Brooke lifted Tess’s T-shirt and removed it. She looked down at Tess in wonderment. When, Brooke wondered, would she ever tire of feeling Tess against her? Never. Brooke’s lips met Tess’s in a possessive kiss that laid promises of things to come. She pulled away slowly, taking a brief moment to tease Tess’s lips with her tongue before beginning a slow descent back over Tess’s throat.
Tess let her hands fall onto Brooke’s back. She struggled to take hold of Brooke’s shirt.
“What do you want?” Brooke whispered in Tess’s ear.
“I need to feel you,” Tess told Brooke. “Against me, with me,” she sighed through a ragged breath.
Brooke sat up and pulled her shirt over her head. She watched as Tess’s eyes roamed over her body appreciatively. Brooke smiled and removed the rest of her clothing, careful to keep her eyes locked with Tess’s every moment. She reached down and steadily lowered Tess’s pajama pants and smiled at her wife. Brooke pressed her body against Tess’s sensually. Her eyelids fluttered until they closed instinctively at the feel of Tess beneath her.
Tess felt Brooke begin to move against her at a slow tempo. She had the fleeting thought that making love with Brooke was in many ways musical. Their bodies moved together in a well-timed rhythm that began steadily until it would build into an urgent, thunderous crescendo. Tess’s hands moved up and down Brooke’s back tenderly urging Brooke to continue their dance. She lost her breath momentarily when Brooke’s lips found hers yet again, searching and discovering all at once. Brooke moved to break their kiss and Tess pulled her back forcefully, kissing Brooke deeply.
Slowly, Brooke pulled away to look into Tess’s eyes. She lowered her lips next to Tess’s ear and nipped gently. “No,” she whispered. “Let me make love to you, Tess.”
“Brooke…”
Brooke smiled seductively at Tess. Tess had a tendency to turn the tables on Brooke in less than an instant. As Tess’s desire began to build, she would seek to take command of their lovemaking. Most times, Brooke was happy to acquiesce and allow Tess to lead their dance. Tonight, she craved Tess—to feel Tess submit to her touch, to convey without words the love and the passion Tess commanded.
“Shh,” Brooke whispered again. “Let me love you.”
Brooke’s lips strayed to Tess’s neck and floated over Tess’s shoulder. Her hands moved sensually around the curves of Tess’s hips and abdomen, while her kisses continued to rain lightly down over Tess’s skin. Tess arched her back, and Brooke tenderly captured Tess’s straining breast into her mouth. She played sensually, teasing Tess until Tess began to beg her softly.
“Please, Brooke… Please…”
Brooke’s skin began to tingle pleasantly at the urgency in Tess’s pleas. She grazed over the tip of Tess’s nipple before capturing it between her teeth lightly. Tess cried out, and Brooke replied by lifting her hand to attend to Tess’s other heaving breast.
“Brooke…You… What are you…”
Brooke had become lost to the sensation of Tess beneath her. She loved the way Tess moved, the sound of Tess’s voice—raspy and desperate. The sound alone stoked a simmering fire in Brooke, one that Brooke was certain would consume them both before the night was through. She felt Tess’s fingertips comb through her hair. Tess suddenly pulled Brooke what seemed impossibly closer. Brooke complied with Tess’s request and continued to tease Tess relentlessly. Tess’s hips were arching in an attempt to make contact with Brooke. Brooke moved her thigh to rest between Tess’s legs. She gasped at the warmth that greeted her and pressed herself against Tess’s center.
For a moment, Brooke was unsure if she could maintain the will to move slowly. Tess’s movements were becoming demanding. Brooke struggled to keep control. She gentled her touch and lifted herself slightly to look into Tess’s eyes. Brooke smiled knowingly at Tess. She placed a tender kiss on Tess’s lips—a silent promise that she would fall into Tess as willingly as Tess was seeking her.
Brooke’s hand wandered down Tess’s belly sensually. She let her fingertips brush faintly across Tess’s need. She watched as Tess threw her head back in anticipation. Brooke’s tongue bathed Tess’s neck, leaving a steady, deliberate trail down Tess’s front, tasting the flesh beneath it with abandon. She moved her left hand behind Tess’s back and pulled Tess close just as her fingers tenderly entered Tess.
“Brooke!”
“Feel me,” Brooke whispered hoarsely. She kept an even, gentle pace in and out of her lover, teasing Tess deliberately.
Tess reached for Brooke’s neck and pulled Brooke down to her, capturing Brooke’s mouth in a searing kiss. She fought Brooke for dominance and Brooke pulled away.
“Brooke…”
“Feel me,” Brooke repeated.
“I want to feel you,” Tess moaned in frustration.
Brooke smiled. She had no doubt that Tess was beginning to become desperate, not for release, but for an opportunity to touch Brooke. Brooke loved that about Tess. Tess always sought Brooke out when they made love. That reality had always made Brooke feel desired and loved. She understood Tess’s need. It had always been the same for Brooke when Tess took control. While Brooke wanted to submit and relax under Tess’s touch, she ached to connect with Tess—to touch Tess. It made their lovemaking euphoric.
“Tess,” Brooke began. “I am going to make love to you right now. I want to feel you, only you. That’s what I need.”
Tess was moving dangerously close to letting go. She could feel a light quivering beginning to gain momentum in her legs, and a familiar warmth in her belly had started to spread in time with pleasant tingles that traveled up and down her back. So many sensations and emotions were coursing through her, that Tess could not seem to separate one from another. Tess’s longing to touch Brooke was surpassed by only one thing—her desire to give Brooke what Brooke needed. She sucked in a ragged breath and relaxed beneath Brooke’s touch.
Tess’s wordless reply sent Brooke spinning. She watched Tess’s face as Tess’s lips parted. Brooke felt Tess’s hips begin to rotate sensually, meeting Brooke’s touch softly rather than with the urgency of moments before. Tess’s hands fell up and down Brooke’s back lovingly now. Brooke listened to the offbeat sighs that accompanied Tess’s shallow breaths. She looked down at Tess, a feeling of completion and awe running through her veins.
Slowly, Brooke began to rain kisses back down Tess’s body until she reached Tess’s center. She allowed Tess to dictate the pace of her fingers, following the steady sway of Tess’s hips. Brooke sighed at the first taste of Tess. Tess lifted her hips slightly, and Brooke immediately lost any ability to think. She traced delicate patterns with her tongue around Tess’s center, playfully dipping and gently flicking back and forth.
Tess’s body began to hum. She was positive that she could hear her body, that Brooke must be able to hear her body calling out in need. The warmth of Brooke’s mouth as it searched Tess’s need in time with the constant but tender thrusts of Brooke’s fingers inside her, had swiftly lifted Tess into an expected crescendo. It was the forceful build that heralded the chorus in their duet. She reached for Brooke desperately, her fingers pressing into the flesh of Brooke’s shoulders, begging Brooke to keep her steady amid the dizzying sensations and sounds that filled her senses.
Brooke struggled to keep hold of Tess. She pulled Tess closer to her just as Tess’s body began to shudder violently.
“Brooke!” Tess screamed her wife’s name.
The sound of Tess’s cry carried Brooke over an unexpected threshold. Just as Brooke felt Tess’s body begin to relax, she was taken by surprise by Tess flipping their positions. Tess’s strength still surprised Brooke at times. She had learned early on in her relationship with Tess that Tess was a determined woman. Tess was strong in the softest of ways. She was compassionate, but she could also be incredibly commanding. What might have seemed like polarizing characteristics to some, served as an intoxicating compliment in Tess. Brooke admired her wife. She admired Tess’s gentility, and she
marveled at Tess’s tenacity. This moment was a reminder of both.
Tess pressed her hand down on Brooke’s abdomen to hold her in place. She had felt Brooke’s trembling above her. Without warning, Tess’s lips had met Brooke’s need, first placing a soft kiss before quickly following with a tender but forceful exploration of Brooke’s center. Tess delighted in Brooke’s immediate reaction. Brooke’s hips bucked, and she threw her head back. Tess did not intend to tease Brooke—not tonight. Tonight she sought to relieve the ache she knew had been building in Brooke from their first kiss that evening.
“Tess,” Brooke choked on the name.
Tess swirled her tongue around Brooke’s center and then allowed it to dance over the small point that seemed to cry out for her attention. In an instant, Brook’s body began to quake violently.
Brooke was taken by surprise by the ferocity of her release. Tess was not allowing her to pull back. Just as Brooke had begun to feel her body settle, Tess had entered her and lifted her again.
“What… Tess… What are you…”
Tess continued to draw out Brooke’s release, delighting in the sensations it produced in her own body. She felt her core tighten as Brooke’s release continued, and a faint series of ripples coursed through her. Gently and slowly, she released Brooke. Tess kissed a pathway up Brooke’s body until their lips met in a tender kiss.
“If Davey’s antics are going to earn me that kind of evening,” Tess teased, “maybe I should encourage him instead of looking to discipline him.”
Brooke chuckled. She pulled Tess into her arms and kissed the top of Tess’s head. “You know it was your lasagna that provoked that, don’t you?” she joked.
Tess playfully slapped Brooke’s stomach. “Really? That’s all it takes, huh?”
“Pretty much,” Brooke admitted with a laugh.
“You could have let me in on that secret a couple of years ago,” Tess replied.
“I could have.”
“Here I thought it was the mint chocolate chip ice cream I kept stocked that did the trick.”
Brooke pulled Tess up to her and kissed her soundly.
“What was that for?” Tess asked.
Brooke looked into Tess’s eyes and sighed. “It’s been a crazy few weeks. I missed you,” she told Tess honestly.
Tess smiled. “I missed you too,” she said before falling back into Brooke’s arms.
“Tess?”
“Hum?”
“Promise me something?” Brooke asked.
“Anything.”
“Promise me you will always remember that I love you.”
Tess nestled against Brooke. She understood Brooke better than anyone in the world. Brooke would always need to busy herself at times. And, Brooke would always worry that at some point, Tess would believe Brooke had fallen out of love. Every so often, even amid the connection they shared, the commitment they had made, and the family they continued to build, Brooke needed to remind Tess, and Brooke needed Tess to reassure her.
“I know you do, love,” Tess said. “And, I love you. Don’t you forget that either,” she told Brooke. “You might drive me to a large glass of wine every now and again,” Tess cracked. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Brooke closed her eyes in contentment, knowing that Tess’s words were true. They were more than lovers, more than spouses, more than friends. Somehow, they were all of those things to each other.
“So? How often do I get lasagna now?” Brooke asked.
Tess laughed. “Depends on how often I need that glass of wine,” Tess returned. She felt Brooke’s light chuckling against her and closed her eyes. Maybe we will have to institute an Italian night.
CHAPTER THREE
“You okay?” Tess poked her head into the bedroom. Brooke was sitting on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands. “Brooke?”
Brooke didn’t answer. Tess sighed and made her way to sit beside Brooke. She gently caressed Brooke’s back in reassurance for several moments before speaking again.
“Brooke,” Tess spoke quietly. “Whatever happens, we will be okay,” she assured Brooke. Brooke nodded. Tess lifted Brooke’s face to look at her. She smiled and shook her head affectionately. “Stop worrying, love,” Tess said.
Brooke nodded unconvincingly. “I just…”
“We’ll know in an hour,” Tess said. “And, whatever the answer is, we will go from there. You know as well as anyone that couples often have to try for a long time before they succeed. And, they get to do it the old fashioned way,” Tess said with a playful wink. She kissed Brooke’s cheek. “We’d have been there the first year we were together if that was a possibility,” she teased Brooke.
Brooke finally smiled genuinely. That is probably true. “It’s just,” Brooke began and then fell silent.
“It’s just what?” Tess prodded gently.
Brooke sighed again. “I just have had this feeling that…Well, I think it is…”
Tess smiled. Brooke had already had several blood tests, all confirming a pregnancy. The issue at hand was making certain that any pregnancy was developing normally. Tess could not explain it, but she felt sure that they would receive good news when they visited Rachel. She also understood Brooke’s apprehension. After the disappointment of Brooke’s miscarriage, Tess had been cautious in her dialogue with Brooke. She tried to reassure Brooke and be positive without building Brooke’s hopes up unrealistically. Tess had told Brooke many times that she would be more than willing to carry their children. Brooke had always wanted children, and Tess knew that Brooke desperately wanted to have the experience of carrying one of their children. She kissed Brooke on the cheek.
“Come on,” Tess stood and offered Brooke her hand. “Let’s go and get this waiting over with.”
Brooke accepted Tess’s hand and looked at Tess nervously.
Tess pulled Brooke to her feet. “It will be okay,” she promised Brooke.
“Tess?”
“Hum?”
“If it’s not…”
Tess smiled. “It will be,” Tess said assuredly.
Brooke was caught off guard by the confidence in Tess’s statement. Tess had not indicated she had any feelings at all regarding what the result would be. Tess saw the surprise on Brooke’s face and laughed.
“Let’s go,” Tess repeated her instruction. “If this goes the way I think it is going to, it’s going to be a long night,” she said with a suggestive wink.
Brooke smiled in spite of her nervousness and followed Tess from the room. I hope she’s right.
***
“Did you just get here?” Tess asked her mother-in-law over the phone. She was grateful that Brooke’s mother was coming to spend a couple of days. The kids were about to start April vacation, Tess had a birthday party to get ready for, her mind was preoccupied with the impending visit with Rachel, and she was feeling a bit unsteady about all of it.
“Headed toward the school now,” Rebecca Campbell replied. “How is she doing?”
Tess looked down the hallway toward Brooke’s office. “You know her—pacing,” Tess chuckled. “She asked if I’d mind if she checked on a few things while we are here.”
“How are you?” Brooke’s mother asked.
“Me?” Tess questioned.
Rebecca laughed. “Yes, you.”
“I’m okay,” Tess said honestly. “Just worried about her. Her hopes are up in the clouds, and she is terrified at the same time—I can tell.”
Rebecca listened carefully to the tension in her daughter-in-law’s voice. Tess had been a pillar of strength for Brooke after Brooke’s miscarriage. She doubted that Tess had shed many tears in front of Brooke. What Rebecca had never shared with Brooke was that Tess had shed plenty of tears in Rebecca Campbell’s arms. Rebecca understood that most of Tess’s pain was for Brooke. She didn’t doubt that Tess had felt the loss just as deeply, but she was positive that what broke Tess’s heart the most was witnessing the pain in Brooke.
Brooke was
deeply sensitive. Rebecca suspected that the only person who actually understood her daughter better than she did was Tess. She also guessed that Tess was concerned about the twins. After the unexpected loss of Brooke’s pregnancy, Brooke and Tess had decided to be forthright with the twins about their plans. Dani prattled on about a new sibling constantly. It seemed that she was looking forward to becoming someone’s big sister. Davey had remained markedly quiet on the subject. Juggling everyone’s emotions, expectations, and needs fell to Tess in many ways. Rebecca also understood that. It was something Brooke had confided to Rebecca that gave her concern for Tess.
“You’re worried about Tess?” Rebecca asked.
“Of course, I am. Why is that surprising?” Brooke wondered.
“It’s not, really. I talked to Tess this morning. She seemed in good spirits,” Rebecca observed.
Brooke sighed. “Yeah, I know she does. I also know her.”
“Brooke, Tess will be okay no matter what happens tomorrow. You both will be.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s not easy for her,” Brooke said. Rebecca waited for her daughter to continue. “She has everyone to worry about all of the time. Not just the kids. She’s worried about me; I can tell. I haven’t done a great job of convincing her that I am okay.”
“Maybe because you are not okay,” Rebecca offered.
“Maybe not. But, that’s not fair to her. Sometimes I wonder if this was the best idea.”
“Brooke, are you having second thoughts about a baby?” Rebecca began to worry.
“No,” Brooke chuckled nervously. “About me being the one to carry our baby—maybe,” Brooke clarified.
“Brooke…”
“No, Mom, just listen. Tess is Mom, you know?” Brooke said. Rebecca smiled as she listened to Brooke’s explanation. “She takes care of all of us. I’m me. Know what I mean? I mean, I think I’m an okay parent. I think so. I’m not Mom. I’m not great at all that Mom stuff. That’s Tess.”
Late Arrivals (Special Delivery Book 4) Page 4