Bliss

by Fiona Zedde

  Sinclair climbed out of the jeep, unlocked the front door and walked inside, all without once looking back. It was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 16

  'unter didn't call. Sinclair prowled around the house .with her camera, taking photo after photo of the backyard, of Nikki's garden, even of the unsympathetic telephone. People called, but no one she wanted to talk to. Yesterday, she thought that she had good reasons for not giving in to her feelings for Hunter, but today she couldn't think of what those reasons were. When Nikki and Xavier came home in the late afternoon with both their faces smeared by chocolate ice cream, Sinclair was still standing in the yard staring listlessly at the garden.

  "What are you doing?"

  Sinclair waved her camera at them. "Taking some pictures."

  "Is the yard that depressing?"

  "What? Oh, no." Sinclair shook her head. "I was just thinking." She dredged up a smile for Xavier. "I don't suppose you brought me any ice cream, huh?"

  "We didn't think you'd be home." Nikki's smile teased her. "Leave the flowers alone and come in and help us make dinner. You're just making them sad by hovering over them like that."

  Sinclair wrinkled her nose at her stepmother but followed her into the house anyway. "What are we cooking?"

  "I don't know. Let's look in the cupboard and see what's here. "

  Xavier went off to wash his hands and face while the two women headed into the kitchen. Nikki washed her face at the kitchen sink and used a paper towel to pat it dry.

  "How was dinner last night?" she asked.

  "The food was very good."

  Nikki peeked at Sinclair around the door of an open cupboard. "Was Hunter?"

  Sinclair felt her face grow hot but didn't rise to the bait. "Not especially, but she was pleasant company nevertheless."

  "Should I make enough for her this evening?"

  "I don't think so. She has a lot of work to do at home."

  "Excuses, excuses." Nikki pouted. "I don't think she likes us anymore."

  "You know they say that too much thinking isn't good for you." Sinclair grinned then picked up her camera from the dining table. "Let me go put up my camera then you can just order me around the kitchen. Tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it."

  "Is that what you told Hunter today?" Nikki called out behind her as she walked down the hall to her room.

  "Funny. Very funny."

  By the time Victor came home two hours later dinner was already done. His plate lay warming in the oven and his daughter, wife, and son sat on the living room floor playing checkers and eating their dessert. He eyed the gigantic slice of rum cake sitting, half eaten, between Nikki and Sinclair.

  "Did you leave any for me?" he asked and kissed his wife on the forehead.

  "Nope." She tilted her mouth up for a real kiss. "But there's plenty of food for you in the kitchen."

  When he left for the kitchen Nikki turned to Sinclair. "He doesn't like rum cake. Says it's too fruity."

  Sinclair laughed. "He probably doesn't want to contaminate his rum with the cake."

  "That's very possible," Nikki agreed, wrinkling her nose with amusement.

  "King me, Clair! King me!" Xavier waved his triumphant red checker in the air at Sinclair.

  His sister stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine, but I don't have to like it."

  Sinclair went to bed early. At least early for her. After Nikki and her father abandoned her for their own bed, she left Xavier asleep on the pullout sofa and turned off the television.

  In her room, she closed the door and undressed before slipping under the thin sheet. Hunter still hadn't called. Sinclair sighed and stared out the window, preparing herself for a restless night.

  A noise at the window woke her up. Sinclair's eyes snapped open in time to see a dark shape climb over the windowsill and into the bedroom.

  "What are you doing here?" She sat up, watching Hunter slip into the bed next to her.

  "I've been thinking about you." Hunter shrugged off her shirt. "I can't get any work done. I needed to see you."

  Her pants and underwear quickly followed, falling away to the foot of the bed. Shadows of her nakedness appeared to Sinclair, the smooth line of breast and rib, a bare throat, the shape of lips settling close.

  "I was going to wait until you made the first move, until you knew that you were ready. But, you know what? You leave in two weeks. And at the rate that you're going, neither of us will get laid this year." She pressed Sinclair into the bed, her body taut with the excitement of her words. Sinclair gasped. "I know you worry that they'll hear you." Hunter pulled something from one of her discarded pockets. A bit of silk. "So I brought something for you." Her breath fluttered against Sinclair's mouth, warm and teasing. "If you don't want it, if you say no, then I'll put it away." Her hips pressed into Sinclair's. "I'll leave."

  Over the throbbing of her pulse and the need singing through her body, Sinclair heard the threat and panicked. "No." She grabbed Hunter's arm. "Stay."

  The first kiss was an explosion of want, of previously compressed desire expanded suddenly, catching Sinclair in a wave so powerful that it stole her breath. She clawed the thin sheet from between their bodies, anxious to feel all of Hunter, not just her provocative heat through the cotton. Soft, mewling noises left Sinclair's throat. It seemed like she'd waited so long for this. She couldn't understand why she'd denied herself this satisfaction of desire, this vicious pain.

  Her mouth opened to devour and to claim the dark woman. Hunter's thigh fell between hers, pressing against the dampness that had flooded her the instant she'd seen her face at the window. The thigh flexed and she shuddered. Hunter's mouth burned her body, her mouth, her throat, the tight peaks of her breasts. She gasped and moved against the heaviness above her, sliding her palms down the sleek, muscular back and restless hips. The silk brushed her mouth.

  "Should I tie you up now?" There was raw laughter in the other woman's voice, a promise that Sinclair wouldn't be able to stay quiet tonight.

  They whispered softly to each other, their words a mere brush of breath against flesh, a movement of lips.

  "Is that the only way you can think of to control me?"

  "Control isn't the word tonight, sweetheart. I want to fuck you. Believe it or not I was pretty content without sex until you came along. But when I saw this ass-" she grabbed Sinclair's behind and lifted it hard against her thigh. Through Sinclair's breathless moan, she continued, "I knew I didn't want to be celibate anymore."

  Sinclair widened her legs against the thrust of Hunter's thigh, gasping her passion into her lover's sagescented hair. Her body swam with sensation, a liquid rush that bathed her in heat, tingled her clit, made her breasts ache. A fine mist of sweat appeared on her skin.

  "Then ... stop talking about it and do it."

  "I don't want to break you on your first go-round."

  Another trembling gasp broke through Sinclair's laughter. "You don't know what ... I can ... handle."

  "We're about to find out, aren't we?"

  Hunter covered Sinclair's mouth with her own, swallowing the soft, panting gasps as her thigh pumped against her lover's dripping pussy. Sinclair's belly clenched at the frantic stimulation. "Inside. Come inside."

  "Not yet, baby. Not yet." Hunter's fingers plucked at her nipples, squeezing the hard points in rhythm with her thigh's movements until Sinclair grasped at her back, digging her fingers into the damp skin. Her back arched and she shuddered in Hunter's embrace, falling from the dizzying peak of orgasm with her mouth held firmly by her lover's.

  As Sinclair's body quieted she noticed Hunter's hawklike stare, the brown eyes fierce on her wet mouth.

  "You want something from me?" Sinclair asked.

  "I wonder whatever gave you that idea."

  "I don't know." Sinclair slid a hand between them to cup Hunter's pussy. Her fingers were immediately wet. She remembered what the woman tasted like, the mingled flavors of mango and salted honey. "Maybe this?"


  Hunter groaned and pressed herself into Sinclair's hand. Again.

  "Put those lips right here," Sinclair ordered, tapping an index finger against her own mouth.

  "I thought you'd never ask." Hunter slid up Sinclair's body to crouch over her face.

  "Well, technically, I didn't." Though she was ready to beg if Hunter had refused her. The sight of her woman's flesh, with its inner maze of pink and damp, made her wet her lips.

  "If you're not going to put your mouth to good use, then I suggest you shut-" Hunter swallowed the rest of her words at the first touch of Sinclair's mouth.

  The first taste of her was like a mouthful of clean, ocean air. Sinclair dove down for more. Deeper inside, Hunter was more substantial, like the flesh of the mango she'd eaten yesterday, wet and ripe. Juice dripped down her chin. Sinclair's tongue slid faster over the slick flesh as dark thighs widened and Hunter's hand cupped the back of her head.

  "Slow down," she gasped. "I don't think that I can-" Sinclair swirled her tongue through the moist folds and held on, grabbing the clenched ass cheeks as Hunter's flesh began to pulsate against her mouth. The dark woman gasped again and tightened her fingers in Sinclair's hair, pushing her into the contracting flesh as she growled low in her throat.

  "Damn." Hunter's thighs released their vice hold from around Sinclair's ears as she fell gently backward. Her hair flooded over Sinclair's belly and thighs. "That wasn't exactly my sexiest moment, huh?"

  "Actually, that's the nicest compliment anyone's ever paid me."

  "Sweet of you to say."

  "It's OK." Sinclair rubbed her cheek against Hunter's thigh and smiled at the delicate shudders that vibrated the muscles under her skin. "You'll make it up to me."

  "I will, I swear." She stretched voluptuously against Sinclair, wriggling her hips and back in delight. "That felt so damn good, though." She sighed and relieved the other woman of her weight, sliding over to lie beside her on the bed.

  Sinclair's body tingled in the aftermath of pleasing Hunter. She felt swollen again, wet and ready. "I hope you're not tired." Her long fingers traced Hunter's face in the semidarkness, touching the soft cheeks and the curved lips that opened for her.

  "Hm, not at all. I was just thinking the same thing about you.

  "What do you have in mind?"

  "I can show you better than I can tell."

  "I'm all yours."

  "Promises, promises." Hunter chuckled softly in the dark. "Sit here."

  With Sinclair sitting on the edge of the bed, Hunter tied the silk cloth around her mouth, then knelt between her spread thighs. She leaned closer until her nose brushed the untidy curls at the top of the other woman's thighs. She drew in another breath, and kissed her. The touch of Hunter's lips was soft, a light brush against the sensitive hairs. The second kiss touched Sinclair lower, made her breath catch and hold. When Hunter lifted her head, her mouth came away wet.

  "I thought the first cum would make me less hungry for you"-she licked her lips clean-"but it didn't." Hunter spread her thighs wide and slid even closer, draping one long leg over her shoulder and down her back. When her mouth touched Sinclair again her whole body jumped to attention.

  Hunter's tongue stroked Sinclair with a firm, delicious pressure that sent her body into a sensual shock. Goose bumps peppered her skin, her breath shallowed, then grew loud and ragged under the silk scarf. Hunter held Sinclair apart and used her tongue to extract every ounce of sensation from her. Sinclair's legs spread wider. Hunter's head moved like a snake between her thighs, undulating with each movement of her tongue. Sinclair was warmer, then burning. Heat sprung from between her thighs to engulf and enfold her, making her legs burn and spread as wide as they could for Hunter. Slim hands hovered over the dark head, wanting to touch her rough silk hair, to spread it over her thighs, but pleasure rose up and caught her in the throat. Sinclair curled her hands in the sheets and clenched her teeth against the mewling gasps that still tumbled free.

  Sinclair's breasts felt heavy and tender. She wanted Hunter's hands on them, to feel the dark woman against the swollen flesh of her nipples.

  With a soft moan from beneath the silk, she grabbed Hunter's hands and put them on her breasts, panting softly as she hurled through the flames with Hunter's tongue and lips moving over her aching pussy with deep, indelicate slurps.

  The springs of the mattress squeaked and groaned as her hips surged toward Hunter's mouth, begging for more. She felt sweet, overflowing with sticky cotton candy mess as her lover feasted, ate her up until she wanted to cry out, to scream, but she didn't. The silk was thin. Trapped in her own silence, Sinclair could hear the noises that Hunter made, the slurp and lick and release, that kiss and suck of lips, the soft, soft float of tongue across her clit that made her feel like fine velvet that was about to get wet.

  Her hips moved mindlessly, bucking against the hungry mouth pushing her to a place that was like pain, but much, much sweeter. Her whole body was hot and sweating and focused on that one spot that Hunter devoted herself to so well. The dark woman was like a kitten with a bowl of milk, lapping her up, licking her cream-slicked thighs then back again to her throbbing pussy where she needed it most. Her body was raw and tight with sensation. It wanted. It wanted so much.

  Sinclair pushed against Hunter's mouth and grabbed her hair. With a low groan, Hunter pulled Sinclair hard against her face, tumbling pillows and sheets to the floor. Sinclair dropped back against the bed, gasping. Hunter's tongue plunged inside her and the bed began to shake. She fell over the edge screaming behind the silk.

  Hunter left before dawn just as the rest of the house was beginning to stir. "Call me later," she whispered to a limp Sinclair as she disappeared out the window and into the soft gray light.

  The exhausted woman could only nod before rolling over and falling back deeply asleep. At some point Nikki knocked on the door asking Sinclair if she wanted to go to work with her. Sinclair could only utter a sleepy moan. Nikki must have taken it for a no, because she made a funny noise of her own and left Sinclair alone until much later in the day.

  Sinclair woke up feeling tender and bruised. With a low groan she reached over to touch the source of that ache, and when her clutching hand encountered only rumpled bedsheets, she grimaced in disappointment and sat up. Why stay in bed then? She stumbled to the bathroom to begin her day.

  "Did you have company last night?" Nikki asked Sinclair as the two of them sat on the verandah sharing an early evening drink. Xavier sat nearby, puzzling over his homework.

  "Why do you ask?"

  "I thought I heard noises coming from your room last night."

  Sinclair adjusted the air in her throat. "Hunter came over for a bit."

  "Ah, I see."

  She probably did see, and all too clearly. Sinclair felt her face heat up, but she strove for nonchalance.

  "Are we going to have her over for dinner tonight, then?"

  "You're obsessing about this a bit much, aren't you?" Sinclair finally looked up from her examination of her fingers. "Did she come over when she was seeing Lydia?"

  "Not really. But then Lydia doesn't live here. Last month she went with us to Dunn's River Falls, though. Even Della was there."

  Sinclair winced at the thought of how Della and Lydia must have gotten along. "I can invite her over and see what she says."

  "Tell her to come on the weekend so I'll have enough time to cook up something nice." Nikki's eyes twinkled.

  "I'll be sure to pass on the information."

  The sound of a car stopping at the front gate made them both look up. It was Lydia's Cadillac. They watched Lydia get out of the car and walk up the gravel-lined footpath. The line of flesh between her tight black jeans and blouse played peekaboo as she stepped closer.

  "'Evening," she called out.

  "Hey, there," the two women chorused.

  Xavier grinned up from his pile of books. "Hey, Lydi."

  "You two look cozy." She looked at the two women as if a conspira
cy was afoot.

  "Is there a reason we shouldn't?" Sinclair asked.

  "Not really, it's just that it usually takes Nikki at least a year to warm up to people." She sat down on the top step and leaned back against the small stone column. "I might have gotten her to talk to me in more than two word sentences after six months. It's been less than three weeks and you two are acting like best friends."

  "I like Sinclair's company." Nikki smiled at the American. "And it's not like I have a whole bunch of time to get to know her."

  Sinclair shrugged and drank deeply from her glass of carrot juice. Lydia looked like she was in the mood for a confrontation. But Sinclair wasn't. That would come soon enough when she had to tell her about Hunter.

  "Hm." Lydia made a vague noise of agreement then glanced up at Sinclair as if trying to figure something out.

  "You want some juice?" Nikki offered from her chair.

  "Sure, thank you. But no ice though."

  When Nikki left for the kitchen Lydia turned to Sinclair. "I haven't seen you in a while, big sister. Did I scare you off with that craziness at Phyllis and Nance's?"

  "Nope. I don't scare very easily. You just haven't come to get me. Remember, I'm not exactly mobile while I'm here."

  "I'm surprised that you haven't rented a car."

  Sinclair shook her head. "I don't drive."

  Lydia laughed. "There you have it then, a really good excuse why I haven't seen you these past few days." She looked up as Nikki came back with her glass of carrot juice. "Thanks, Nik." She took an obligatory sip, then set the glass beside her on the tile. "So what have you been up to then?"

  From the corner of her eye, Sinclair saw Nikki perk up. "Taking photos of the island, mostly. Going with Nikki to work in the mornings then hanging out with Hunter until it's time for her to go home."

  "When does the fun happen?" She turned to Nikki. "No offense, Nik."