by M. Ullrich
“It’s a, um, really good combination.” When Casey looked up, Eva grinned in victory. “If I finish my work, I stay.”
“Fair enough.”
“Now, go do something someplace else so I can concentrate. Please.”
“Will you be okay if I run to the store real quick? I’m going to change Luke’s room into my bedroom. It’s the only room I have no memories in, but I don’t have any sheets or anything.”
“Hurry back, and bring Twizzlers.”
Eva threw on an old sweatshirt and grabbed the keys to Luke’s car before placing a kiss on Casey’s head. She smiled broadly on her way out the door.
Casey dropped back onto the sofa the moment she heard the door shut. She’d expected hours of tireless conversations and explanations, rehashing the past to even consider a future. But six years of pain and sorrow had melted away the moment Eva kissed her. The moment Eva opened up about her feelings and confirmed what Casey had suspected in high school, every expectation went right out the window.
She flipped through a textbook to find the section she was supposed to read, but the words might as well have been written in Finnish. Her body was thrumming, and all she could think about was when Eva would touch her again and where. She blew out a long breath, flapping her lips loudly. Casey sat up straight and zoned in on her homework.
After thirty-five minutes of feigning concentration, Casey tossed her book aside again. She stood and stretched. A few knickknacks caught her eye, namely odd and out-of-place vases on the bookshelves that framed a small television. They seemed generic enough, but the patterns were eye-catching. She wondered where Luke would’ve bought them, why he would’ve chosen them, or if they had come with the house when he bought it.
“Pretty weird, right?” Eva said from behind her.
Casey jumped, then turned and smiled at Eva. “I didn’t hear you come home. These caught my eye.” Casey reached out to pick up a blue and teal bud vase but lost all interest when Eva snaked her arms around her waist.
“Did you get any work done?” Eva nibbled on Casey’s earlobe.
“A little.”
“Keep at it,” Eva said, kissing Casey’s neck. “I’m going to throw these sheets on the bed and make dinner. Your Twizzlers are on the couch.”
Two hours later, after the sun had set and they’d eaten a small meal of sandwiches and chips, Casey and Eva relaxed on the couch, cuddled into one another as they watched television. Eva combed her fingers through Casey’s hair over and over, an action that calmed her better than any sedative could.
Casey was tucked under Eva’s left arm and her hand rested on her thigh. They had talked through dinner about what they’d do next. Casey proposed renovating the living area so the first room that greeted Eva when she arrived would be happy. They made plans to go shopping together for furniture the following weekend, and Eva told her she’d start her job search Monday morning. All their plans pointed in the direction of dependability and permanence. Casey’s heart swelled.
Casey stretched her hand out and studied the contrast between her pale skin and the dark material of Eva’s pants. She rubbed her palm along Eva’s lean thigh, digging her nails in slightly. Eva spread her legs, but she kept her eyes on the TV. Casey continued her exploration, trailing her finger from Eva’s knee to her protruding hip bone. Casey teased the sensitive skin there with a feather-light touch, and when she heard Eva’s breathing change, she abandoned that spot in search of another.
Eva shifted around but continued to pretend the television was more interesting. Casey wasn’t buying it. She found the inseam of Eva’s pants and followed it up and up until it came to an end at the juncture of Eva’s thighs. She could hear Eva swallow. She touched Eva’s stomach over her shirt and then under, scratching her nails along Eva’s skin and delighting in making her shiver. She skimmed the waistband of Eva’s pants, just to tease Eva with the idea of going farther, but then returned her hand to Eva’s thigh. Eva sighed, and Casey stifled a laugh.
All of her teasing had started to affect Casey too. She pressed her thighs together to alleviate the overwhelming throbbing. She was wet and swollen and ready, and she needed to know if Eva felt the same.
She reached between Eva’s legs and pressed where she wished to be touched. Hearing Eva’s response, feeling Eva’s warmth in her palm and her body tensing at her side, sent a jolt of excitement directly to Casey’s clit. She whimpered into Eva’s neck. Casey continued to rub Eva through her pants, making small circles with her fingertips until Eva’s legs went so rigid they nearly snapped. Casey pulled back her hand, straddled Eva’s lap, and took off her own shirt. Her bare breasts were in Eva’s face. As Eva stared at them wide-eyed and licked her lips, Casey reached up and palmed her own breasts. She tugged at her nipples, turning the pink tips red.
“Fuck,” Eva sighed.
“Look at me.” Casey’s demand was nearly lost in a whimper. Eva’s eyes were dark and dazed, and Casey saw so much desire burning in her gaze, her skin felt the heat. “Tell me how much you want this. Tell me I’m not the only one who’s thought of this moment. Tell me that comparing every lover to you wasn’t sad and silly, that imagining you touching me wasn’t pathetic.” The sharpness of passion fell away from Eva’s eyes, replaced by the softness of adoration.
Eva sat up, pressing herself against Casey’s bare chest and cradling Casey’s face with her hands. “I want this so badly, and I never thought I’d get it. I’ve imagined you in my arms, late at night, and I’ve called your name more times than I can count.” Eva traced Casey’s lower lip with her thumb. Casey shuddered as Eva caressed down her throat and along her clavicle, their eye contact never wavering.
“Running away is sad and pathetic,” Eva said, placing her open palm over Casey’s thumping heart. “And I promise you, I’ll never do that again.” She kissed Casey softly.
In their kiss, Casey felt the scattered pieces of herself fall back into place, and any lingering anger fell away. She reached down and pulled Eva’s shirt off, craving the feel of skin on skin. Now that she’d had a taste of Eva, she wanted to be surrounded and consumed, filled completely by her.
Casey moaned when Eva palmed her breasts and ran her thumbs over Casey’s nipples in firm circles. She started moving her hips to match the shapes Eva was drawing on her sensitive flesh. Eva teased her chest with her mouth, biting at her nipples and soothing her pebbled areolas with the tip of her tongue. Casey didn’t want Eva to stop, but she also wanted her to move south. She ground her center harder into Eva and whimpered in dissatisfaction.
“Hey,” Eva said, holding her hips still. “Slow down, we’ll get there.”
“I don’t understand ‘slow’ right now.” Casey pushed her hair back from her face and wished she had a hair tie. “Before I ever even touched myself, I wanted you to touch me, to make my body feel the way it does right now. How am I supposed to go slow?”
Eva fell back against the cushions. “Wow.”
“What?”
“You are unbelievably sexy.”
“Look who’s talking.” Casey was amazed by the confidence that radiated off Eva as she sat topless beneath her. So different from the seventeen-year-old who tried so hard to hide. She pulled the small elastic from Eva’s hair and secured her own back and away from her face, all while marveling at Eva’s beauty. With her thick hair unleashed, Eva’s face was framed softly and her dark nipples contrasted further with her skin by matching the rich color of her hair. The ends of the strands danced along hardened peaks that called to Casey. She scratched her nails across Eva’s breasts, eliciting a sharp gasp.
Casey pushed her sweatpants and panties down as far as they’d go and grabbed Eva’s left hand. She drew it closer and closer to her center, and never let her eye contact waver. She wanted to see Eva’s face, every nuance of emotion and flicker in her eyes as she touched her for the first time. They both gasped. Casey knew she was wet, wetter than she had ever been, and she was far from bashful about it.
&
nbsp; Eva ran her fingers through Casey’s drenched folds, coating her fingers thoroughly before teasing her opening. Casey moaned loudly, the sound bouncing from wall to wall in the near-empty room. Casey knew she was close, too close for her own liking, and all she could do was to keep her hips from searching for release before Eva willingly gave it to her. The first inch of penetration rocked through Casey’s body.
“Deeper,” she said. “I want all of you inside.” Casey screamed the moment two of Eva’s long fingers filled her and her palm pressed against her clit. “Yesss,” she hissed. “I used to dream of your hands and how you’d touch me.” Casey held Eva’s face in her hands and tried to keep eye contact, but the pleasure overwhelmed her, and she clamped her eyes shut.
Eva moved her fingers in and out, Casey matching her movements to keep time. She rode Eva’s hand for a long while, relishing the telltale tightness and sparks climbing from her clit and into her belly. She pressed her forehead to Eva’s and tried to control her breathing.
“I don’t want to come yet,” Casey said after a lengthy moan. “You feel so good.” She gripped the back of the sofa and started to move her pelvis with renewed purpose. Eva kissed Casey hard and curled her fingers in a way that had Casey sobbing for more. She tore her lips from Eva’s and begged, “Eva, please, don’t stop.”
An intense orgasm tore through Casey moments later, starting in her curled toes, making its way to her pulsing insides still thirsting for Eva’s touch, and ending in incoherent babbling and a string of expletives. Each uncontrollable tremor drew another “fuck” from Casey’s plump lips.
Casey whimpered at the loss of Eva’s fingers the moment she pulled out, but when she opened her eyes to see Eva licking her digits clean by sucking them deep into her mouth, Casey’s pussy clenched in response. “Holy shit,” she said.
“You taste like you were picked fresh from the garden,” Eva said with a smack of her lips. “Delicious.” Eva kissed Casey deeply, slowly, but ravenously enough to leave Casey gasping for air.
“You will be the death of me, and that’s okay,” Casey said, pushing Eva’s hair aside to lick her long neck. “I already can’t feel my legs, may as well finish me off right.”
“I believe I already did,” Eva said, wiggling her eyebrows. “But let’s lay you down for some rest.” Eva eased Casey onto her back and removed her bunched-up sweatpants. “Damn,” she said. “You’re stunning.” Eva kissed her kneecaps, and the oddity of the move made Casey giggle. “Your smile is like my North Star.” Eva sat back and looked thoughtful, a momentary flash of sadness weighing her smile down. “Each time I thought of it over the years, I felt a little less lost.”
“You still have a talent with words. Come here,” Casey said, pulling Eva to lie atop her. She held Eva close and peppered kisses on every inch of skin she could reach. She ran her nails up the length of her bare back and reveled in the way Eva’s body shivered against her. Casey felt Eva start to move against her thigh. She reached into the back of Eva’s pants and gripped her bare ass, encouraging her movements to be more firm and fluid on her body.
As much as Casey wanted to return Eva’s favor, she thought watching Eva use her body as she unabashedly searched for pleasure was utterly sensual.
“Eva!” Casey yelled in surprise when Eva’s fingers started working her clit again. She dug her fingernails into Eva’s skin.
“Are you going to come with me?” Eva said into Casey’s ear, her voice raspy.
Casey felt herself heading for oblivion, and she held Eva tightly to ensure they’d be swallowed together. “I’m with you, baby.”
Eva pushed harder against Casey and her movements turned erratic, but the rhythm and speed of her hand never faltered. She stilled first, hips freezing in place and breath ceasing, before she let out a whoosh of air and bit down on Casey’s supple breasts. She sank two fingers into Casey again, drawing her simmering orgasm into a full boil. They shook against each other until the final spasms subsided.
Casey pulled at the sheet and covered their dampened bodies. She knew they’d have to move eventually, but for now she was content to rest beneath the only person who could wreak such exquisite havoc on her body and heart at the same time.
Chapter Twelve
Eva had always dreamt of waking up beside Casey, so having it happen twice within a few hours was something special. She and Casey had awoken in the middle of the night, a pile of cramped, tangled limbs on the sofa, and moved to the bedroom. Together they fell onto the bed, and Casey fell back to sleep peacefully against Eva’s shoulder. Eva lay there and forced her eyes to remain open. Burning that moment into her memory felt vital, like it would be a memory capable of washing a bad one away. But of course, against her own will and desire, she’d fallen back to sleep almost as quickly as Casey.
Eva awoke the second time because Casey’s hair was tickling her nose and the sun had brightened the room. She backed away from Casey’s disheveled head of hair and pulled a few wayward strands from her mouth. Eva looked around the room for the time, but couldn’t find a clock. She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Casey, and ran to the other room for her phone. Not even eight o’clock in the morning yet. When she crept back into the bedroom, Casey was sitting up against the headboard with the sheets pulled up over her breasts. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight,” Eva said quietly, not wanting to disturb the early morning peace. She crawled back beneath the covers and pulled Casey down, smiling at the feeling of Casey’s bare skin against hers. “What should we do today?”
“We should have breakfast with my parents.”
“We should?”
“Yes, we should.” Casey traced shapeless patterns across Eva chest. “They were asking about you.”
“Okay.” Eva felt a bit panicked by the prospect of sitting around with the McClellan’s again. What if they asked about things Eva didn’t want to talk about?
“Don’t worry,” Casey said. She reached up and pressed her forefinger between Eva’s eyebrows. “You still get a really deep crease right here when you’re worried.”
“And it just gets deeper with age.”
Casey shot her a barely-there smile before she settled back down. “The other night when we were talking about you, I told my mom to take it easy on you right now.”
Eva breathed a sigh of relief. “I appreciate that.”
“We haven’t figured everything out yet, and there’s still a lot to discuss. It wouldn’t be fair for my mom to get those answers before me.”
Eva turned on her side to face Casey fully. “Like?”
“Do you still prefer chocolate over vanilla ice cream?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still love cargo shorts?”
“God no.” Eva laughed when Casey wiped imaginary sweat from her brow.
“What kind of modeling did you do?” Eva’s smile fell slightly, causing Casey to pull back. “I’m sorry if you’re not ready—”
“Mostly small runway shows,” Eva said quickly. She gripped Casey’s hand and interlocked their fingers, tracing the delicate bones and following the paths of veins up and down her pale skin. “One or two magazine spreads. Well, they were barely pamphlets, but they called them magazines. I never did anything more risqué than lingerie or slightly promiscuous posing.”
“I wouldn’t care if you did.”
Eva looked at Casey curiously.
“You’re gorgeous and sexy, and you have this body that could turn a smart man dumb. I can see how confident you are now and I’m happy for you. Don’t be ashamed of anything you did, risqué or not.”
Eva bit the inside of her cheek to fight back tears. She rarely second-guessed her decision to model for Max, except sometimes late at night when she’d wonder if Casey would approve of her life’s direction. “Thanks,” she finally said. “That means a lot.”
“Don’t thank me, silly.” Casey kissed her sweetly. “What do you plan on doing for work here? I doubt the modeling scene is hip in Mar
lboro.”
“If I want to keep modeling I’d commute to the city, but I think I’m ready to leave that behind. I’ll look around for a job that’ll pay my bills, and I was thinking about taking some online courses.”
“Eva, that’s great.” Casey kissed her again. “Any idea what you want to study? You could pursue writing like you always wanted to.”
“I’ve been considering that. I kept up with journals and stuff while I was in the city. Writing was my outlet, and maybe I could make it into something more with some coaching. I don’t know.” Eva blushed. She wasn’t used to dreaming aloud like this. “I have enough cash saved up to pay for things around the house for six months or so. By then I should be able to get some sort of job.”
“I work a couple of weeknights at a café by school, if you need help with money. I can also help you study. I was a very good study buddy back in the day.”
“We never studied together because we could never concentrate.”
“Exactly,” Casey said directly into Eva’s ear, causing a torrent of goose bumps to prickle her flesh. “Imagine all the distractions we’d have now.”
Eva smiled warmly as she relished the feeling of Casey’s soft hands exploring her body. The touch ignited not just a flame of passion but a glowing fire of contentment in her soul. Casey shifted to lie fully atop Eva. Eva steadied her by gripping her hips firmly. “What time should we head next door? I remember breakfast being served early.”
Casey grinned. “I may have messaged my mom last night to tell her we’d have a late start this morning.”
“So all of this was planned?”
“No, not all of it. I thought Sunday breakfast with my parents would be nice since I’d be here as a buffer for your first run-in with them.”
“Very considerate,” Eva said, leaning up just enough to kiss Casey’s nose. “And what about the seduction?”
Casey cocked an eyebrow. “Seduction?”