by M. Ullrich
Caroline thought back to their previous night, begging Emma to make her come and they weren’t even touching. She felt herself grow wetter. “Make me come,” she demanded.
“Already?” Emma placed a gentle kiss to Caroline.
“Make me come, now.”
Emma gripped Caroline’s hand and sucked on her clit with vigor. She slid her finger in and out quickly, curling it just so before diving back in again.
Caroline called out Emma’s name loudly as she climaxed. The force of her orgasm came as a surprise, and her back bowed off the mattress. Caroline’s body was racked with pleasure as Emma’s mouth and fingers worked her over. She kept moving her hips, unwilling to let go even as her first orgasm was subsiding.
“Don’t stop,” Caroline said, the words sounding weak between her heavy breaths. The only response she felt was Emma shaking her head between her thighs. Caroline rolled her hips, desperately seeking more pleasure from Emma’s tongue. A second orgasm was right there, within reach, she just needed a little more.
Emma must’ve sensed her struggle, because she pulled out and replaced her finger with her tongue. She sank it into Caroline as deeply as she could and groaned. She stopped everything and moved up to lean over Caroline. Emma licked Caroline’s parted lips and reentered her with two fingers.
At the pleasurable burn of being stretched, Caroline clenched her inner muscles around Emma’s fingers. She leaned up and kissed Emma deeply, sucking on her tongue and enjoying the taste of herself on Emma’s mouth. She knew she’d come again in just a few short pumps, and she wanted to savor this last minute of connection. The firm press of Emma’s palm against her clit finally drove her into oblivion. She clamped her thighs around Emma’s hand and held her tightly, panting against Emma’s lips.
“You are lovely and sexy,” Emma said quietly. She traced Caroline’s brow and the shell of her ear. “Smart and incredibly thoughtful. This week with you has been one of the best I’ve had in a long time.”
A tear ran down Caroline’s temple. She opened her eyes and studied Emma’s smiling face. She knew the reality just as well as Emma did. They had no guarantees they’d have their happily ever after in the real world, but that didn’t matter. Not now and not in this space. She relaxed her legs and whimpered as Emma withdrew her fingers. Neither made a move to separate, even though Caroline couldn’t feel her feet and Emma’s position of half on and half off the bed was awkward. The moment felt more significant than their discomfort.
“If nothing else, I need you to know one thing, Caroline.” Emma’s voice grew deeper. “Your heart, it does work like mine. It always has and always will.”
Caroline’s chin quivered, and she bit her lip to keep from crying, but her eyes welled with tears anyway. She kissed Emma with a renewed ferocity. She felt her breasts and her stomach, the plane of her back and her shoulders. She needed to act to keep herself from speaking because she didn’t trust herself. She didn’t expect the intensity of what she felt for Emma, and she was scared of putting a name to it in such a short time. And fear had no place in this moment.
Emma stood abruptly and chuckled. “We should actually get in bed.”
“You read my mind.” Caroline scooted up the bed and crawled under the covers. She pulled them back slightly and beckoned to Emma. She watched Emma strip away her pants, nearly salivating at how her boy-short panties hugged her upper thighs. The thin material clung to Emma’s skin, her cleft clearly visible to Caroline.
“Enjoying the view?” Emma said with a knowing smile.
“Definitely, but I’d enjoy having you against me even more.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Without those.” Caroline pointed to Emma’s boy shorts.
Emma removed her last article of clothing and tossed them behind her. She looked damn near predatory when she crawled up the mattress toward Caroline. She got under the covers and pulled Caroline on top of her.
Caroline’s stomach tightened at the feel of skin against skin. Emma felt unbelievably good under her. She put her thigh between Emma’s legs and gasped when she felt Emma’s wetness spread across her thigh. Emma’s smooth skin glided effortlessly against Caroline as she moved her hips. Caroline leaned down and kissed her slowly. Their breasts rubbed together. Caroline started moving her own hips, her center against Emma’s thigh. She sighed.
Emma threw her head back when Caroline increased the pressure against her. “You’re insatiable,” she said with a giggle that transformed into a moan.
“I can’t help myself when I’m with you.” Caroline left open-mouthed kisses along Emma’s neck and bit at her pulse point. She took as much of Emma’s right breast into her mouth as she could. “I want to mark you,” Caroline said against the creamy skin. She was shocked by her desire to brand Emma, but wanting to share it with Emma was even more surprising. She froze and waited for Emma to respond.
Emma’s hips canted. “Please.”
Caroline bit down with force and licked the indentation left by her teeth. Emma increased the tempo of her hips, and her moans grew louder. Caroline bit down again, this time sucking on the skin to make it redden further. She moved her mouth to Emma’s nipple and treated it delicately. Emma must’ve enjoyed the contrast in touches because her movements became more erratic as Caroline traced her hardened nipple with the tip of her tongue.
“I’m coming,” Emma called out. She gripped Caroline’s ass and pulled her harder against her body.
The softest whimpers and mewls fell from Emma’s swollen lips as she came down. Caroline watched her mouth in awe as she chased her own pleasure against Emma’s flesh. A short but powerful orgasm struck her, and she collapsed onto Emma. Their sweat and heavy breaths mingled. No other sound was present in the room.
Emma traced soothing shapes along Caroline’s back and their hammering hearts began to calm.
Caroline struggled to keep her eyes open, but exhaustion and relaxation enveloped them. She didn’t want to sleep. She didn’t want to say good night to Emma because she knew good night would only lead to good-bye.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emma leaned against the balcony doorway with her back to the ocean. The sight in front of her was far more beautiful, and definitely more entertaining. She watched Caroline buzz around the room calling out various items from her mental checklist and a few from the actual one she clutched in her right hand. She tilted her head and examined the tie on Caroline’s resort robe, noticing it was very close to opening.
They had already spent most of the morning wrapped around one another in bed until they decided to eat breakfast, which was also done in bed. After a long and luxurious shower together, Caroline noticed checkout time was rapidly approaching. Emma stayed out of the way, but she wanted Caroline so badly. She sipped her coffee and willed the robe sash to come undone.
“Stop watching me like that,” Caroline said as she wound her phone charger cord around her hand.
Emma feigned innocence. “I’m just drinking my coffee on the balcony.”
“Your feet are still in the room, and I can feel your eyes on me.”
“Oh? What exactly does that feel like?”
Caroline sighed, but her smile belied any annoyance she showed. She threw a pair of sandals into her suitcase before facing Emma with her hand on her hip. Her robe was open enough to show the curve of her breast. “Like foreplay,” she said. “And we don’t have time for that because you have to pack.”
Emma stepped into the room and set down her coffee. “I pack very quickly. Some would even call me a professional.” She flexed her hands at her sides. She itched to get them on Caroline’s skin again. Emma hadn’t ever felt this type of connection and attraction. At least not that she could recall. She reached for the sash of Caroline’s robe, but Caroline stepped out of reach.
“Behave yourself and please pack. I’m starting to stress out about getting to the airport late and missing our flight—”
“That won’t happen. I’ve never missed a flight, at least n
ot due to my own tardiness.”
“But what if we did?”
Emma started to laugh, but she saw how serious Caroline was. She had to remind herself not everyone went through life with a laid-back attitude, and if she wanted things to work with Caroline, she’d have to learn to talk problems through instead of laughing them off. She walked up to Caroline and placed her hands on her shoulders.
“If, for any reason, we miss a flight, then we’ll get on the next one. However, that will not happen because I’ll be packed up in no time.” She gripped Caroline’s collar and ran her hands down the front of her robe. When her hands came to the loose knot, she tightened it. “I’ll get started now.”
Caroline held on to Emma’s hands before she could walk away. “Well, hold on,” she said. “Maybe we can steal a minute or two.”
Emma felt herself starting to give in. Just one little kiss wouldn’t hurt, except it would. Because one little kiss would turn into two, and two kisses had led to an active night already. She gave Caroline a chaste kiss. “When we get packed up, I’m all yours for a stolen moment.” Emma kept her face close to Caroline’s, cherishing her scent and softness, before shutting down the temptation and stepping away. She started to pack her things at her usual pace but quickly realized her bag was full and she still had a few things left to pack. When had her shopping grown out of control during the trip?
She checked over her shoulder to see if Caroline was near. “Hey, babe, you wouldn’t happen to have a little extra room in that gigantic suitcase of yours, would you? I have some clothes that still need to be packed and we are not leaving that toy box behind.”
“Help yourself.” Caroline laughed and waved to her suitcase, which lay open on the bed. “Babe. It’s funny how quickly that pet name stuck.”
“Especially since I only used it the first time to be a dick.”
“You did a lot of things those first couple of days to be a dick.”
Emma’s chest clenched with remorse. “I shouldn’t have acted like that, and I will keep apologizing for it.”
Caroline looked at Emma long and hard, her face twisted up in concentration. She balled a shirt up and tossed it into her suitcase with a hollow laugh. “None of this should’ve happened.”
Emma’s heart nearly stopped. She grabbed her small pile of clothes and brought them over to the suitcase as an excuse to get closer to Caroline. She needed to read her face, see what shade of brown her eyes were right then, and know she could touch her if a physical connection was needed. She fussed with the clothes. “What do you mean?”
Caroline walked to the open door of the balcony and looked out to the ocean. Her back was to Emma when she spoke. “I should’ve never been assigned to this trip after just being hired, and you should’ve never gotten yourself into this position in the first place.” She shot a playful glance over her shoulder to Emma, which lessened the chastising sting of her words. “We should’ve known what we were getting into with this retreat beforehand, and we both acted so poorly from the get-go.” Caroline turned and leaned back against the clean glass beside the open door.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Emma couldn’t believe it. She thought for sure they’d make it home before Caroline dumped her, but all it took was sharing a suitcase.
Caroline bowed her shaking head. “This is ridiculous.”
Emma’s breath grew shallow. She couldn’t see Caroline’s face or read her mood. “Don’t say that.” She needed a connection, so she rushed over and took Caroline’s hands.
“Like you don’t see it, too.”
Emma crouched in order to look in Caroline’s downcast eyes. She needed to say something, anything, to get Caroline to stop the conversation. “Caroline, I don’t—”
“Please stop,” Caroline said. Her eyes grew misty. “Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say. Don’t make me feel like some naïve schoolgirl who’s going on about fate bringing us together.”
Emma stood up straight. “Wait. What?”
“Forget I said anything.” Caroline started to step away, but Emma held her in place.
“I will do no such thing.” Emma held Caroline against the glass with her body. “Finish what you were saying.”
“I’ll sound stupid.”
“I promise you won’t.”
“You can’t make that promise because you don’t know what I was going to say.”
“I don’t, but I really thought you were going to say we had made a mistake and that we should’ve never happened. Who sounds stupid now?”
Caroline grabbed Emma’s face. “What I was trying to say is a lot of mishaps had to take place to bring us here and I’m really happy about it.”
“I’m going to kiss you,” Emma said. Just as her lips were about to touch Caroline’s, she stopped. “I’m also going to do more than kiss you.” Emma untied Caroline robe and parted it widely. She kissed her deeply before dropping to her knees. “Hold steady. I’m going to be very quick because we have a plane to catch.”
* * *
“You’d think it’d be easier the second time,” Caroline said as she forced her back into the seat. Their flight got delayed, and they were forced to taxi on the tarmac for forty-five minutes—a wait that only ramped up Caroline’s takeoff anxiety. “I’ve flown before, which means I know what to expect.” She turned to Emma, who was flipping through a style magazine. “Flying sucks.” Emma smirked and turned another page. Caroline faced forward while trying to focus on the positive. After takeoff, I’ll only have the landing to survive.
“Would you like a pep talk?” Emma licked her thumb and turned the page. “Or we could talk about where to go for our first date back home. There is a lovely little Thai place I’d love to take you to. They make the best iced tea—”
“Why do you like flying?” Caroline spoke to the back of the seat in front of her. “All these people crammed into a tin can.”
“It’s not exactly tin.”
“You know what I mean.” Caroline started tapping her foot. Her jeans felt too tight and her T-shirt felt suctioned on. “Anything can happen at any given moment to any of these people, and we’re thousands of feet in the air.”
Emma closed her magazine and tucked it into her bag slowly. She turned in her seat and took Caroline’s hand. After opening Caroline’s palm, Emma traced her storytelling lines. She smiled softly and said, “All of that is true. Anything can happen to anyone at any time. In a plane, in a car, or while you’re walking down the stairs after leaving my apartment tomorrow morning.” Emma winked.
Caroline’s chest loosened a fraction, and she closed her hand around Emma’s. “I know you’re right.”
“But aside from that, it’s normal to have a fear of flying. I barely tolerate it.”
Caroline felt like she was seeing Emma in a new light. “Really? But the way you were during our first flight and how cool you are now…”
Emma shrugged. “I’ve gotten used to it, yeah, but I don’t necessarily like it.” She looked around. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course.” Caroline searched Emma’s face for a hint to what the secret could be, even though she was about to find out anyway. “What is it?”
“I’m always afraid someone near me is going to throw up.”
“You mean like, get airsick?”
Emma nodded. “Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl. There’s no escaping the situation if it happens, and I think about it every time I fly.”
“Wow.” Caroline’s shoulders sank with relief. “And here I thought you hadn’t a care in the world.”
“I stress, too, but I just know how to manage it better.”
“What’s your secret?”
Emma held her mouth millimeters from Caroline’s. “Distractions,” she said, her breath hot against Caroline’s waiting lips. She pulled back abruptly. “Where’s your video games? Zelda would definitely get you through the final hour of this flight.”
Caroline grimaced and
smacked her forehead. “I packed it in my suitcase.” She wanted to whine and stomp her feet, but she was mindful of her fellow passengers and the sleeping baby three rows back. “I’m so stupid.”
“No, you’re not, you’re just a very methodical packer.”
Caroline grumbled. “And look where that got me.”
“Do you want one of my magazines?”
“No,” Caroline said petulantly. “Reading doesn’t distract me very well. I tried that on the way here.”
“Music?”
“Right now I’d feel better if I can hear what’s going on around me.”
“That settles it, then,” Emma said. She raised her hand to get the attention of a flight attendant. “Excuse me?” A middle-aged man with a blinding smile approached. “May I have a blanket, please? It’s a little chilly.” Emma rubbed her arms while Caroline watched her curiously.
Caroline waited until the attendant was out of earshot. “You complained about how warm you were the whole time we were on the tarmac.”
“I did, yes.” Emma took the blanket from the attendant with a smile Caroline instantly recognized as the one which often accompanied a scheme. “Thank you,” she said with a sugary sweet tone as she handed him her company card.
Caroline found herself being covered the moment the attendant walked away. “Wh-what are you doing?” She looked down at the thin blanket now draped across her arms and legs. She didn’t move.
Emma pulled a portion of the blanket over to cover her arm against Caroline. “I am going to distract you and relax you simultaneously.”
Caroline laughed. “What are you going to do? Tuck me in and sing me a lullaby?” She felt Emma’s hand travel up her thigh. “Oh.”
Emma put her lips to Caroline’s ear. “Sit back and spread your legs.”
Caroline did as she was told.
“And most importantly, be very quiet.” Emma popped the button of Caroline’s jeans open.
Caroline was impressed by how dexterous Emma was, but all thoughts flew from her mind the moment Emma’s finger dipped under her panties. Her heart started to pound. She tried to control her breathing as she spoke quietly. “We’re on a plane.”