Cake (Bitterroot Saga Book 1)

by Jove Belle

  Elana extended her hand. “Come on. I’m not done with you yet, but I’m way over this wedding.”

  Kelly let Elana help her. It was for the best since her legs weren’t working exactly the way they were supposed to. She felt weak and she was pretty sure her knees would turn backward at any moment if she stopped paying attention.

  Elana guided her, one arm wrapped low around her waist in a way that made Kelly feel fucking awesome. When they reached the door, she turned back to look at the room. The piece of wedding cake that they’d waited hours for sat on the arm of the couch, perfectly intact except the one bite Elana ate. Elana followed her gaze.

  “Do you want me to bring it?”

  “The cake?” Kelly didn’t want anything to slow their progress. She wasn’t sure where they were going—her house, Elana’s house, the goddamn Motel 6 by the freeway. She didn’t even care, so long as they got there now. She growled. “Fuck it. I’ll make you another one later.”

  “Perfect.” Elana kissed her in a way that almost made her forget about their plans to leave. She was ready to drop to her knees and push Elana’s slacks down over her hips. It must have shown in her face, because Elana just laughed and led her out by the hand.

  They had to leave via the main reception hall, but Elana didn’t hesitate. She looked at Brianna for a brief moment, and Kelly squeezed her hand and stood on her tiptoes to speak directly in Elana’s ear. She repeated the words Elana had said in Spanish, only in English. Elana whipped her head around and kissed her hard and fast, and Kelly was pretty damn proud of herself for that.

  When they were a few steps from the door, a friend of Kelly’s mom stopped her. “Best cake ever,” she said. “Did you both enjoy a piece?”

  Elana laughed again, low and throaty, and said, “Lady, you have no idea.”

  CHAPTER 8

  The cocky energy that fueled Elana on the way out of the reception dissipated rapidly as soon as they cleared the exit. God, it’d felt good to get Kelly off and then to laugh together after. But that didn’t necessarily mean she was ready to continue the experience without the pressure of Brianna’s new marriage right in front of her.

  Kelly led her through the parking lot, swinging their joined hands between them. When they arrived at her SUV, she unlocked it and opened the door. With a dark, promising smile, she backed Elana into the gap, pushing her firmly against the passenger seat, and kissed her. The movement of Kelly’s lips against hers was deliberate, careful, measured, almost as if she knew how fragile Elana felt at that exact moment.

  When the kiss ended, Kelly rested her forehead against Elana’s and said, “You okay?”

  It was such a simple question and Elana had no idea how to answer it. The only thing she was remotely okay with at the moment was the way Kelly’s fingers felt playing with the sensitive expanse of skin just above Elana’s collar at the back of her neck. She nodded, even though she wasn’t sure it was true.

  Kelly smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She waited until Elana was buckled in before she closed the door and rounded to the driver’s side. Elana took a deep breath and rested her head against the back of the seat. At least now the scent of vanilla made sense.

  The engine on the Cadillac was so quiet, Elana could barely hear it when Kelly started the vehicle. She gripped the steering wheel and simply sat there for several long moments, long enough for Elana to get used to her presence next to her and for the engine to lull her with the monotonous purr.

  “How about I just drive you home?”

  Elana shook her head. Jesus, how had she managed to hook up with a woman she could actually like when all she wanted was a quick and dirty, forget-all-about-it fuck?

  “Only if you want to drive for a couple hours.” Elana didn’t mean to say that out loud. Kelly didn’t need to know how far she’d travelled to watch Bree say “I do” to someone else.

  Kelly looked at her then, her gaze searching. “What do you mean?”

  Elana sighed. “Can we just hit a motel? Not this one.” She inclined her head toward the building they’d left moments ago. Somehow, getting a room in the hotel where Brianna was holding her reception seemed so much worse than hooking up with a virtual stranger—the groom’s sister no less—in a storage room.

  Kelly nodded carefully. “We could. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

  “God, stop being so nice.” Elana fisted her hands, digging her nails into her palms.

  “Listen,” Kelly took hold of her hand and gently forced the fingers to unfurl, “if you’re really just looking to hit and quit it, okay. But, as disastrous as it promises to be, I actually like you.” She laced hers together with Elana’s and didn’t complain when Elana gripped too hard. Instead, she gently ran her fingertips over the back of Elana’s hand. “So, if you want to get a room and let me help you forget for a few hours and then never see each other again, I can do that. Or if you’d like a ride home, even if it’s a couple of hours away, and to hold my hand on the way, I can do that, too.”

  “This is going to be messy.” Elana sighed. No matter how ill-advised, the idea of seeing Kelly after today sparked something meaningful inside of her. “Could we do both?”

  Kelly laughed. “I don’t know that I could drive for that long after spending a couple of uninterrupted hours alone with you in a motel room.”

  “Good point.”

  “So, should I drive?”

  Elana nodded slowly, not sure she was really ready for what she was agreeing to. “Are you sure? Kelly, I’m a wreck.”

  “I’m not asking you to get married. How about we agree to be friends? And whatever happens from there, we’ll deal with it as it comes?”

  “Friends?” Elana didn’t normally fuck her friends. And if Kelly was going to be a part of her life going forward, she sure as hell planned for a repeat performance as often as possible. Kelly felt amazing wrapped around Elana. Friends, however, would give them room to know each other without the added pressure that came with dating. “Can we still fuck?”

  Kelly stretched over the console and pulled Elana into a deep kiss, her tongue demanding and relentless, until Elana was a whimpering, wet mess. Kelly nipped at her bottom lip, then smoothed a smudge of lipstick with her thumb. “God, I hope so.”

  “Okay.” Elana nodded. “Head east on the highway.”

  “Where do you live?” Kelly pulled out of the parking lot and into the traffic headed out of Spokane.

  “Bitterroot.”

  “Idaho?”

  Elana nodded, waiting for Kelly to tell her she was nuts. She felt as if it might be true. Why else would she have showed up at this damn wedding?

  “Wow. How’d you get here without a car?”

  “Bus,” Elana said as casually as possible. She’d spent four miserable, stinking hours on that damn bus for what would have taken two hours in her car. It had sucked, and she’d been desperate enough to see Brianna one last time that she’d paid good money for the experience.

  “Ugh, I took the bus from Spokane to Missoula once. It was…memorable.” Kelly drove with one hand draped over the top of the steering wheel, and she held Elana’s hand with the other. It felt nice.

  “It wasn’t fun.” Elana relaxed into the leather seat of the Escalade and sighed exaggeratedly. “But this,” she gestured expansively, “this is living.”

  Without glancing her way, Kelly said in a quiet, thoughtful voice, “I hope somebody loves me enough to spend hours on a bus to see me someday.”

  Elana gave her hand a gentle squeeze, but didn’t comment. Kelly increased the volume and they settled into the trip.

  * * *

  Of course Kelly had heard of Bitterroot, and she had a vague idea where it was—south of Missoula on the Idaho side of the border. The last time she’d taken an impromptu road trip, she’d been a senior at the University of Portland. Back then, she’d driven six hours for a girl. Ten years later, apparently the only thing that had changed was the time spent on the road.

&nb
sp; Elana had been quiet for most of the ride. She’d played with Kelly’s fingers, and, occasionally, she would close the distance between them to kiss Kelly softly on the edge of her mouth. It was tender, bordering on sweet, and it made her ache for Elana to loosen the buttons on Kelly’s shirt, lower her zipper, and slip back inside her.

  When they passed the Welcome to Bitterroot sign, Kelly slowed and asked, “So, why the bus? Don’t you have a car?”

  Elana nodded and pointed to the street she wanted Kelly to turn on. “Sure, I have a car. But I ran over someone’s mailbox about a month ago, and they revoked my license. I have to complete a defensive driver’s course, plus a few hours of community service before I can have it back.”

  “Backed over someone’s…” Kelly vaguely remembered David mentioning something about his mailbox being hit. By Brianna’s insane ex. Holy shit. “You ran over my brother’s mailbox?” She laughed at the absurdity of it.

  Elana shrugged, a small smile curving the edges of her mouth. “It was an accident.”

  “My brother told me about this. You hit it hard enough to knock it out of the ground, backed up, and ran over it again. All while shouting swear words in Spanish. That was you?”

  “That sounds about right.” Elana motioned for her to take the next left.

  Kelly shouldn’t have found it as funny as she did. But, then again, she shouldn’t have been with Elana in the first place, and it was far too late to unring that bell. So, she went with the next best option, which was laughter. “I wish I could have been there.”

  “Your brother was not happy with me. He’s lucky that’s all I did.”

  “Why that day? They’d been together for a few months at that point.”

  Elana swallowed and looked out the side window. “Yeah, that’s the thing. That’s when I found out. Until that day, I thought Bree and I were good. Solid, ya know?”

  “Oh, shit.” Kelly’s brain whirled with this new information. Did her brother know that Brianna had been seeing both of them at the same time? He’d just married the woman, for God’s sake. And Elana, fuck, she looked gutted just talking about it.

  Elana pointed to a small blue house with a picket fence and garden right out of a fairy tale. “See the Honda? That’s mine.”

  Kelly pulled to a stop in the driveway. “Do you rent?”

  “Nope. It’s all mine. Well, mine and the bank’s.” Elana released her hand and opened her door. “You coming in?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Kelly didn’t have anything scheduled the next day, so she could afford to get home later than normal. She engaged the car alarm and Elana rolled her eyes.

  “Nobody’s going to steal your pretty car.”

  Kelly inspected the neighborhood. Elana lived on a quiet street. Three houses down, a neighbor sat on his front porch drinking what appeared to be lemonade. A rangy, gray cat lay on the steps at his feet. Beyond that, there wasn’t much else going on. “No, probably not.” She left the alarm armed regardless. “Now, show me this place you call home.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Normally, Elana would give her guest a tour of her home. Normally, she’d offer her a drink or something to eat. Normally, she wouldn’t be on the verge of falling apart completely.

  As soon as Kelly cleared the door, Elana slid in close and kissed her the way she had in the car, just teasing the edge of her mouth. Kelly’s breath hitched. Yes. The few times she’d kissed Kelly like that on the drive here, Kelly had held her breath for a moment and her body tensed up. Then when Elana pulled away, Kelly had breathed out an almost-sigh. She hadn’t been able to tell if it was relief or disappointment, but it didn’t matter. Either way, Elana liked the sounds she made.

  She’d kept things intentionally light, preferring life over fiery death in a car crash. But now, with Kelly backed up against her door and her breath coming in rapid, shallow bursts, Elana pushed in closer. She kissed Kelly slowly, sensuously, and with as much sexy intent as she could filter in to one kiss. At the reception, she’d taken Kelly in a rush. She’d needed to feel something beyond the shards of glass raking over her heart. The slick heat of Kelly’s cunt around her fingers blocked everything else out until all that mattered was that moment.

  And Kelly had opened herself, given herself to Elana even though her manners told her she should wait. Now, Elana wanted to give back, to treat Kelly with care. And so, Elana kissed her thoroughly, as though she had all the time in the world.

  When she finally pulled away, Kelly slumped against the door with a moan. “Wow. I like your place.”

  “Mmm.” Elana took Kelly by the hand and led her to the bedroom. “I’ll give you a tour later.”

  Despite her plan to continue her seduction in the bedroom, Elana somehow ended up on her back with Kelly looming over her. As she worked the button on her slacks free, Kelly kissed her hungrily. “For the record,” Kelly eased the zipper down, “I think this is a terrible idea. But if we’re going to do it, I get to go first.”

  With that, she slipped her hand into Elana’s panties and her tongue into Elana’s mouth. Kelly was a pastry chef, a profession that required finesse, delicacy, subtlety. She hinted at none of those traits as she circled her fingers demandingly over Elana’s clit.

  Elana gasped. “Oh, fuck.”

  “I’ll say.” Kelly groaned into her mouth. “So fucking wet.” She drew each word out, giving the import of each one a chance to settle inside Elana. “This isn’t going to work.”

  As quickly as she’d touched Elana, Kelly pulled her hand away.

  “What?” Elana asked, a bit dazed by the rapid change of pace.

  “I need more of you, that’s all.” Kelly sat back on her haunches between Elana’s legs. “First, shoes.”

  Elana laughed. Normally she took those off at the door. Kelly had her twisted inside out. Together, they got her shoes off, and Elana kicked them to the far side of the room. Kelly slipped off her socks and moved directly to her slacks. She pulled them, along with her panties, off in one long sweeping motion.

  “Perfect,” Kelly said.

  Nothing about the last few moments had been seductive, yet the way Kelly looked at her with undisguised raw need pulsed through her. The longer Kelly stared, the wetter Elana became.

  Elana squirmed, trying to close her legs to get some sort of friction started where she really needed it. Kelly grabbed her legs and shook her head once, sharp and decisive. The intensity in her gaze increased, and goose bumps rose on the exposed flesh of Elana’s thighs. She should have felt vulnerable, laying herself bare like this, exposed and examined. What could have been uncomfortable was one of the single sexiest moments of her life, dictated exclusively by the hunger and passion in Kelly’s eyes.

  “Next time, I’ll do this right.” Kelly bent until her breath puffed hot against Elana’s pussy. “I’ll take my time and build you up.” She licked along the length to flick her tongue over her clit. With a groan, she thrust her tongue into Elana, and a moment later, her tongue slipped out and a finger slid in. “But this time,” she stroked in and out deliberately as she watched Elana’s reaction, “I really can’t wait to have you.”

  Then she added another finger and sucked Elana’s clit into her mouth. She circled her tongue lazily, completely out of time with the demanding pump of her fingers in and out. Elana writhed. Her hands found their way into the length of Kelly’s hair entirely on their own, and she held Kelly tight as her hips jerked erratically. She was sopping wet, embarrassingly so, and Kelly curled her fingers and touched her there, and Elana’s body drew tight, vibrating with the beginning hum of orgasm.

  “Kelly.” Her back arched off the bed and she jutted her hips up into Kelly’s face, urging her deeper, pleading for her to move her tongue just a half-beat faster. “Please…God.”

  And just like that, Kelly fluttered her tongue rapidly as she massaged that perfect place that some women never find, and then Elana flew. Her orgasm swelled, gathering deep in her cunt and rolling through her body like a shockwav
e. She slumped against the bed and gasped to catch her breath.

  “Damn,” she said as she panted. She smoothed Kelly’s hair where she’d fisted it in her hands. “Did I hurt you?”

  Kelly sat up and the smirk she gave Elana, her mouth and chin glistening, was positively filthy. “I’m good.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then sucked her fingers into her mouth with a groan. “God, you taste good.”

  * * *

  Naked, sweaty, and ridiculously satisfied, Kelly sat with her back against the headboard. Elana was curved into her side, running her fingers lazily over Kelly’s stomach. Occasionally she pressed a kiss to Kelly’s neck or shoulder. Each touch had that wonderful mix of new awareness and familiarity that comes with a new lover. They’d brought each other to orgasm over and over before finally collapsing, sated and exhausted, but not ready yet for sleep.

  “I’m sorry about your brother’s mailbox.” Elana sucked the small section of skin just above Kelly’s clavicle. She’d spent a lot of time worrying that spot. Just like every other time, the attention dragged a moan from deep inside Kelly. She’d been with women who never found that spot, and Elana had latched onto it with ease. “I should apologize to him.”

  “My brother is an ass. Stop talking about him.” Kelly moved her hands restlessly over Elana’s body. She’d touched every part of her, but she still couldn’t get enough. Every time she thought she was done, Elana’s breath would skate over her skin, or her fingers would brush a nipple, or she’d sigh just so, and Kelly would once again start the climb.

  “What should I talk about?” Elana circled her fingertip over Kelly’s nipple, the contact so soft she almost wasn’t touching at all. Kelly groaned and moved her hand instinctively to the back of Elana’s head, guiding her until she was close enough to stretch out her tongue and lick.

  “Let’s talk about how you’re killing me.” Kelly tightened her hand in Elana’s hair. It was short and thick and felt glorious fisted in her hand. She tugged hard to pull Elana away from her breast and into a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss.