by Cruz, Sofia
Melanie smiled, gazing into Jessica's eyes. "I don't want to start over. If we start over, then this wonderful afternoon would never have happened and today, angel, is probably the best day of my life." She watched as tears started to well up in Jessica's eyes. She kissed them away, then jumped up, eager to lighten the mood a little.
She pulled Jessica up to stand beside her and looked meaningfully between the river and Jessica. Jessica, realizing what Melanie intended, tried to jump back, but Melanie grabbed her hand and started running towards the river, dragging Jessica along behind her. Reaching the edge, she spun around, grabbed Jessica and tossed her in. She burst out laughing as Jessica hit the water, then came up sputtering.
"You bitch! Do you know how cold it is in here?"
"No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me."
Jessica came rushing at her and Melanie danced out of the way, laughing. She briefly wondered what kind of picture the two of them made, stark naked and jumping around the riverbank, then forgot all about it as Jessica lunged again, grabbed her around the waist, lost her balance, and they both fell with a loud splash into the river.
Melanie gasped as the shock of the cold water, against her hot skin, hit her like a punch. Laughing, Jessica threw a handful of water in her face, and then made a run for the small beach. Wanting revenge, Melanie grabbed her from behind and tossed her back into the water. Standing at the edge, the water lapping around her ankles, she watched Jessica try to spring up, slip in the loose dirt of the riverbed, and fall back down, landing on her butt with a big splash. Jessica's hair was soaked and lay plastered all over her face. As Jessica tried to push her hair out of her eyes, Melanie watched, captivated, as drops of water slid down over Jessica's body.
Jessica looked up just in time to catch Melanie licking her lips, staring at her like she was lunch. Slowly, she worked herself into a crouching position in the water and waited. Just when Melanie took a step towards her, she bolted up and to the left, running up the small hill towards the blanket, for all she was worth. She could feel the cool autumn air brushing over her wet skin, goose bumps forming all over her body. Racing up to the blanket, she snatched it up off the ground, gave it a quick shake, and then wrapped it around her chilled body. She turned in time to see Melanie clear the top of the hill and stood admiring her lovers' long, lean body, taking in the tattoos while she watched Melanie's skin ripple as her muscles worked. She was enjoying the scene so much, she didn't notice Melanie quickly advancing, not showing any signs of stopping. Next thing she knew, she was flat on her back on the ground with Melanie straddling her, laughing, as she looked down at her. Jessica felt the water drip down off her body and splatter against her face.
Jessica tried to push her off. "Get off me, cher! You're soaking the blanket."
Melanie didn't budge, using her body to keep Jessica pinned to the ground. "No, Jessica, you're soaking the blanket. You better take it off and share before it's too wet to do me any good." With that, she reached out and started yanking the blanket off.
Jessica grabbed the top of it, trying to keep it in place. Fighting for the blanket, she rolled, knocking Melanie off balance. Soon, they were rolling around in the grass, laughing and wrestling. Finally, Melanie admitted defeat and stood up. Jessica started to roll with laughter at all the grass and dirt that was stuck to Melanie's wet skin. She looked like some kind of forest creature, something out of an old children's story.
Melanie looked down at herself, frowning as she found she was quite a mess. Jessica's laughter was contagious, though, and she soon joined in. Giving Jessica a shrug, she ran back down to the river and jumped in, trying to clean herself off. Standing back up, she found Jessica on the beach, staring at her. She slowly walked out of the water towards Jessica and felt herself shiver as she watched Jessica's tongue dart out, curling up to touch her top lip.
Jessica felt herself growing hungry again as she watched the water spill down Melanie's body. As she felt Melanie draw near, though, she jumped back a little and threw the towel at her. Melanie caught it, then just stared at it, before looking back at her.
"It's a hand towel, Jessica. This isn't going to do me a whole lotta good."
"That's your problem, cher, because it's doing wonders for me." Jessica heard the huskiness of her own voice as she watched Melanie try to dry off with the little towel. She caught Melanie giving her a meaningful look and she raced back up the hill towards her clothes, running the best she could, her movements hampered by the blanket.
Melanie threw her head back and groaned. They could play like this all day and it would be dark soon. Besides, she was starting to get hungry, for food, and for another go at Jessica's lush body. But she didn't want to do that here. She was hoping she could get Jessica home so they could spend the rest of the day rolling around naked in bed. She started up the hill, swiping at her wet skin with the towel as she walked.
She reached the tree just in time to watch Jessica, already in her underwear, trying to wiggle her wet body back into her jeans. Jessica looked up, caught Melanie watching her, and doubled her efforts. They had to get home. Now.
Melanie seemed to have the same idea, because Jessica noticed that she bent down for her clothes instead of making a grab for her. She quickly finished getting dressed and waited for Melanie to do the same.
It took a few minutes because her skin was so soaked, but Melanie finally got her clothes back on. "Well, Jessica, what do you say we head home?"
"My house, cher. You can follow me in your car," and Jessica turned and walked towards her old Ford.
Melanie watched Jessica sashay back to her car and couldn't resist running up and giving her ass a little smack from behind as she passed by on the way to her rental car.
The ride home was eventful, to say the least. Jessica was smiling the whole way, laughing as they would come to a stop sign, or traffic light, and hear Melanie behind her, gunning her engine. About a mile from her house was a little one-lane bridge. Halfway across it, Jessica stopped the car, wiggled her bra off from under her shirt and then started back across, holding the bra up in the air, the wind from the car making it act like a windsock. Looking in her rearview mirror, she could see Melanie behind the wheel of her own car, laughing. Jessica let go and watched the bra splatter across Melanie's windshield. She started laughing even harder as she watched Melanie slow down to a crawl and shimmy out the driver's side window far enough for her to grab the bra and pluck it off her windshield. Once Melanie was back in her seat, Jessica hit the gas and flew the rest of the way home.
She had an ear-to-ear grin on her face as she drove through the gates of her house. Jessica sped up the driveway and skidded to a halt in front of her house. She was halfway over the side of the car when Melanie suddenly appeared, wrapping her arms around her waist, and hauling her against her, kissing the daylights out of her.
Jessica squealed as she felt Melanie lift her the rest of the way over the car door, and when her feet hit the ground, Melanie started waltzing her around the driveway, both of them slipping a little on the lose gravel. Now peeling with laughter, Jessica grabbed Melanie's hand and dragged her into the house.
Chapter 5
Melanie's growling stomach woke Jessica from a deep, contented sleep. She was lying on her side facing the French doors that stood on the opposite end of her room, and opened out onto a large balcony that had it's own set of steps leading down to the side yard. She smiled as she felt Melanie spooned against her back, her arms draped over Jessica's waist. She felt good, happy, and knew that she and Melanie were finally on their way to having a future together. A very long one, she hoped.
Looking around her room, she studied the big, brown leather couch that faced the fireplace that was built into the wall facing the bed. Her room was done in rich, dark tones, browns and hunter greens that were more suited for a man's room. Actually, the room had been her father's. He'd slept here whenever he and her mother were having a row, and had decorated the room himself. Staying here always
made her feel closer to him. She always felt saddened at the memory of that day in the kitchen, when her world exploded apart. It had taken a very long time before she had finally understood what had driven him to destruction that day. Love, passion, could be a powerful, all consuming thing; a creature that drove all rational thought away. She snuggled against Melanie and knew that she finally understood what that felt like, being so involved with someone that the rightness of your world depended on them. It was a scary feeling sometimes, but could also fill a person's heart with so much happiness; you felt like you were floating through air, your feet never touching the ground.
She felt Melanie stir against her and smiled. Their tempers, and mountains of pride, sometimes caused the two of them to fight something awful, but Jessica knew Melanie loved her as much as she loved Melanie, and knew that Melanie would never lift a finger against her. Maybe that's where her parents had gone wrong. They had a fierce passion, but not enough trust, enough love. Staring into the darkness, she wasn't afraid of her and Melanie falling into the same trap. They may fight and scream, even throw things at each other at times, but they'd never cause each other physical harm. Instinctively she knew they would both draw the line there.
She remembered the day she and Felicia had moved back into this house, as adults. Felicia had been concerned when she had chosen this room for herself. A picture of Felicia's face that day, frowning, concern in her eyes, formed in her mind and she suddenly missed her sister something awful. Again, her temper had gotten the better of her and she'd been to busy yelling instead of listening. Well, she'd fixed things with Melanie, now it was time to patch up her relationship with her sister, if she could find her. Jessica twisted around to face Melanie. Watching her sleep, she wondered how much progress Melanie had made on her sister's case. David had told her a little bit, but they'd quickly moved on to discuss her feelings for Melanie, so she hadn't gotten full disclosure concerning the meeting between Melanie and her uncle. Melanie's stomach growled again and Jessica smothered a laugh. If she could get Melanie to wake up, maybe she would fill her in on what she'd found, while they raided the kitchen for a midnight snack.
Jessica gave Melanie's shoulder a gentle push. When that didn't work, she shook a little harder. Finally, she watched as Melanie pried her eyes open, saw blurry eyes stare at her for a minute, then watched a sleepy smile spread across Melanie's face as she realized were she was and who she was with.
"You real?" Melanie muttered.
"Very much so," Jessica replied with a chuckle. Melanie was so cute when she was half asleep.
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart, hope to die." Jessica pressed her lips to Melanie's and felt Melanie tug her closer.
"Mmmm. That's nice." Melanie's voice was still thick with sleep and Jessica decided she liked the sound of it.
Melanie's stomach growled again and this time Jessica couldn't stop herself from laughing. Melanie gave her a sheepish grin and eased herself into a sitting position, wiping the sleep dust from her eyes. Jessica rested her head against Melanie's stomach and kissed the hummingbird that sat low on Melanie's abdomen, just above her mound.
Melanie groaned as she felt a spark of excitement spread through her. "Mercy, angel, show mercy. I want you, but I think I'm too sore to do very much," she said, laughing.
Jessica knew there was an evil grin spreading over her face as she remembered the day's events. Once they got home, they'd gone straight to her room and had spent the rest of the day making love, over and over. Sometimes they'd been rough with each other, desperate with passion. Other times they'd just gone slow, exploring and enjoying each other. Jessica wondered if there'd ever come a time when they didn't feel the need to jump each other's bones at every available moment. Lord, she hoped not.
With another quick kiss, she climbed out of bed and went in search of a robe. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Melanie sitting naked on the edge of the bed, yawning and still trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She felt a little spark ignite low in her belly and briefly considered going another round, then remembered how sore Melanie said she was. Thinking it best to give her lover time to regroup, she fished a second robe out of her closet and tossed it at Melanie.
Melanie had her eyes half closed, willing them to focus, when she got a face full of silk. The rope dropped in her lap and she looked up to find Jessica shrugging into her own robe. She watched the silk skim over Jessica's body, groaned, and felt a brief moment of sadness as Jessica's naked body disappeared from view as she tied the belt around her waist. She climbed off the bed onto unsteady legs and almost fell backwards onto the bed as she found her legs too weak to hold her. She heard Jessica's smug laugh and shot her a nasty look. It took her a few minutes, but she finally managed to get the robe on and knotted the belt into place. She looked up to fine Jessica watching her, and saw the gleam in her eye, even in the darkened room.
"Later, angel," she muttered and stumbled towards the short hallway that led to Jessica's private bathroom.
"Need any help?"
The sexy sound of Jessica's exaggerated southern drawl had heat coursing through Melanie's body. Damn if she wasn't half tempted to turn around and jump Jessica right there on the floor. Grabbing the bathroom doorway for support, she shot Jessica a withering look over her shoulder.
"Maybe later."
Jessica grinned like the Cheshire cat as Melanie shoved the door shut, cutting off her view. She heard the lock click into place, then thought about the key to the bathroom that was tucked away in a little box on top of her dresser. Sweet Jesus! Melanie was right; at this rate, they would end up fucking each other to death. Thinking that would be a fun way to go, she sat down on the bed and waited for Melanie. She should probably just head for the kitchen, get herself out of a room filled with temptation, but was afraid Melanie would kill herself trying to fine the kitchen in this big old house, in the dark.
Minutes later, Melanie staggered back into the bedroom and Jessica grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the door. "Food?" Jessica laughed at the hopeful sound in Melanie's voice, then laughed even harder when Melanie's stomach growled again, right on cue.
Holding onto her hand, Jessica led Melanie down a set of back steps that went from the second floor and ended at the back of the kitchen. It was built over a hundred years ago to allow the servants to move from the kitchen to rest of the house without begin seen on the main staircase. It was very close to Jessica's room and she always found it very useful, especially if she was trying to sneak to the kitchen, undetected.
As the kitchen came into view, Melanie spotted the counter and immediately thought back to that night she'd done a body shot here with Jessica. She groaned at the memory and saw Jessica give her a questioning look over her shoulder. Desperate to get her mind on something else, she pushed past Jessica and made a beeline for the refrigerator. "Food," she muttered at Jessica as she passed.
Jessica shook her head, smiling, and went over to help Melanie raid the kitchen. Ten minutes later, they had a wide assortment of food spread over the kitchen table. Jessica sat in Melanie's lap, feeding her crackers, laughing as Melanie jerked the food out of her hand, too hungry to have any patience for being feed.
Twenty minutes later, Melanie leaned back in her chair and wrapped both arms around Jessica's waist. "Oh God, I feel stuffed!"
"It's about time," came Jessica's sarcastic reply. "I think there's a piece of the table you forgot to wolf down, cher."
"Ha, ha," Melanie shot back. "I haven't eaten anything in almost 24 hours. It's a miracle I didn't pass out today, from all that exercise on an empty stomach."
Jessica winced at the reminder that, 24 hours ago, Melanie was making love to Alyshia instead of her. But she was with her now, so Jessica pushed the thought aside and got down to business. "Uncle David mentioned that you found Felicia, but there's some kind of problem."
Melanie nodded, then filled Jessica in on recent events. Once she finished, she watched Jessica's reaction. She saw Jes
sica's eyes fill with concern. Well, that answered that question. Melanie hadn't been sure if Jessica was all that interested in finding Felicia and bringing her home, but now Melanie could tell that Jessica was really worried about her sister. Now that she knew both of them wanted the same thing, to find Felicia, she tried to enlist Jessica's help.
"Jessica, do you remember Lonna Tassin at all?"
Jessica frowned, trying to recall Uncle David's ex-fiancé. Unable to do so, she shrugged and gave Melanie a sad smile. "I'm sorry, cher. I don't remember her at all and I have no idea if Felicia does. I can tell you I don't remember Felicia ever mentioning her."
Melanie sighed. She was back at square one. Again.
Jessica watched as Melanie became silent, deep in thought, and felt as if she had physically left the room. She didn't like it one bit. Jessica knew that this was Melanie's job, and a big part of her life, and she realized that she didn't like knowing there was a part of Melanie's life she wasn't included in. But maybe she could change that. Jessica wasn't fool enough to consider quitting her job and working with Melanie, nothing like that, but she wanted Melanie to feel comfortable discussing things with her; to know that, at the very least, she could always bounce ideas off of her. And she had ever right to stick her nose into this case, even a responsibility to her sister to do so.