park. They sat for a moment in the dark, the engine idling quietly. Lindsay was nervous. She didn’t understand why; she simply recognized the thumping of her heart and the thrumming of her body, the slight tremble in her hands. She knew what she wanted. It wasn’t unusual for her to ask for it, to be bold, to set the pace. But Piper threw her off for some weird reason, made her feel unsteady. A beat went by before Lindsay cleared her throat, deciding to bite the bullet. “Want to come in? I’m sure Rocket would love to see you.”
Piper’s half-grin was knowing. “Sure. I’d like to see Rocket, too.” She emphasized his name, making Lindsay wonder if she knew exactly what was going on in her head.
As they exited the SUV and headed up the driveway, Lindsay did a quick scan in her brain of exactly how messy her house might be. Too late now, she thought as she slid her key into the lock and opened the side door.
They were met with eighty-five pounds of excited, wiggling, woofing yellow Lab. Rocket bypassed Lindsay immediately and went right to Piper, who got down on the floor with him. Barely a minute passed before he was lying in her lap, his head lolled over her thigh, her hand scratching his belly.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Rocket,” Lindsay playfully scolded. “Don’t be so easy. At least play a little hard to get. Have some self-respect.”
“The boy obviously knows what he wants,” Piper said, and when she looked up and met Lindsay’s eyes with her own, her meaning was clear. So do you. So do I.
Lindsay swallowed hard. “Come on, Rocket. Outside.”
Rocket jumped up and trotted to the back door, Lindsay right behind him. She turned on the back light, let him out, and rested her forehead against the cool glass of the door’s window for a moment. She felt like her blood was on fire, and she inhaled quietly through her nose, doing her best to steady herself.
In the living room, Piper was looking at the handful of framed photos on the bookshelf in the corner. She held one up, eyebrows raised.
“That’s Angela. One of my best friends. She actually came to Vineyard on Friday night.”
With a nod, Piper set it back down, then picked up a baby picture of Rocket. “Oh, my God.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Look at him.”
“He was ridiculous,” Lindsay said, her chuckle filled with pride. “His head was so big, it was like it was on the wrong body.” She poked at the thermostat, kicking up the a/c to cool the room.
“And those feet,” Piper said, pointing.
“Huge head, huge feet. I was worried about what I was getting.”
As if on cue, a bark sounded from the back. Before Lindsay could turn to go get him, Piper grasped her arm and kissed her. Just a quick, soft kiss. More than a peck. Then she smiled at Lindsay and reached to set the photo back where she’d found it.
“Something to drink?” Lindsay asked after she’d let Rocket in. “I have wine, coffee, Diet Pepsi, water, vodka, gin, rum…” She grinned at the last three.
“Wine would be great.” Piper took a seat on Lindsay’s worn couch and Rocket jumped up to join her. “Well, hello there, handsome,” she said to him, and Lindsay’s smile grew.
In the kitchen, Lindsay leaned her hands on the counter, braced herself there, and reminded her lungs to take in air. Slowly. Steadily. In. Out.
It’s simple, right, this breathing thing? Supposed to be automatic, isn’t it?
When she felt a touch calmer (though not much), she opened a bottle of the Malbec she’d been saving for the next time she went to dinner at Maya and Bert’s, poured two glasses, and went back out to the living room…where her dog was making a move on the woman she’d brought home.
Rocket lay on his back, sprawled out completely, half-on, half-off Piper’s lap, his tongue lolling in delight, his eyes gazing at this new person he’d discovered, so full of worship that Lindsay had to laugh.
“Really?” she said, her eyes on the dog. “Seriously with this?”
Rocket could barely be bothered to spare a glance in her direction.
Lindsay reached over him and handed a glass to Piper, who did spare her a glance. A very heated one, if Lindsay was reading it correctly. Which she was unsure of, because she was a little bit rusty at this. But Piper’s eyes were dark and heavy and her gaze lingered on Lindsay’s mouth as she thanked her quietly for the wine.
Still standing, Lindsay touched her glass to Piper’s. “Cheers.”
They sipped, holding that delicious eye contact, and a zap of arousal shot right down to Lindsay’s center.
Yeah, this was going to happen. Tonight. She knew it; she could feel it.
With a tap to Rocket’s back paw, she said, “Off.”
He was up immediately and off the couch. Piper looked impressed. Lindsay shrugged and sat next to her.
“So,” she said, painfully aware of their thighs pressed together.
“So,” Piper said back.
Lindsay swallowed. “Is this too close?” She indicated their proximity with her eyes.
“Not close enough,” was Piper’s whispered reply.
Somehow, the wine glasses made it to the coffee table. Later, Lindsay would wonder how, as she’d have zero recollection of that. The next thing she knew, Piper was straddling her lap, their mouths fused together hotly. There was nothing soft or gentle or tentative about this kiss. This kiss was fire. It was flame. Blistering. Any other word that meant heat, it fit this kiss, and soon Lindsay could barely recall her own name. She couldn’t recall anything because nothing else existed. Nothing in the world mattered except for this woman whose ass was cradled in Lindsay’s palms, whose tongue was doing incredibly erotic things in Lindsay’s mouth, whose fingers were dug deeply into Lindsay’s hair, and she wondered how she’d managed to go this long in life without kissing Piper Bradshaw. Because she was obviously meant to. This was obviously her sole purpose in life: to kiss this woman senseless, to be kissed senseless by this woman.
Vaguely aware of fingers working the buttons of her shirt, Lindsay suddenly felt the coolness of the a/c from a nearby vent on her bare torso. Her shirt was completely open and before she could register anything beyond that, Piper used both hands to cup her breasts through her bra, kneading them firmly as she pressed her tongue more firmly into Lindsay’s mouth.
A loud moan hummed through the room. It took a second or two for Lindsay to realize it came from her own throat, and she tightened her grip on Piper’s ass, digging her fingers in, then sliding them up her back, beneath her tank top.
Snap decision made, Lindsay grasped the hem of the shirt and pulled it up, giving Piper no choice but to lift her arms to accommodate the movement. Lindsay tossed the fabric to the floor.
Piper Bradshaw sat in her lap, wearing denim capris, a white lace bra, and the sexiest expression Lindsay had ever seen on any face, anywhere, ever, in her entire life.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “You are so fucking beautiful.” There was a reverence in her voice and she knew it. She couldn’t help it because it was true: Piper was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen right then, in that moment.
Piper responded by grabbing her face with both hands and kissing her so deeply, Lindsay forgot what planet she was on. They made out for several more long, sensuous moments before Lindsay finally managed to come (somewhat) back to her senses. She was not a passive woman, especially when it came to sex, and she’d let Piper have control for long enough. Grasping Piper’s hips, she shifted her off her lap, stood, and held out a hand.
* * *
How had Piper never realized how amazingly sexy Lindsay Kent was? How was it possible that she’d met this woman, spoken to her on several occasions, and dismissed her? That that fact had simply slipped by? How had she not noticed? Now, as Lindsay stood before Piper, her black shirt hanging fully open, black bra cradling breasts that were surprisingly full, Piper knew she’d never s
ee Lindsay any other way. She was holding out her hand to Piper and there was no way Piper wasn’t going. She’d go anywhere with Lindsay right then. Up a mountain. Into a tunnel. Anywhere.
She put her hand in Lindsay’s and was pulled to her feet.
Piper’s mind was racing almost as fast as her blood, so she barely registered anything on the trip up the stairs. Lindsay’s bedroom was a surprise, however. Piper wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t this. It wasn’t…soft and inviting and feminine. The walls were a light blue-gray, cool enough, but not cold. The floor was hardwood, light oak if Piper was guessing correctly, with a large, oval, white rug in the center of the room. The queen-sized bed had a white fabric headboard, was covered in a thick, soft-looking comforter in a light gray, and was covered with throw pillows in varying shades of blue and white.
That was all she had time to take note of before Lindsay turned her, tilted her head up with a finger under her chin, and captured her mouth. They’d kicked their shoes off on the way into the house, so their two-inch height difference—which was almost never prominent given that Piper had heels on much of the time—was obvious now. As Lindsay slowly walked them toward the bed until the backs of Piper’s legs hit, Piper felt deliciously surrounded by Lindsay and her body.
Like the trip up the stairs, Piper didn’t recall falling back onto the bed. She was just…there. Suddenly. Lindsay’s weight above her, Lindsay’s tongue pressing into her mouth as she felt her breast freed from the cup of her bra, Lindsay’s fingers zeroing in on an aching nipple. Piper tugged at Lindsay’s shirt, pulled it off, was rewarded with a warm, smooth expanse of skin that felt indescribably wonderful beneath her palms, and she found she couldn’t stop moving them, running them over Lindsay’s shoulders, down her back, dipping into the waistband of her jeans as far as she could, then back up. Every inch of her felt like silk.
Try as she might to focus on each individual move, each individual sound, each individual touch, Piper couldn’t. Everything blurred together. She couldn’t differentiate between Lindsay’s fingers, her mouth, her tongue. Every point of contact combined to form one indistinguishable wave of bliss. It wasn’t until Lindsay’s mouth touched Piper’s center that her focus came screaming back and she found herself completely naked on her back on Lindsay’s bed, her thighs spread wide, held open by Lindsay’s hands as Lindsay’s tongue danced through the wet flesh revealed there.
“Oh, God,” Piper whispered, grabbing for something, anything to hold on to. “Oh, my God.”
Lindsay increased the pressure. She pushed her tongue inside Piper, expelling all the air from her lungs. Piper wasn’t one for being vocal in bed, but when Lindsay traded tongue for fingers and drove them confidently into Piper’s body, she sucked in a loud breath and moaned like somebody she didn’t recognize, gripping the comforter in her fingers. Her hips raised off the bed and colors danced behind her eyelids as the orgasm ripped through her body.
Piper was vaguely aware of Lindsay staying with her, holding tightly to her hips, keeping her mouth still, but pressed to Piper’s center as she climaxed. Only once she’d come back down to the bed, her breath coming in ragged gasps, did Lindsay move. Gently, she took her mouth away and slipped her fingers out, then pressed a soft kiss to Piper’s heated flesh, causing a small spasm to ripple through her legs. Lindsay laid her cheek against Piper’s inner thigh and was still, except for her fingertips that ran lightly along Piper’s hip. When she felt like she could breathe again without hyperventilating, Piper opened her eyes, lifted her head a bit, and sent a glance down her own body where she met those sparkling green eyes looking back at her.
“Hi,” Lindsay said softly.
Piper dropped her head back down to the bed with a groan.
Lindsay chuckled and moved up her body, leading the way with soft kisses to Piper’s knee, her hip, her stomach, each breast, and then her mouth, where Lindsay lingered and Piper could taste the salty-sweet still clinging to her lips.
“I’ll say it again,” Lindsay told her as she settled next to Piper. “You are so fucking beautiful.”
Piper closed her eyes and gave her head a slight shake as she felt her cheeks flush even more than they’d already flushed.
“Why does that embarrass you?” Lindsay asked. “It’s true.”
“Thank you.”
Lindsay cuddled closer, tucked her head on Piper’s shoulder, up under her chin. She tossed a leg over Piper’s and grabbed the edge of the comforter to pull it up over them. Piper’s eyelids felt heavy and she let them drift closed even as she muttered, “You still have your pants on. They should be off.” There was movement, the warmth of Lindsay’s body disappeared, but Piper was too tired to force her eyes open, and she scolded herself for it. And then Lindsay was back, her warm flesh pressed against Piper’s naked body, and all was right in the world again. “Oh, so much better,” she mumbled, and felt rather than heard Lindsay’s responding soft laugh as her shoulder moved under Piper’s hand.
* * *
Lindsay hadn’t intended to fall asleep. She’d intended to watch Piper sleep. That was the plan and she was perfectly content. She had no issues with Piper not reciprocating her lovemaking; there’d be plenty of time for that and Lindsay didn’t think that way anyhow. She was beyond happy to touch Piper’s gorgeous body, to taste every inch of her, to be the one to coax those incredibly sexy sounds from her throat, and she was ecstatic to have been the one to give her an orgasm so intense it had wrecked her and put her to sleep.
Lindsay saw that as a win.
And then, apparently, she’d drifted off right behind Piper.
She only knew this because she was now being woken up by a gentle caress along the outside of her breast. As she slowly surfaced from slumber, she took stock of her situation. She was on her side, and Piper’s warm body was pressed tightly up against her back, the smaller woman playing the bigger spoon. Lindsay could feel the tickle of Piper’s breath against her hair, the soft press of her bare breasts into her back, and the path of her fingertips was causing gooseflesh to break out along Lindsay’s arms.
She didn’t move. Well, she did her best not to move. She wanted to relish the feeling, the quiet, the warmth. The sun hadn’t come up; it was still dark in the room, so it wasn’t yet morning. They were still covered by the comforter, wrapped sideways. Piper ran her fingertips around and around Lindsay’s nipple…she could feel it tightening and had to consciously keep herself from squirming, from pushing her ass back into Piper’s body for some kind of purchase. She was doing pretty well, she thought, but then Piper’s thumb skimmed over her nipple and Lindsay sucked in a breath.
“I wondered if you were awake,” Piper whispered in her ear as she continued her assault on Lindsay’s breast.
“Oh, I am.”
“Good. Because I literally fell asleep on the job earlier and I’d like to make it up to you.”
“Well, who am I to protest?” Lindsay asked as she allowed herself to be turned onto her back. Piper slid a leg between hers and pressed her knee up, cluing both of them in to just how wet Lindsay already was. She swallowed hard as Piper’s eyes widened.
“Wow,” Piper said.
“Yeah, you’re kind of a turn-on.”
“Good to know.” Piper lowered her head to pull Lindsay’s nipple into her mouth, and all coherent words were pretty much obliterated for Lindsay after that.
For somebody who was such a control freak, somebody so determined, Piper took her time on Lindsay’s body. Not at all what Lindsay had expected. She’d expected Piper to push toward the finish line, to want to get to the goal quickly and efficiently, to win the race. Not so. She meandered. She wandered. She explored Lindsay’s body like she had all the time in the world. She lavished attention on each breast, slowly, softly, one then the other, back and forth, reverently, then more firmly, then sucking hard enough to make Lindsay hiss in pained pleasure and arch her back. Piper’s hands were everywhere, and she was the director of this show. She lif
ted Lindsay’s arm over her head, then ran her tongue from Lindsay’s elbow slowly down until she reached her breast, where she again took a nipple into her mouth. Then she repeated the process on the other arm until, for the first time in her life, Lindsay thought she might come just from the attention to her breasts.
Finally, Piper shifted her focus. Slipping her other leg between Lindsay’s, she pushed herself up to all fours and moved her knees, forcing Lindsay’s legs apart, giving her full access to the hot wetness of Lindsay’s center. Lindsay’s breaths were coming in short, ragged bursts now and she looked at Piper, propped above her, looking devastatingly sexy, and lifted her hand to Piper’s face, touched her lips.
“Please,” Lindsay whispered.
“Please what?” Piper ran her thumb over Lindsay’s aching nipple, watched Lindsay’s face.
Lindsay whimpered. “Please, Piper. Touch me. Please?”
Piper’s expression in that second…Lindsay couldn’t even describe it other than to say it was sensuous and erotic and so goddamn sexy. Their gazes held as Piper moved her hand and ran one finger through the wetness waiting for her. Lindsay sucked in a breath, her neck arching as she pushed her head back into the pillow.
It was like Piper had made love to her a hundred times before. She knew exactly where to touch. She knew when to increase the pressure and when to ease up. She slid her fingers inside Lindsay’s body and Lindsay heard a small cry come from her own throat. Lindsay grasped the back of Piper’s neck with one hand, Piper’s hip with the other, and before she knew what was happening, Piper had spun them so she was on her back and Lindsay was on top. Electric arousal shot through her body as Lindsay pushed herself up to a sitting position and found a rhythm on Piper’s hand, taking her fingers in as deeply as she could. Piper helped her by bending her own knees, and Lindsay braced herself with a hand on each one, rocking slowly, her eyes locked on Piper’s. All Piper had to do was use her other hand, stroke Lindsay once with her thumb, twice…
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