"I wish I could've met you sooner." She leaned back, firmly gripping my shoulders.
"You make a lot of wishes." I sniffled and swiped at my eyes with my sweater.
"I do that when I'm sad," she said, a smirk tugging the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry, Rosie. I don't know you very well or for very long, but I know I care about you a lot already."
"Thank you." Her words made me smile a little. "I care about you, too. Can I tell you something that I think is good?"
"Yes." She leaned back and returned to holding my hands. I allowed myself to slowly grow used to the affection from this stranger who was also my sister.
"You look like our grandmother. And she was the best person in the world."
Juni chuckled and sniffled at the same time. "Do you have pictures of her?"
"I do. Want to see?"
She agreed and scooted closer when I moved toward the nightstand. I pulled open the bottom drawer and lifted out my old, and only, printed photo album and scrapbook before setting it in her lap.
"This looks ancient."
"It is. I got to keep it after she died, and I carried it with me to all my foster placements and group homes." I opened it and we set it in our laps.
Juni leaned her head on my shoulder while we slowly flipped through the pages. Her smile, almost dreamy when coupled with her teary eyes, remained steadfast as she learned about our family.
"She liked to cook?" she asked.
"Yes. She taught me some things. As best you can teach an eight-year-old. See how you look like her?" I pointed at a picture of our grandmother whose up-do and blue eyes mirrored Juni's.
"A little. Look how cute you were. I think Sebastian looks a little like you with all that platinum hair." She chuckled while pointing at one of my photos from when I was about three.
"I can see that a little."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure…"
"I don't want to sound rude, I want to understand. How come Rebecca didn't adopt you after all that time?"
"At first, they wouldn't even let her foster me. They said she was too young, had a dangerous job, wouldn't be around enough, and some other stuff. Then they said because she had another child in the house and I needed a therapeutic foster home. But I kept running away from group homes and other placements to see her. She wasn't even officially my foster mother for a long time, but she kept applying. Eventually when I turned seventeen, they finally let her. I aged out at eighteen, but we were already a family by then so nothing changed."
"Did she try to adopt you later on as an adult?"
I nodded while fiddling with the edges of the crumpled page. "I told her I didn't want her to. I didn't want to ruin what we had. I still feel that way. She became my legal guardian though. I wanted her to make decisions for me when I couldn't."
"You have a lovely family. I'm glad you have Rebecca."
"Me too. And I'm glad you got adopted by a good family. It soothes my heart." I flipped the page to a collage of baby pictures of myself.
Juni started and held the page down before I could turn it. "Wait. Look." She pointed at one of the images. "That's me."
"It is?" My brows lifted as I inspected the photo a little closer. I'd looked at it for years and always assumed it was just one of mine at a different stage of development. Juni pulled out her own photos and placed it down beside the one in the album.
"Look. I have a freckle here." She poked at her cheek then at the picture. "You don't. It's the same as this one."
"I never noticed that." My smile broadened despite my sniffling. "I've had you in here this whole time."
When we got to the end of the book, with pictures of me a little older, Juni held out the rest of the photos she had. "Let's put these in here, too."
"But...then you won't have them."
"I have digital scans. This way, all of our family pictures are together."
I pulled back the plastic covering on the page and watched as she carefully placed the photos. "Can we make copies of them all so we both have this album?"
"I'd like that," she said, her tears gone though the bright shimmer in her eyes remained. "I'm grateful to have found you, Rosie. And I'm sorry for all you've been through."
"I have a good life," I said, clearing my throat when the hoarseness took over. "A lot of people have it worse than me. I knew that I was loved. By Grandma, Rebecca, my friends, and Samirah. I have all of that, Juni. You don't have to be sorry."
"We have each other now, too. Am I allowed to love you?" She grinned when she said it and I laughed softly.
"Yes. Am I allowed to love you back?"
"Until the end of time, for sure." She wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "I'm looking forward to getting to know my sister."
"Me too." The breath that left me rattled in my chest as if some sort of expulsion ran with it.
Juni's arrival signaled something greater for us—a full-circle effect that I couldn't quite understand at that moment. She felt like a dream, a sister who was good, and honest, and kind. She wasn't like our mother, of that much I could tell, and neither was I.
"You know something?" I said and Juni shook her head. "The day you came and found me, it was Grandma's birthday."
"Maybe she sent me. Maybe she thought we were ready," she said, as we both gazed down at the album in our laps. "Do you believe in things like that?"
"Not very much, but today I might." I fingered the edges of the album that once belonged to the woman who showed me how to love and be loved. "I think I will."
"Me too." Juni's smile, laden with happiness and fringes of sadness, mirrored how I felt inside. I knew my truth hurt her, but sharing ourselves just might bring us closer. Taking risks and letting people in is how I found my real mother and how I found the woman I love. Juniper, with her hippie name and cloney hair, might be worth the very same risk.
"Would you like to have dinner at my house on Sunday? We have family dinner every week," she said, her gaze on mine.
"We do too." My cheeks lifted with my smile. "I'd like to meet your family."
"And I'd really like to meet the rest of yours."
***
"What are you thinking about, my sweet Rosie?" asked Sam as she crawled over me while I lay sprawled out naked in her bed. Her breasts grazed mine, and her overheated skin from her recent shower sent quivers up my spine.
"That everything feels like a dream. Everything that's happened in the last few months. Meeting and falling in love with you. My mom out of prison. Juni. Our families. It's a lot and yet…"
"So much introspection from you." She drew circles around my navel and bit her bottom lip before she said, "And here I am spending my whole shower fantasizing about your dripping pink pussy."
"Sam!" I cracked up and she tickled my sides which only made me cackle more. "Samirah!"
"You know you love it." She nibbled my ear while laughing, then urged both of my hands above my head. "I have a surprise for you."
"What?" My face nearly exploded from my laughter and burned with leftover heat.
"Something you asked for…" She reached under the pillow and pulled out a long crimson ribbon. It dangled in the air above me while she pinched it between her fingers, and the very end feathered over my skin. "Red for my Rose."
I gnawed on my bottom lip as the ache between my thighs made itself known. My feet writhed against the sheets and I couldn't form a coherent word as I gazed up at her.
"Like that, do you?" She grinned and nipped at my lips.
"Yes." I leaned in to kiss her, and she straddled my thigh while winding the silk ribbon around my wrist.
"What's our safe word?" she ended the kiss to ask.
"S-snowman," I croaked, gulping down my excitement.
"Tell me how you want me to restrain you, baby. Above your head? Behind your back?" Sam kissed down my body, her tongue lashing over my excited flesh. My nipples hardened and the pressure in my pussy throbbed with desire.
"Um…" My
breathing picked up and Sam squeezed one of my thighs with her knees, and parted my legs to gaze down at me.
"My God, baby. You're soaked."
"I-I think I'm gonna come." I sucked in my breath and fought the moan that threatened to accompany the rolling of my hips.
"Did I give you permission to come yet?" She popped my hip with a light slap and I cried out, my toes curling as I fought the release that nearly forced its way to the surface.
"No. I can't help it, Sami." I whimpered and writhed against her. The minute her leg brushed my core, I nearly shouted as I reached down toward myself.
"Nuh uh." Sam retreated, moving her lower half away from me, but leaned over to grab the other end of the ribbon. "No you don't, naughty girl. No touching." She gripped my wrist, and tugged my arm above my head. She secured the ribbon around the brass curve of the bed, then fastened my wrists together in some sort of fancy weave. It made it halfway up my forearm before she tied it off. "Give it a tug."
I heeded her and tugged at the bindings. The give and take of the fabric held securely despite my movement.
"Naughty girls aren't allowed to touch," she crooned, leaning down to lick my ear. "Pull on the knot on your left wrist and it will release if you need to snowman, my sweet."
I nodded my understanding and turned my head to kiss her shoulder. Her smile broadened as she leaned down and grazed my nipple with her teeth.
"You've been so naughty, Rosie. How can I trust you if your fingers wander to your pretty pussy every time I deny you?" Her husky, silky voice lashed over me almost as much as her tongue.
"Sam, I'm...I can't." Breath left me in heated pants. "I'm going to."
"Are you?" She shifted suddenly, kneeling between my legs as she shoved my knees apart. "Look at that throbbing deliciousness. Your poor little bean double its size as if calling to me."
"You tease me," I whined, my toes curling as I clenched my teeth. "I need to."
"What do you need, baby? Tell me."
"Let me." I tugged at the silk bindings and rolled my hips toward her.
"There's only one place you're allowed to come, Rosie. Know where?"
I shook my head and she gave my inner thighs light swats. I shouted and rocked toward her again, aching for her to connect with my core. "N-no."
Sam leaned herself over me, cautious not to touch my pussy as she grabbed handfuls of my breasts. With her lips a millimeter from mine, she said, "My mouth."
"Sam!" I gasped when she grabbed my hips, lifting my lower half up to meet her lips like I was as weightless as a body filled with feathers.
Sam dragged her tongue over me, from my entrance to my clit and I moaned out my pleasure. Sweat beaded my brow and I cried out for her to continue. She pressed her tongue to my clit and moved in two slow revolutions before setting me down on the bed again. I cried out when she stopped, nearly thrashing at the delicious frustration.
"So demanding, naughty girl." She moved from between my legs, pressing my knees together then demanded, "On your belly."
I rolled over, twisting the silk once, and she helped me settle in the pillows. I gasped for breath, my hips thrusting toward the sheets beneath me. Sam slapped my ass so hard that the sound echoed off her pristine, silver walls. A shriek left me, though my insides rattled from long-standing arousal. Sam parted my thighs and propped two pillows under my stomach to lift my rear in the air. The position had me dying inside, from want and hunger so deep my mind fractured at the thought of the release she would reward me.
Her hands caressed my back, up toward my shoulders, then down my arms to my wrists. She adjusted the restraints then positioned my hands so that I held on rather than dangled from them. With my elbows in the pillows, I could breathe better, but I didn't care if I suffocated as long as she gave me what I wanted.
"You want it, baby?" she whispered against my ear and I nodded. "Tell me what you want."
"To...to come. Please, Sami," I cried, hiding my face against my bicep.
"Are you a naughty girl for touching yourself?" Her hand made it to my ass and her fingers tickled my slippery folds when she squeezed.
"Yes." I nodded and she slapped me so hard I saw stars that shot little laser beams that seemed to flicker over my pussy. I shouted out my pleasure and she repeated the gesture three times in swift, firm blows. My toes curled, knees bent, and she rubbed in circles where she struck. "Sam, please. My God."
Her hot, bated breath against my ear trilled, "No, baby. Your Mistress."
I wasn't sure whether the spanking or her words pushed me over the edge, but I lost myself the moment her palm sent the echoing slap across my flesh. My body erupted with raging pleasure so intense that I screamed into the pillows while my hips bucked of their own accord. Sam's mouth devoured me from behind and her lighter swats coupled with her dashing tongue threw me into the pits of luscious ecstasy and the release I'd craved for days.
She had at me for hours it seemed, until my limbs quaked and my body crashed into the pillows. Samirah spent me like the endless vaults belonging to a monarchy. My breath left me in heated pants as I sunk into the cozy warmth of the bed while she crawled over me, kissing and caressing me everywhere.
"That's my girl," she whispered, her lips against my ear. "My sweet."
Tears brimmed my eyes as my affection for her and ache to hold on to her consumed me. "I love you, Sami."
"I know, baby. I love you, too." She breathed her sweet words against my cheek as she untied my wrists. "Easy, honey. Don't pull."
"Leave it on me," I croaked as she released one wrist. I pulled my arms free to hug her as the ache of desperation set my heart to pounding. The moment she held me, soothing, rocking comfort engulfed me like ice in a flame.
"I have you," she said, snuggling with me into the cozy bed. "I'll always have you, Rosie." Her words saturated me and my body relaxed in her arms.
Sam stroked my hair and kissed my eyelids while she doted on me. I pressed my lips to her neck as I floated in my most favorite place. I didn't understand how she made me feel this way, landing me in a place where only blissful contentment lapped at me. Nothing existed save for the two of us, and I never ever wanted to leave. For as much as we'd both been through, knowing we could come back to this space offered relief that nothing else could. If I had to imagine what it looked like, I would put Sam and I on a cotton candy cloud, floating in a glittering sky of blue and white, with rainbows leaping over us. No sound save for the wind, and the warmth of the sun in our hearts.
Chapter Twenty-Two
My office door opened, without a single knock, and Caroline entered like she owned the place. I set my pen and glasses on the desk, and tossed her a frown.
"What's up, buttercup?" She dropped down to sit in the chair across from me, a cocky smirk on her face.
"It's rude to just walk in here, Caroline. You don't have jurisdiction over my space," I shot back.
"Feisty little brat, just like my Nora." She tapped her boot against the desk and I folded my arms across my middle.
"Stop it."
"All right." She sat forward now, her demeanor shifting immediately. "I didn't mean to upset you, Rosie. I was only teasing."
"I don't like to be teased like that. I know what brat means," I said, calming down when she acted normal again.
"I'm sorry. I can see you're upset. I really came in to see how you were." She leaned forward with her elbows on the desk, and her deep brown eyes bore into me. Her apology seemed genuine and her usually sarcastic expression softened.
"Were you really?"
"Yes. Honest." She held her hand out to me, palm up. "I'm sorry, Rosie."
It took me a moment to calm down enough to accept her gesture. With caution, I placed my hand on top of hers and she gave me a gentle squeeze. When she didn't tug me or pull a prank, my shoulders relaxed.
"Thank you."
"I didn't mean to scare you. I recognize that I do sometimes," she said.
I nodded and we released each other. "I'm use
d to only Sam…"
"I make you feel uncomfortable because I come on strong in a similar way?" Her inquiry got me thinking and I nodded.
"Yes. But I don't...I don't know how to explain it."
"You don't trust me in the same way. I understand what you mean."
"I'm still learning," I said, finally meeting her gaze again. "About myself and why I love Sam and how we are together."
"It takes time, but it's a lovely thing to learn. I'm used to Nora. Even though she's mine, in my absence, she looks to Sam for comfort or guidance. Or Marita or Sali or anyone who is a stronger personality."
"I noticed she does that with Sam. Does it bother you?"
"No." Caroline smiled rather thoughtfully. "It comforts me knowing that someone is looking after her if I can't be there. As long as it's not sexual. For the most part."
I nodded and glanced toward the open door. "It's weird talking about this at work."
"Well, we'll have to get together soon to talk about it more. But first… I want to show you something." She hopped up and gestured to the door. "Come with?"
"Where are we going?" I stood up and, with caution, trailed behind her a step.
"Down the hall."
She led me through the winding space toward the interrogation rooms closer to the entrance to lockup. We entered one of the rooms to find Walsh, Ben, and Eve standing with a man I didn't know and Billie. She smiled at me and offered me a small wave.
"This room is the lesbianest room in the building right now," announced Caroline. "Perhaps even the city."
"Shut up, Donovan," everyone said at the same time.
I stifled a laugh when Caroline flipped them off. Her demeanor softened again and she placed her hand behind me, ushering me to the two-way mirror that looked into one of the interrogation rooms. A man sat there, his handcuffed hands folded on the table, while he stared straight ahead. As a clean-cut, neatly put together white guy in his forties, there wasn't anything remarkable about him except his ugly slicked back hair.
"See that guy in there?" Caroline asked me and I nodded. "That's the subject your data caught. Because of you, he's off the streets."
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