“That’s exactly what I want. Just follow my lead.”
And so Marielle did. Beads of sweat covered her chest and her forehead, and she didn’t think she could last much longer. The words that came out of Audrey’s mouth next almost sent her over the edge.
“Think of how it would feel if I had my fingers inside you while you keep playing with yourself. Do you want that?”
In that moment, there was nothing Marielle wanted more. She needed to feel Audrey inside her, to be filled up with her. “Yes, God yes. Please.”
Audrey reached under the sheet and easily entered Marielle, first with one finger, then two. Marielle tensed up and squeezed her thighs together, her eyes closing so hard her whole face seemed to contort.
Audrey stopped moving but remained inside her. With her face directly above Marielle’s, she spoke softly. “Look at me, Marielle. Stay with me. It’s okay.”
Marielle opened her eyes and stared into blue. Audrey kissed her without losing eye contact. Slowly, Marielle took deeper, slower breaths, concentrating first on Audrey’s eyes, then her pink lips and finally her fingers still between her legs. Sex before this moment, what she felt or didn’t feel, thought or didn’t think, the doubts and frustrations, none of it mattered. It was Audrey in her bed. It was Audrey who was half-naked beside her, making love to her, penetrating her. And she definitely wanted this woman to touch her. She wanted to give herself entirely to this woman. She was wet and trembling with need, right now, for this woman.
As the thought took over not only her mind but her body, Marielle closed her eyes in surrender and new arousal rushed down to coat Audrey’s fingers, which were still inside her. She heard a small gasp escape Audrey before her fingers slid deeper into her. Marielle took a fistful of Audrey’s hair at the back of her neck and opened her eyes, knowing the woman’s blue eyes would be on her.
“Oh, you do want me, don’t you?” Audrey’s whisper was undoubtedly sexy but also betrayed her still-too-recent insecurities.
Marielle answered the question by grabbing her lover’s wrist and forcing her yet deeper into her wetness with a throaty “more.”
Audrey moaned and kept moving inside lovely depths as Marielle released her wrist to resume touching herself. With her other hand, the one at the back of Audrey’s neck, she guided her lover down to a full breast, and Audrey whimpered when she finally put a hard nipple into her mouth and suckled on it. She curved her fingers inside Marielle, and that was all it took for Marielle’s long-awaited orgasm to begin roaring. This time when all of her muscles contracted, it was in the most delightful way, and Marielle welcomed the spasms.
She was slowly coming down from her incredible high when she felt Audrey’s tongue on her neck and chest, and her wonderful fingers come out of her only to move higher to her clitoris. The bundle of nerves slid between two expert fingers, and a second orgasm surprised Marielle, making her scream her pleasure. Drained, she began to cry and laugh at the same time, holding on to the arm Audrey had draped over her body.
“I knew it,” Audrey said.
Marielle turned to look at Audrey. She was lying on her side with her head propped up on her hand and a smug look on her face. “What did you know?”
“When you told me you got wet massaging my neck, I knew the problem wasn’t your body.” She lightly tapped Marielle’s head with her fingers. “It was in there, sweetie. I just had to find a way to keep you with me, in the moment, and not let you psych yourself out.”
Marielle laughed wholeheartedly. “So you planned this whole thing?”
“Well, not exactly. I didn’t expect I’d get to touch you tonight. I thought I’d just get you to touch yourself. I can’t say I’m disappointed we went off course, though,” she said with a grin.
Marielle laughed once more and shifted onto her side to pepper Audrey’s face with kisses. “You’re a fucking genius, baby. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“My pleasure, my love. Believe me, it really was a pleasure.”
Marielle laid her head on Audrey’s chest and started tracing lazy circles around her nipple with her index finger. Her laughter subsided, and she was serious when she said, “You know, it may still happen. I could still freeze on you. You may get tired of having to work so hard.”
“No way,” Audrey interrupted, caressing Marielle’s bare back. “I know this was just one small victory, but there’ll be more, and if they’re anything like this one it’ll be totally worth it.”
Marielle kissed the nipple she’d been teasing with her finger and moved up to take Audrey’s warm lips. “Okay, that sounds perfect,” she said, lowering her voice to exude a confident sensuality before she continued, “right now, though, the only victory I’m interested in is to see you out of these pajama pants so I can make you come as hard as you just made me.”
Audrey’s sparkling eyes dilated before she discarded the pajama pants, and Marielle took pride in a newfound sense of empowerment. Oh how much fun they had to look forward to. No doubt about it.
Epilogue
Felix and Ralph walked ahead of Audrey on the wide path covered with colorful leaves. The park was magnificent in October, and the warm temperature of Indian summer allowed them to enjoy an impromptu autumnal picnic. Marielle had stayed behind at the first fall to set up their lunch while Audrey helped Felix explore the forest in search of various fallen leaves for a school project. They already had an extensive collection, but Felix was on a mission to fill his scrapbook.
The boy excitedly ran to her holding a bright yellow leaf that was rounded at the base and pointed at the top. “Audrey, look what Walph found! Do we have this one?”
Audrey searched through the pages of the large reference book she carried to safely place and keep each of their finds. “I don’t think so, buddy. Ralph found it, you say?” she asked in a perplexed tone.
“Yeah, he pointed right at it, but I picked it up before he got it wet with his nose.”
Audrey chuckled. She would never cease to be amazed by all the feats Felix could attribute to her sweet little mutt. “Great. It’s a beautiful leaf. Good thing you saved it from getting wet. And what kind of tree did it fall from?”
Felix looked through a small booklet listing local trees with images of their respective leaves in summer and in fall. “It’s from a birch tree,” he announced proudly.
“En français, s’il te plaît,” Audrey said with barely a hint of an accent, used to the phrase she’d repeated so many times over the past several weeks. She’d finally decided it was time to learn French, and she’d concluded Felix was the best person to teach her. He was very patient with her multiple questions, and although he did laugh the first time she pronounced every word, she found the six-year-old boy much less intimidating than any adult, even Marielle.
“C’est un bouleau,” he said slowly so she could understand each syllable clearly.
“Un bouleau,” she repeated, pursing her lips exaggeratedly to make each sound come out of her mouth. Felix laughed with such pure joy that she said the word again and again, grimacing more and more every time it passed through her lips. She adored the sound of Felix’s loud, unrestrained laughter. She was convinced there was no antidepressant more powerful. Although she’d never wished for the presence of a child in her life, when this little boy with unruly hair and large, dark eyes had appeared in her backyard asking to play with her dog, six months later she couldn’t imagine not having him around. He’d changed her life, as well as her dog’s. She was certain if Ralph were separated from his best friend, he’d crawl into a hole and let himself starve to death.
A low humming sound accompanied by a vibration in the front pocket of her jeans distracted her from her thoughts, and she reached for her cell phone. It was a text message from Marielle. She smiled as she always did just seeing Marielle’s name and called out to Felix, who’d gone back to his treasure hunt. “Felix, we have to go back. Lunch is ready.”
When they arrived at the first fall, Marielle was sitting on a blanket
she’d set on the large boulder that had become their favorite: the one where they’d shared their first kiss. She was smiling invitingly, and while Felix went straight for the sandwiches, Audrey sat by Marielle and kissed a freckled cheek before brushing against full lips. As Felix knew they were a couple, they’d agreed that such displays of affection weren’t only acceptable but necessary.
“So did you find enough leaves for your school project?” Marielle asked Felix without turning away from Audrey’s blue eyes.
“Yes! We have a lot. Right, Audrey?”
“Oh yes, and Ralph found the most beautiful bouleau leaf, didn’t he?”
“He sure did!”
Both women giggled, and Audrey simply winked to make Marielle understand she would explain later. They joined Felix to eat, and Audrey tried her best to keep Ralph away from their food. She hated to bring him on picnics because he was such a pain in the neck around food, but when Felix was part of the outing, it was impossible to leave the little glutton behind, so she dealt with it.
After lunch, Felix and Ralph went looking for more leaves, and Audrey stayed with Marielle after they instructed the dynamic duo not to wander too far. They lay down side by side on the blanket, staring at the bright fall sky.
“I forgot to tell you the real estate agent called earlier. She has a potential buyer for the cabin,” Marielle announced.
“Great. That’s good news.”
“Are you sure? You love your cabin.”
Audrey reached for Marielle’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “I do. But didn’t we agree that since I spend every night at your house, it doesn’t make sense to keep two houses?”
“Yeah, but I guess I want to make sure you won’t regret it. Your house looks so much better than mine.”
Audrey turned on her side and brought her hand to Marielle’s chin to gently force the brunette to look at her. “But it’s too small. Yours has the space we need, and as soon as we sell the cabin, we can start the renovations to make the bungalow look even better than the cabin. We’ll make it ours, Marielle.”
Marielle offered a small smile. “And you’ll be happy?”
Audrey kissed her softly on the lips before she answered, “I’ll be ecstatic, sweetie. I’ll be happy because you’ll be there, and Felix and Ralph will be there. That’s what matters. That and we’ll be rid of those fucking pink tiles at last,” she added with a grin.
Marielle burst out laughing, and Audrey lay back down on the blanket, knowing that although this wasn’t the last time she would need to reassure Marielle, she had no doubt she would indeed be almost sinfully happy in her new home, with her family.
Bella Books, Inc.
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