by Chris Zett
Texts and calls weren’t enough. Jess reached for Lena’s hips and pulled her closer. The towel was warm and damp against her skin, and the knowledge Lena was naked underneath it drove her crazy.
She trailed her hand up Lena’s bare arm to her shoulder and her collarbone. A sexy white line crossed it, where the tank tops she often wore had protected her skin from the sun. Jess kissed it softly, then blew on the damp skin.
Goosebumps erupted, and Lena’s breath caught. “More.” Her whisper was barely audible.
Jess obliged all too willingly, showering Lena’s shoulders and cleavage with soft kisses, edging closer to the towel hiding her breasts with each pass but never dipping beneath it. After two weeks apart, she was torn between worshipping Lena for hours and ripping the towel off to show how desperately she’d missed her. But this wasn’t about passion alone. She’d missed Lena’s gentle smile, her insights, and her soothing calmness, and she wanted Lena to know that too. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Lena’s hands played with Jess’s hair, running to the back of her head and down her neck, stopping at the T-shirt. One finger slipped inside the collar.
Jess lost her balance. How could the simple touch of one finger be so powerful? “Wait.”
Lena’s fingers stilled. “Not good?”
“Very, very good. But I wanted to show you some support after a long day working at the market.” Jess leaned back to look at her. “I would love to massage you.”
“That’s dangerous. I might fall asleep.” Lena grinned.
“I doubt that.” Jess traced her hands up and down Lena’s arms. “And if you do, I’d be honored I could help you relax that much.”
“Okay.” Lena used her grip on Jess’s neck to pull her in for another kiss. Then she walked forward one step, two steps, and gently pushed Jess backward.
When Jess’s knees touched the bed, she let herself fall without loosening her hold on Lena.
Laughing, they tumbled onto the bed, and after a swift shuffling around, they ended up next to each other. Jess rolled onto her side and lifted onto her elbow. Lying next to Lena, being close enough to touch, to kiss, Jess almost regretted her idea of a massage. She forced her gaze upward. “Turn around.”
Never taking her gaze from Jess’s eyes, Lena untucked the towel and let it slip open. With a provocative smile, she stretched out on her belly.
Jess suppressed a moan. She’d only glimpsed what the towel had hidden, but it was enough to turn up the temperature in the room a notch. She rolled off the bed to get the oils and gather some control. She wasn’t a hormonal teenager and could take her time to pamper her girlfriend.
The three bottles all looked the same apart from the handwritten labels with names that didn’t mean much to her and the decorative drawings Jess recognized as Lena’s work. “Do you have any preferences?”
Lena turned her head in Jess’s direction. “See if you like the scent of the left one. It’s stimulating rather than relaxing.”
Jess opened the bottle to sniff it. Hmm, lavender and a hint of spiciness. “That’s certainly different from the ones you used on me.”
“I was aiming for a different effect. More relaxation, zen, you know. Even if it worked contrary last time.” She grinned and looked Jess up and down. “How about you lose your clothes before you start? You wouldn’t want oil on them. The stains are difficult to remove.”
Jess laughed. “Sure. All you’re thinking about is my laundry.”
“No.” Lena’s eyes blazed with a heat that made Jess’s knees weak. “I want to feel your skin on my skin when you sit beside me. When you touch me. Everywhere. I need that now.”
Jess moaned. She put the bottle of oil on the nightstand and grabbed her belt buckle. Her need was the same and turned her mind hazy with anticipation. She quickly shed her jeans and underwear, kicking them off. As her hands grabbed the hem of her shirt, she froze.
Lena’s gaze had tracked the movement of Jess’s hands, and she smiled as if she’d been served a mouthwatering dish.
Here it was, the moment Jess had been dreading. But she didn’t want to hide her body or her emotions from Lena anymore. “I’m not…” Heat rose to her cheeks. “My body changed during pregnancy.”
Lena sat up at the edge of the bed as if being naked was the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it was. A year ago, Jess had thought so, but now she was blushing like a teenager, for fuck’s sake.
“Of course it did.” Lena reached out to take Jess’s hands and tugged her closer. “But believe me, nothing on your body is a turn off for me. I love you, and I think you’re hot as you are.”
Love. Hearing that word from Lena filled Jess with a happiness she couldn’t compare to anything else. Her heart swelled with her own love that multiplied under Lena’s adoring gaze. Jess pushed her doubts into the back of her mind where they belonged. “Is it that easy?”
“It’s just you and me. We can make it as easy as we want to.”
“Okay.” Jess took a deep breath and pulled off her T-shirt and sports bra. She flung the garments in the corner of the room, too far away to get them back.
Lena held her gaze for moment until Jess nodded, then let her eyes roam.
Jess managed not to flinch as she studied Lena’s expression for any sign of distaste. Nothing but love and arousal shone in those hazel eyes. Lena pulled Jess’s hand to her mouth and kissed her knuckles.
“Forget the massage.” Her voice was hoarse, and the warm air tickled the skin on Jess’s hand. Lena lay back on the bed.
Pulled to her as if they were bound by an invisible line, Jess followed. She did what she had wanted to do all along and kissed Lena. An odd mixture of gratitude, adoration, and love filled her heart until she thought it might burst. She tried to pour a little bit of that into the kiss as she claimed Lena’s lips. They slowly rolled around until Jess was on her back and Lena rested on top, one leg between hers.
Their bodies touched all along their lengths. Lena had been right. Skin on skin was what they needed to reconnect. Her hands glided up and down Lena’s back. The contrast between the softness of her curves and the subtle strength of her muscles was so hot and addictive, she couldn’t stop touching.
Not that Lena seemed to mind. Her hands seemed to be everywhere at once, and her mouth rained kisses on every part she could reach. Each touch of hands and lips burned a path through Jess’s skin into her heart.
She gripped Lena’s ass to pull her even closer, and Lena’s leg pressed against her clit. She tilted her hips upward to increase the friction and moaned. It wouldn’t take long.
Lena’s moan cut through the hazy fog of arousal. Jess opened her eyes and slowed the movement of her hips. As much as she wanted to let go, today was about more than a quick orgasm. She rolled them over and straddled Lena’s hips.
With a sensual smile, Lena looked up at her. Jess leaned down and kissed her, let her tongue express what she couldn’t say. How sexy Lena was, how much she cherished her kindness, her patience. How much she loved her.
Panting, Jess broke the kiss and nibbled along Lena’s jaw, down her neck.
“Sit up.” Lena’s mouth was at her ear, and warm air tickled the sensitive skin of her earlobe. “Let me touch you.”
Jess did as she was asked, fighting the urge to suck in her belly as Lena’s hands stroked over it. As the hands moved upward to Jess’s breasts, she forgot all about her belly. Her mind filled with the sensation of Lena’s hands squeezing gently, thumbs flicking over her nipples. Tendrils of pleasure ran through Jess.
Without conscious thought, her hips started to move rhythmically, and her clit glided over Lena’s mound, again and again and again. The delicious friction stoked a fire that melted her inside. Jess moaned and fell forward, resting her weight on shaking hands on both sides of Lena’s head.
Lena’s right hand left her brea
st, but before Jess could protest, she had worked it between them and teased Jess’s opening with the tip of her finger.
“I love you.” There wasn’t anything else to say. Jess searched Lena’s eyes, almost green with desire.
Their gazes locked, and Jess drowned in the love shining in Lena’s eyes. Her world narrowed to the movement that connected their bodies and hearts. Lena’s hands, Jess’s hips, Lena’s mouth on her nipple. Every movement was in perfect synchronicity until her orgasm threatened to rip her apart.
Shaking from head to toe, Jess clung to her self-control like a climber to the last bit of fraying robe.
But Lena was here to catch her, to hold her.
Jess let herself fall.
Jess sat at the breakfast bar while her mom cut the carrots with a knife that belonged in a slasher movie. When she was growing up, she’d watched her mom cook on thousands of evenings from this same spot while she did her homework. But as a kid, she’d never been interested in the techniques. “If I tried anything like that, I’d lose my fingers.”
“And we wouldn’t want that,” Lena whispered from behind, too low for her mom to hear. Her breath caressed the sensitive skin of Jess’s neck.
Jess shivered as her earlobe seemed to melt. Recently, Lena seemed to have this effect on every part of her. She swiveled on the barstool to smile at her. Just the person she’d been waiting for. “Finished for today?”
Lena nodded. An adorable smudge of blue ink painted one corner of Lena’s mouth.
That spot asked to be kissed, and Jess gave in to the impulse.
When the kiss ended, Lena leaned against Jess to look over her shoulder. “Hi, Maggie. Do you need any help?”
“No, I’m almost done. Take a seat.” She swooped up the carrot slices and threw them into a big pot where even more vegetables had been simmering for some time, then closed the lid. After washing her hands, she joined them at the breakfast bar. “Jess, you remember Belinda, my friend from Santa Fe?” Her mom’s tone changed, and the lines around her eyes deepened.
Jess sat up straighter. “Sure. Why?” How could she forget the eccentric artist who would give her homemade stuffed animals every time she visited? They had been creepy and looked like something Dr. Frankenstein would have done if he had used fabric scraps in clashing colors. She had never been able to sleep with them in the same room. But as they’d come with tons of chocolate and fun stories, she’d still liked it when Belinda visited.
“She called earlier. Her sister died, and she’s devastated. They were close, lived together for the last ten years. I want to fly to her tomorrow for at least a week. Do you think it’s possible?”
“Yes, absolutely.” Of course it was possible. Why was her mom even asking? But then it dawned on her. Ella. “Oh.” She quickly ran through her options. Most of the week she’d be at home, but tomorrow and next Tuesday and Wednesday she had work. Where could she find a trustworthy babysitter on short notice? Or would Lena…? But after their last discussion, she didn’t want to use Lena as a crutch the first time she encountered a childcare obstacle. Maybe Diana had a day off?
“I’m so sorry for her.” Lena hastened around the other side of the breakfast bar to Maggie’s side and hugged her. “Don’t worry about a thing at home. Jess and I will take care of everything.”
Jess shook herself out of her thoughts and went to hug her mom too.
For a moment, all three of them huddled close together, then her mom stepped back and took Jess’s and Lena’s hands in each of hers.
“Lena is right.” Jess kissed her mom’s cheek. “We’ll manage. You concentrate on Belinda. Please tell her I’m thinking of her.”
“Thank you.” Her mom’s eyes were full of tears, and she squeezed both their hands. “I’ll call her and book a flight. Lena, can you keep an eye on the stew?” She wiped her eyes and hurried off.
Should she follow? Jess rubbed her neck.
“Let’s give her some time.” Lena opened the lid and stirred the stew, then closed it again. “I know what you’re thinking.” Her tone was light and playful without a hint of accusation. She sat at the breakfast bar.
“Do you?” Jess pulled the stool closer so their knees were touching when she sat. “You think you know me.”
“Yup.” Lena placed her hand above Jess’s knee. “You realized you have a problem with Ella’s daycare, then thought about asking me and discarded the idea at once, and now you’re running through a list of options that are all less than perfect.”
“Huh, that’s frighteningly accurate.” Warmth spread from the hand at her leg throughout her body—not the sexual spark of arousal but something deeper, more substantial. Lena saw through her, and Jess didn’t mind at all. In fact, she loved it. “Do you have an idea what I can do?”
“Sure. Let me take care of her.” Lena held her gaze, and her eyes never wavered. “I would love to do it.”
Jess never doubted her love for Ella, but she didn’t want Lena to think she was taking advantage of those feelings. “I don’t want you to feel as if you are her babysitter because you’re not. You’re…more.” Jess bit her lip. She couldn’t find the perfect term to describe what Lena was to her. Girlfriend sounded so young and superficial, and partner… Everything was still so new. She didn’t want to be presumptuous and call her that.
“I know. I feel like more too, and I’m offering.” Her open smile brushed Jess’s hesitation away.
“Thank you.” Jess leaned in for a kiss, but before their lips could meet, Lena’s phone rang.
“Oh, that must be Joanne.” Lena fished the phone from her pocket and answered with a wide grin.
To give her some privacy, Jess went to the stove and opened the lid on the pot. The stew looked like stew, at least to her untrained eyes. She stirred it once, and nothing stuck to the bottom, so everything must be going as planned. She should learn to cook soon before Ella outgrew the formula. She wandered out the patio doors but couldn’t help sneaking glances back at Lena.
The phone call seemed to be good news. Lena enthusiastically nodded more than once and smiled widely. After she hung up, she joined Jess outside.
“Guess what? The paperwork went through. I’m officially a guest student in Joanne’s class.” She bounced on her toes.
Jess hugged her. Like always, the perfect feeling of having Lena in her arms eclipsed any other sensation. She leaned back a little to look into her eyes. “I’m so happy for you. When’s the big day?”
“Next week, Friday. The twenty-third. She said the first day will be the foundation for the whole course.”
“Friday is great, I can drive you since I have the day off. Then you don’t need to use your death trap.”
“Hey, it’s not nice to talk about my car like that. She has feelings too, you know.”
“Well, your safety is more important to me than her feelings.” Jess winked. “What time?”
“Eleven, but I want to go earlier to look around campus a bit.” Lena’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“I’ll write it down so it’s official.” Grinning, Jess pulled her phone from her pocket and opened the calendar app. “Uh, did she say next Friday or the twenty-third? Because the date doesn’t match.”
“She said the twenty-third. Isn’t that Friday?” Lena’s smiled dimmed.
“Wednesday.” Jess swallowed and stared at the tiny screen of her phone as if it could give her a solution to the obvious problem. Most of Wednesday was marked with a red box labeled work. She typed the date and time of Lena’s class into her calendar. A message appeared on her screen.
You seem to have a scheduling conflict. Do you want to continue?
Her finger hovered over the yes button.
“But…but Wednesday is your workday, and I…” Lena’s shoulders hung low.
“You just agreed to take care of Ella.” Jess frowned. This wasn’t a diff
icult decision. Lena’s chance to join this course was too good and important to pass up only because Jess needed help watching Ella. Joanne didn’t teach every semester, and even if she did, it wasn’t fair to make Lena wait for months to spare Jess some inconvenience.
Resolutely, Jess stabbed the yes button and showed the screen of her phone to Lena. “See, now it’s official.” She tried to lighten the mood with a teasing voice. “You have to go.”
The corner of Lena’s mouth twitched. “Just because your phone says so?”
“Yeah. Who are we to disagree with our computer overlords?”
“You’re nuts.” Lena chuckled, but then her mirth faded again. “I appreciate your sense of humor, but that still doesn’t solve the problem. Ella is more important. I can call back and ask if I can start the class a week later.”
Jess would do anything to return the smile to Lena’s lips. And it was the right thing to do. “There is another solution. I’ll reschedule work and take care of Ella myself if I can’t find a babysitter.”
“But it’s your work.” Lena tilted her head to one side, and her gaze flitted all over Jess’s face.
“And it’s your education.” Jess cupped Lena’s jaw and locked eyes with her. “It’s more than that. It’s your dream. And we’re partners. That is, if you want to be.” This time, she didn’t hesitate. It might be soon, but that’s how she felt about Lena and she wanted her to know that.
“Thank you,” Lena whispered, and her breath tingled on Jess’s lips. “Yes, I very much want to be. I love you.”
“I love you too.” This time, nothing stopped them from kissing, and Jess lost herself in the soft touch.
The December afternoon was sunny, but it was still too cold to be out without a coat for long. Lena jogged down the path to the garden house. The enticing scent of tomatoes and herbs welcomed her home after a long day at Maggie’s desk. Amazement at someone cooking for her hadn’t worn off in the last two months. Since she’d moved out of her grandma’s, she’d been the one responsible for every meal and, more often than not, for everyone else’s meals.