by Giselle Fox
“I didn’t say anything one way or the other. Alice wanted to talk about about what was going on with her and… I listened.”
“Perfect.”
Cate let her eyes wander over Lexi’s body and then sighed. “I know if I stay here I’m going to do something lewd. I was thinking of walking down to the park and reading my book.”
“What are you reading?”
Cate reached into her bag and pulled the book out.
“Any good?”
“Good enough. So... will I see you later?”
Lexi smiled. “When I’m done here, I have some contract work to take care of. I’m on a deadline, actually, and I’m far behind. I’ve been a little distracted lately.”
Cate grinned. “Sorry about that.”
“But after I’m done, I was thinking I’d come to your balcony and we can make a plan. Say six-ish?”
Cate felt like the wind got knocked out of her. “That feels so far away,” she moaned.
“I know, baby,” Lexi smiled gently. “I’ll make it up to you tonight, I promise.”
Cate smiled. “Maybe I’ll read and take a nap, seeing as how we didn’t sleep much last night.”
Lexi closed her eyes. “Last night was so...” she took a deep breath and sighed. Her eyes glanced out onto the patio. Yolanda was still out there talking to her table. “Come into the back with me,” Lexi said. “I want to kiss you goodbye.”
“Are you serious? Someone is bound to see.”
“No one will see,” Lexi said.
Cate felt the rushes of excitement as Lexi led her swiftly through the double doors to the kitchen. When they got there, Lexi pressed her against the wall. Her hands slid roughly up her body and gripped onto her breasts.
Cate relaxed and let Lexi work. Then their mouths found each other.
Cate slid her hand up and gripped onto Lexi’s dark hair. “Just like that and I’m wet all over again.”
Lexi’s eyes shot down her body. “You know where I’d rather be?”
“Under my skirt?” Cate whispered.
Lexi kissed her again. “Later, okay?”
“Yes, later. I’ll be waiting.”
Lexi’s hands clasped her hips and then pushed back until their bodies were separated. “This hurts,” Lexi groaned.
Their fingers clasped one last time before they let go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Cate left the restaurant and aimed her body in the direction of the park at the bottom of the long hill. She planned to languish with her book in the sun but since walking felt nice, she was just as happy to do that. Sunshine and time away from her hectic life did that - calmed the need for an outcome and the constant gnaw that something more should come from every minute spent.
Sex did it too, though she’d never felt quite as languid as she did at that moment. Her entire body felt supple and athletic. The soft brushes of her skirt and the flutter of her cotton blouse excited her skin. She was aware of all her moving parts.
It was because things were new, of course, and she understood that. She wasn’t the sort of woman to get evangelical about anything until it had been proven. But she knew something different had been set into motion, something that she’d felt coming for a long time. She’d been asking for a life change and there it was on her doorstep. She just never expected it would arrive in the form of a tall, dark-haired woman in a foreign country. Never.
She arrived at the park and found a spot on a tidy patch of grass. She lay back with the sun on her legs and rested her head on her bag. She shielded her eyes from the sun with her open book but she didn’t read a word. Instead, she let her thoughts drift to the days she’d spent with Lexi, and then to what the future might bring.
Cate knew she wasn’t ready to get back on the plane. She’d suspected it might go like that even before getting together with Lexi. Even her boss had suggested she take a longer holiday but she’d declined. One week had made perfect sense back when she was planning for her and Peter. But since he wasn’t in the picture anymore, one week didn’t seem nearly enough. The most obvious solution was to stay for a few more days. At least, she thought, until Todd came home from his trip. Now that they’d finally fallen into their groove, she knew that Alice would be happy to have her stick around a little while longer. Work wouldn’t be an issue, Cate was certain of it. Then it crossed her mind that she should talk to Lexi about it before setting anything in stone.
That took her on another tangent. What was she doing, after all? What was really going on beneath the desire to stay? Cate sat up, cross-legged and thought about it. She plucked a few long pieces of grass and curled them around her fingers. The reason for wanting to stay was obvious, though still a little hard for her to admit. She didn’t want to let go of Lexi, not tomorrow and not three days after that.
Cate felt excitement begin to broil in her belly. It was so much more than a simple desire to stay on holiday. She knew she was on the verge of a major life change. What did her life back in Chicago have to offer compared to what she was feeling at that moment? Nothing. There it was. If there’d been a simple path to take, she knew she was in the right frame of mind to take it. But the only path she could see involved proper planning and execution.
Cate exhaled and looked out over the water. The ocean was beautiful. After a long and tedious winter, she’d almost forgotten what it looked like. She imagined all that water touching other faraway places. She wanted to dip her feet in those places too. She knew she needed time.
There was a lot to discuss with Lexi, a lot of conclusions to be reached. She had a pretty good idea where they stood but it hadn’t been spoken of yet. They’d hardly had the time. Three more days may be enough for that to happen organically, Cate thought to herself. If things continued the way they had been, it may just be enough.
She reached for her book again and tried to read but her thoughts strayed once more, to Lexi and her easy going smile, to her hands. And then suddenly, as if she’d conjured those hands, there they were, gently covering her eyes like a blindfold.
“Guess who,” said the husky voice at her ear.
Cate’s body warmed with excitement. “Is it...?”
“Have you gotten to the sexy part?”
“I only wish. There are none in this book,” Cate said.
Lexi dropped her hands to Cate’s shoulders but left her lips where they were. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” she whispered.
Cate felt her body rush. “And what were you thinking?”
“I was imagining you lying on the grass while the sun slowly crept up your skirt.” She kissed Cate’s cheek and lingered a moment longer at her ear.
Cate heard the slow pull of air through Lexi’s nostrils.
“Mmm. You smell like warm fruit and flowers,” Lexi whispered.
Cate sighed happily. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you too.”
Lexi let go and knelt on the grass in front of her. “Tell me.”
Cate smiled shyly. Now that Lexi was right there in front of her, giving her that dazzlingly sexy smile - she could barely keep herself from leaping on her.
“I can’t stop thinking about all of it. Last night especially. I just... feel so good around you.”
Lexi closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. “Seems wrong not to be lying in bed right now, doesn’t it?”
“Yes it does,” Cate smiled. “You’ve done something to me. I usually never go back to bed once I’m up.”
Lexi looked at her and grinned. “Me neither.”
They reached for each other’s hands. Cate slid her fingertips down the length of Lexi’s palm. “How much time do you have for lunch?”
“A little,” Lexi said. “Yolanda’s husband came into work, believe it or not. I’m actually finished there for the day.”
Cate beamed.
“But I still have a ton of other work to do, though. If I get through it fast, maybe we can get together a little earlier.”
Cate’s heart sank a lit
tle but she realized it was better than having to wait all afternoon. She slid her hand up Lexi’s arm. “What can I do to help make that happen quicker?”
Lexi’s eyes were on her lips. “As much as I’d love to take you home right now, I know I won’t get anything done. But... you could let me take you to a little place I know for lunch.”
“Okay,” Cate said. “Will there be other people there?” She felt she knew the answer from the way Lexi was looking at her.
“No,” Lexi answered. “It’ll just be you and me.” She rose to her feet and offered her hand.
Cate grabbed on and pulled herself up. “Lead the way.”
Lexi’s Jeep was parked just up the street. They drove a short distance away from town and then turned onto a dirt road. They wound up a steep hill through the green. Cate liked driving with Lexi, especially now that she was allowed to touch her. She remembered how frustrated she’d felt the last time she’d sat in the passenger seat when they’d driven home after the storm.
Cate watched Lexi’s dark hair swirl around her face in the wind. She pulled the old ball cap from inside the glove box and handed it to her.
“Here,” she said.
Lexi flipped it backward on her head and gave her a smile. She gripped Cate’s hand and brought it to her lips for a slow kiss. Cate relaxed against her headrest and watched the road pass in front of them. Bright yellow sunbeams streamed through the trees. A cloud of dust trailed behind.
Up they climbed to a high point on the coastal road until Lexi veered sharply into the trees. They followed a rough path toward the water, through the deep green density that pushed in on all sides. At last, they reached a clearing at the top of the hill. Lexi turned the Jeep around so that the back looked out over the water.
Cate grinned. “Tailgate party?”
Lexi hopped out and pulled a blanket and a foam pad from the utility box in the back and laid them on the metal floor of the Jeep.
“Can we fit?” Cate asked as she eyed the interior space. There was no rear bench but the gear box in its place took up a lot of room.
Lexi climbed in and sat with her back against the box. She spread her legs and patted the space in front of her. “You can lean back on me.”
Cate smiled as she imagined exactly how that would feel. She climbed in and leaned back against Lexi’s body. The view over the blue inlet and lush green islands was beautiful.
“This would be perfect if I could see you,” she said.
Lexi tucked her lips close. “You can hear me,” she whispered into her ear.
A shiver ran through Cate’s body. “Mmm. Yes, I can.”
Lexi slid her hands up Cate’s thighs, inching slowly under the hem of her skirt. “You can feel me,” she whispered.
Cate shivered again. “I love feeling you.” She watched Lexi’s hands slide higher, gathering her skirt as they slowly converged between her legs.
“You’re a little hot under here, aren’t you?” Lexi rasped.
Cate smiled since it had taken Lexi only a few seconds to find out. “So this was your lunch plan? To feel me up in the back of your truck?”
Lexi chuckled softly as she planted kisses along the tops of her shoulders. “This was my plan.”
“Does anyone else come up here?”
“Sometimes but not very often. We’ll hear them before they see us.”
Cate felt Lexi’s fingers slide gently over her cotton underwear. She gripped Lexi’s free hand and kissed the backs of her strong fingers. She could hear the pace of Lexi’s breath quicken and warm at her ear. She watched Lexi’s hand move slowly beneath the stretch fabric of her skirt. Cate bent her knees and propped her feet on either side of the tailgate for support.
Lexi chuckled in her ear.
“What?” Cate asked.
“Oh, nothing. Are you hungry?”
Cate grinned. “Depends on what you mean by hungry.”
Lexi pulled her hand out from under Cate’s skirt. “I brought fruit and a few other things.” She grabbed a plastic bag with a takeout container and placed it between their legs. “You like mangoes, right?”
With one hand, she flipped open the lid. Inside was a pile of succulent tropical fruit sliced into long lengths.
Cate felt her mouth water. “Did you make this at Yolanda’s?”
“I did,” Lexi said. “While thinking of you.”
She dipped her fingers in and plucked a slippery length of mango from the pile. She brought it to Cate’s mouth.
Cate took a bite and let the sweet juices flow over her tongue. Lexi licked her fingers and then slid her hand beneath Cate’s skirt again.
“I’d like to eat a plate of this off of your body right now,” Lexi breathed in her ear. She dragged her nails up Cate’s thigh and pressed her fingers into her again.
Cate gripped onto her hand and held it there. “That feels really good,” she moaned.
Lexi pulled another piece of fruit from the container, this time a chunk of papaya. She brought it to Cate’s mouth and slid it over her lips.
Cate bit into the fruit and then leaned her head back for a kiss. Their mouths met in an explosion of flavor. Papaya juice spilled between their lips. Lexi circled a hand gently around Cate’s throat while the other pressed tight between her legs.
Cate opened her eyes and stared into the darkness behind Lexi’s eyes. “You make me want to do crazy things.”
Lexi grinned against her lips.
“Touch me,” Cate whispered.
Lexi slid her hand inside her panties and stroked a finger delicately through the cleft of Cate’s sex.
The soft friction made Cate hold her breath.
Lexi’s hand clasped her throat tighter, her fingers pushed inside.
Cate gasped as the rush overwhelmed her. Everything began to swirl - Lexi’s tongue at her ear, Lexi’s fingers inside her, the hard, hot metal of the truck and the sun overhead. She slung her arm back around Lexi’s neck and rocked her hips against her hand.
Lexi released her throat and slid below the neckline of her shirt. Cate watched her grip her nipple between her fingers.
“You make me want to do crazy things too,” Lexi rasped into her ear.
“Tell me all of them,” Cate whispered. She closed her eyes and held onto the sides of the Jeep.
Lexi laughed a little. The sound made Cate smile.
“Don’t be shy,” she coaxed.
Lexi reached for a piece of mango and dipped beneath Cate’s skirt again. Before she could protest, Cate felt the cool fruit slither through her.
“That actually feels nice,” she said with a grin.
Lexi pulled it from under the fabric, brought it to her mouth and took a bite. “Your pussy tastes amazing.”
“You’re dirty.”
“You have no idea,” Lexi said into her ear and then kissed her neck.
“Well... my pussy is going to be a sticky mess,” Cate moaned.
Lexi’s hand ran down her body again and resumed its position between her legs. “Do you really care?” she whispered.
Cate didn’t care at all. How could she? When she looked at what was happening from outside herself, it only made her smile more.
“You like this, don’t you?” Cate said as she closed her eyes. “You like seeing how far I’ll go.”
“I admit, I do,” Lexi said huskily.
It had been that way since the beginning, Cate thought to herself. Lexi had laid out challenge after challenge and she’d simply accepted. It had begun the minute she’d been asked out onto the boat.
“I like what you do to me,” Cate whispered. “And I love how you touch me.”
“I love touching you,” Lexi said.
The challenge was to keep the touch from ending. Cate pushed back into Lexi’s hand again. “If I stayed for a few more days, do you think we could keep doing this?” she asked.
Lexi paused her movements and then resumed more slowly and deliberately. “You’re thinking of staying a while longer?”
/>
“I’m thinking of changing my flight. I don’t really have to be back at work this week.”
Cate could tell Lexi was considering it though she didn’t respond. “I mean, I’m only suggesting it because... well... we’ve been having so much fun together.” Cate shifted so she could see Lexi’s face better. “I have to go back at some point, but a few more days might be nice. At least until Todd comes home on Wednesday.”
Lexi looked back at her. “A few more days would be really nice.”
Cate kissed her, felt her mouth water and their tongues slide. No part of her wanted to leave at all, but a few more days would have to do. It meant leaving was far enough away that she didn’t have to think about it. It wouldn’t require many arrangements. She did have a life to get back to and sort out, something she was itching to do. She knew that part of her future had to contain Lexi. There was no denying that anymore.
Cate held on tight to Lexi’s hand. “The truth is, I don’t want this to end at all,” she whispered.
Lexi’s dark eyes bore into her.
Cate’s heart began to pound in her chest. “I think I’m...”
But Lexi kissed her again before she could say what she’d wanted to say. Soon the silky pleasure of it all took her words away. Cate slid her hand into the warm space between their bodies and inside the waistband of Lexi’s jeans. Feeling her warmth, hearing the sweet, sexy sounds of Lexi’s moans made the future disappear.
They teased and touched. They fed each other fruit and let the juices drip from their lips. There was no hurry now, Cate thought to herself. They could play and languish and think of the future another day. But the tenderness slowly cracked her open. She could feel it prying at her every time she looked into Lexi’s eyes. Their kisses became urgent. Cate sensed the point when they broke through the wall, when it shifted from a quick romp in the back of the Jeep to truly making love. It was when she’d turned and they faced each other. There was something so brutally honest about it. Without another word, they climbed out of the truck and spread their blanket on the spiky grass below. Then they loved each other completely on the hilltop that overlooked the sea.
After, Cate rested her head on Lexi’s shoulder. They lay with their skin exposed under the hot sun. Lexi stroked her softly. They’d been quiet for a long time. Cate closed her eyes while she trailed her fingers around the curves of Lexi’s breasts, listening to her breathe, so calm and deep.