One Small Step

by M. A. Binfield

  Iris dipped her tongue into Cam’s wetness and felt Cam arch her body. She stroked her tongue up and down the length of her folds, stopping to make circles around Cam’s clitoris, flicking her tongue across the swollen tip. Cam’s breathing was rapid now, her body grinding into the bed to the rhythm of Iris’s tongue, one hand grasping the bed sheets tightly and the fingers of the other wrapped in Iris’s hair.

  Cam’s moans became louder, more urgent. She was close to the edge. Iris had her hand cupping Cam’s breast and she moved her thumb back and forth across the nipple. Cam moaned more loudly, lifting her hips from the bed, pushing herself into Iris. Iris closed her mouth over Cam’s center, sucking gently, before pushing her tongue deep inside. She felt Cam cresting beneath her and cry out. The sound of her name in Cam’s mouth was intoxicating, and Iris didn’t stop sweeping her tongue to and fro across the hard knot of Cam’s clitoris as she ground into the bed underneath her.

  “Oh God, Iris. Please, oh fuck, I’m coming.” Cam swallowed the last word and tightened the fingers in Iris’s hair into a fist as the wave hit. She let out a cry of pleasure, and Iris felt Cam shudder violently, as the orgasm seemed to ripple through her body, leaving her panting as she tried to come back down.

  Iris pulled her mouth away to look up at Cam as she climaxed. Her head was back, her body arched and her eyes closed. She had never looked more beautiful. Iris rested her cheek on Cam’s thigh, unwilling to move, feeling a closeness and a wonder she had not experienced before.

  “Iris.” Cam said her name, her voice sounding throaty with desire. “Get back up here.”

  Iris lifted her head to see Cam smiling sexily at her, her eyes still hazy. She moved herself up the bed, not able to resist trailing kisses along Cam’s body as she moved to lie next to her. Cam was lying on her back with her head turned and Iris was lying on her side so they were facing each other, Cam traced her fingers up and down Iris’s arm, causing Iris to shiver.

  “Wow.” Cam lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “That was…just…amazing.” She leaned over and gently pressed her lips to Iris’s, and Iris gloried in the tenderness of the kiss.

  “You kind of made it easy for me. You’re so…” She hesitated. There were so many words she could choose, but she was too full of feelings.

  “Hold on, are you calling me easy?”

  Iris laughed, the first she had managed in days. She leaned in to return the kiss, a soft, searching kiss. Cam sighed and then closed her eyes. Iris touched her fingers to Cam’s lips, not quite able to believe they were finally hers to kiss, before tracing a path down her neck, down her breastbone, and all the way to her navel. She felt Cam tremble; it was a wonderful feeling. She stopped and tapped her fingers on Cam’s stomach.

  “Well, you are kind of naked and on your back while I’m still half dressed. It might suggest easy to some people.”

  Cam stroked Iris’s arm. “If I’m easy, then it’s your fault.” She ran her fingers across Iris’s stomach and let them rest just underneath the edge of Iris’s sweatpants. Iris couldn’t help but move beneath her hand, her body was straining to meet Cam’s touch, and humming with arousal as Cam leaned in and kissed her, harder this time. Her hand moving to cup Iris’s breast, to pinch the nipple between her finger and thumb. Iris moaned softly and closed her eyes.

  “You are breathtaking,” Cam said into the kiss, “and you’re mine.” She pulled herself up onto her knees, pushing Iris gently onto her back and leaning down, using both her hands to slide Iris’s sweatpants down her legs. Iris kicked herself free of them. Cam had been careful not to remove Iris’s panties, knowing that she wanted to take her time. Her center throbbed at the sight of Iris stretched out beneath her, her long legs, her toned torso, the white cotton panties leaving nothing to the imagination, the thin damp fabric allowing Cam to see through to the dark stripe of hair. Cam played with the edge of them, dipping in and out, tracing lines across Iris’s center. She brushed her thumb across Iris’s swollen ridge. Cam knew Iris was watching her, waiting, her breath hitched, her eyes full of desire.

  Without stopping the movement of her fingers across the fabric of Iris’s panties, Cam claimed Iris’s breasts. She tasted first one then the other, running her tongue over the taut buds. Being the one to make Iris writhe beneath her was exhilarating. She moved her mouth back onto Iris’s, not able to resist the taste of her lips and the feel of her tongue. She kissed Iris hard, possessively.

  Cam used the heel of her hand now to exert more pressure, rubbing it harder against Iris’s core, applying the friction Cam knew she wanted. Iris grabbed her wrist, yearning written across her face. Cam glowed red hot between her own legs, an unceasing throbbing linked to being able to finally have Iris like this.

  Iris guided Cam’s hand inside her panties. “I can’t…Cam, don’t make me wait any longer. Please.” Her voice was a low growl.

  Cam filled Iris, pushing her fingers deep inside, feeling Iris open to accept her and then tense around her fingers as her orgasm began to build. Cam moved in and out, deep and slow at first and then more rapidly as Iris’s breathing changed and she lifted her hips to meet her thrusts. The feeling of being inside Iris, feeling how wet she was, how wanting, was incredible, and Cam felt her own core hungering for more. She moved so that she was straddling one of Iris’s legs and without ceasing the in and out strokes that were now causing Iris to gasp and grab at Cam blindly, Cam moved her slick and swollen center against Iris’s thigh, the pressure almost sending her back to the point of orgasm. She clenched and waited, wanting to come with Iris, wanting them to come together. She curled her fingers slightly as she pushed deeper inside and Iris bucked beneath her as she found the sweet spot. As Iris grabbed her wrist to hold her inside and pushed herself up from the bed to meet Cam’s hand, her thigh pressed harder between Cam’s legs and brought her closer. She was barely able to stop herself from coming. Iris’s muscles tensed around her fingers. She arched her back and cried out in pleasure as the juddering climax washed over her. Cam let go and her own orgasm hit at the same time. She writhed against Iris’s thigh, the liquid pleasure spreading around her body until she could no longer sit up and she fell next to Iris on the bed, the two of them panting and slick with perspiration.

  * * *

  Cam had her fingers in Iris’s hair, softly twisting the strands. They were lying down, looking at each other, face-to-face.

  “I spend so much time looking at you.” Cam traced a finger across Iris’s lips, making her shiver. “And still I had no idea you could be this beautiful.”

  Iris wanted Cam to gaze at her this way forever. She ignored the voice that told her how crazy this all was. They had been in bed for about two hours and not said a word about what they were doing and what might happen next.

  “You’ve seen me naked plenty of times. We’ve showered together, remember.” Iris raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, but with, like, ten other people blocking my view and us mostly covered in mud and bruises. Now I can look at you without pretending not to.”

  “You used to look at me secretly?” Iris chewed her lip, trying not to enjoy the idea of it too much.

  “I’m afraid I did.” Cam looked at Iris a little sheepishly. “More than was decent actually.”

  Iris’s eyes widened. “So, it’s official, Cameron Hansen is a pervert. And you have such a sweet, innocent face too.” She shook her head playfully. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

  Cam stroked Iris’s cheek softly, tilting Iris’s face downward and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Iris’s stomach fluttered. She couldn’t seem to get enough of Cam’s kisses. “Don’t tell me you never did the same.” Cam’s eyes held hers and Iris felt the contraction in her stomach, the pulsing between her legs. She was powerless to stop her body from reacting when Cam looked at her like that.

  “I noticed how hot you were the very first time I saw you, before I even knew your name. Hazel caught me staring and never let me forget it.” Iris nibbled on Cam’s bottom li
p, grazing her tongue along the inside as Cam stiffened in pleasure. “I always looked the other way in the showers though.”

  Cam laughed. “I bet that’s not true.”

  “It is,” Iris insisted. “I’m very well brought up, English manners and all that.” She paused. “Now though…” Iris let her gaze travel slowly up and down Cam’s naked body. “Well, let’s just say that I’m definitely enjoying being able to look now.”

  Cam shifted closer so that there was no longer any distance between them, pushing herself against Iris and crushing her lips in a passionate kiss. Iris held Cam to her, enjoying feeling the length of Cam’s body against hers. She pressed one hand to the small of her back, and the other in her hair, as if to prevent her from pulling away. They kissed and stopped and kissed again before Cam took Iris’s hand in hers, lacing and unlacing their fingers. This felt so right to Iris, so special. Cam bit her lip. The gesture still a giveaway that she had a question she was trying not to ask.

  “When did you…” Cam faltered. “When did you know you had feelings for me…like this I mean, not as a friend?”

  Iris knew they had to talk. They had a lot to say about their feelings and where they were headed, but despite the sex, despite Cam coming to her and saying she was choosing her, she was still nervous about exposing herself too much until she knew for sure that Cam was here for good. Cam and Ryan had a lot of history and Cam hadn’t always been brave. The thought was overwhelming. Iris pushed it away.

  “I’m not sure I should answer that. What’s that thing they always do in American cop shows to avoid incriminating themselves in court?”

  “Taking the Fifth,” Cam said.

  “Yeah, well I’m taking the Fifth.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, if I answer, it’ll make me look like I’ve been pining for you for longer than is decent and I don’t want to seem like a sad case.”

  Cam said nothing, but her eyes were focused on Iris and she stroked her fingers up and down Iris’s arm, before lightly scratching Iris’s stomach, tracing a path from her navel to her breastbone and back again. It was exquisite…and completely irresistible. Iris had already come to understand that she had no defenses when it came to Cam’s touch.

  “But if you were being tortured and had to answer…” Cam let the sentence tail off as she dipped her fingers between Iris’s legs for an instant before resuming her stroking on the path between Iris’s chest and navel. She arched an eyebrow in Iris’s direction. It was a very special form of torture, and Iris felt her skin grow hot under Cam’s touch.

  “Don’t judge me, okay. I meant to tell you sooner that I had feelings for you, but I just couldn’t.”

  “Go on.”

  “It was when we had the curry. We had such a great day together and you were so lovely about the thing with Amanda, after I’d been dreading telling you, worrying you’d think I was pathetic. We held hands in the cab on the way home, and I remember hating myself for feeling so good about it, feeling like I shouldn’t. And I knew, when you got out at your house, that I had no right to feel as madly jealous as I did that you were going inside to Ryan.” Iris hadn’t meant to be so honest. She felt exposed in just the way she hadn’t wanted to be.

  “What about you?” Iris pushed her anxiety away.

  “When we had dinner at my place and I woke up to find you sleeping on me. It felt too good, and my feelings weren’t exactly just friendly.” Cam sounded a little unsure. “I called my sister that night intending to talk to her about you, about how I was feeling but I didn’t have the courage to say what I needed to.” Cam paused. “I guess neither of us has been very honest—”

  “We were being sensible—” Iris interrupted but then stopped herself from finishing the sentence, knowing they were naked in bed together, not feeling very sensible.

  “Until now.” Cam finished the sentence for her.

  “Until now.”

  Cam lifted Iris’s hand and placed a kiss in the middle of her palm, holding her gaze. Iris lay silently for a while, just staring back at Cam.

  “I bet you get tired of people telling you how beautiful your eyes are.” Iris trailed her fingers across Cam’s collarbone, marveling at the softness of her skin, at the fact she was allowed to touch it at all. Her eyes held Cam’s. “But they really are beautiful.”

  Cam shook her head slightly. “I don’t know who you think has been telling me that. I’m not exactly…I mean…well, I’m not as experienced as you, Iris.”

  Iris raised an eyebrow.

  “Experienced is a very polite word for it. Thank you.” Iris leaned in to kiss Cam, pressing her lips softly against Cam’s, then scattering kisses across her mouth, from one corner to the other, and back again. She laid her head on Cam’s chest, enjoying the feel of Cam’s fingers playing with her hair and loving the sound of Cam’s heartbeat against her cheek.

  “But this is the only experience I want.”

  Cam tilted Iris’s head upward till she could see her face. “That’s smooth, damn smooth actually. How am I supposed to resist that?”

  Iris smiled back at her. “You’re not. Though I’m not trying to be smooth, I’m being truthful.” Iris bit her lip, feeling a little embarrassed.

  “I had no idea you were such a softie.” Cam stroked Iris’s cheek with her thumb.

  “Neither did I.”

  Iris couldn’t ever remember feeling this way. Not even with Amanda. She felt content, but behind the contentment was fear. She loved Cam, she was letting herself be vulnerable, and that meant Cam could hurt her. Cam frowned at her as if able to see from her expression what she was thinking about.

  “Hey?” Cam pulled her tightly into an embrace, holding her head against her chest and pressing her lips to the top of Iris’s head. “It’s okay.”

  “Are you hungry?” Iris wanted to change the subject. Cam had come to her, she had to accept that Cam meant to love her, meant for them to be together. She didn’t want her insecurity to ruin things.

  Cam nodded. Iris lifted her head and leaned up to kiss Cam. The kiss was possessive rather than gentle. She was signaling her intent in some way. As they broke the kiss, Iris leaned her forehead against Cam’s and closed her eyes. She might not be good at saying the words that were needed but she wanted Cam to know that she loved her, that she really wanted this. She moved off the bed and rummaged in the tall chest of drawers next to it. She pulled out and slipped on a tank top, before passing Cam a red T-shirt with the logo of the bookstore printed across the front. Iris went out into the living room. The door closing behind her.

  Cam blew out a breath and stared up at the ceiling. This was where she wanted to be; she had no doubts at all anymore. How had it taken her so long to realize? She smiled for a moment and then felt the weight of what would come next settle on her shoulders. She had to convince Iris that this could work and then go home and badly hurt the man she had once agreed to marry.

  “I’m coming up empty.” Iris shouted from the room next door. “I can do beans on toast or it’s gonna have to be a takeaway.”

  Cam slipped on Iris’s T-shirt and padded into the living room. Iris was peering into the open fridge in just her tank top. Her delectable ass on full view and her long legs causing Cam’s heart to beat faster.

  “If I say that I’m easy either way are you going to give me some trouble about being loose again?” Cam crossed to Iris and ran her hands up the back of her legs, stopping at Iris’s backside. She placed wet kisses on the back of Iris’s neck, biting down slightly into the flesh. She reached around and brushed her hands purposefully across Iris’s breasts. Cam sighed as Iris pushed back against her, moaning slightly.

  “I thought we were hungry.” Iris’s words came out ragged.

  “Oh, I’m hungry all right.” Cam turned Iris to face her, crushing her lips with a kiss, not wanting to be gentle, her need too urgent. Iris’s tongue sending bolts of arousal between her legs every time Iris slipped it inside her mouth.

  Iris m
oaned with desire and Cam leaned behind them to slam the fridge door shut, pushing Iris up against it, wanting to press herself against the length of her. Iris reached for her, reached inside the T-shirt. Cam stopped her, pushing Iris’s hands behind her back and holding them there, pinning Iris against the fridge.

  Cam relaxed her grip so she could slide her hands up and down Iris’s torso, lifting her top so that she could taste first one and then the other nipple. She gently grazed her teeth across the erect buds and felt Iris writhe next to her. Cam enjoyed the fact that she already knew exactly what Iris liked her to do to her nipples. She trailed her fingers down Iris’s body, to her hips, her backside, down the outside of her thigh and then, slowly, feeling Iris tense beneath her touch, up the inside of her thigh, arriving where she knew Iris wanted them to be. Cam’s fingertips slid into the wet folds between Iris’s legs, softly moving across her clitoris. Iris’s body responded with tremors and Cam felt herself heat up as her own body reacted to Iris’s pleasure, knowing that touching her made Cam feel like nothing else she’d experienced. She kept her touches light and feathery until Iris pushed against her, straining for more contact with her fingers.

  “Inside.” The plea made Cam impossibly aroused. Cam made sure she could see Iris’s face, her eyes closed now, her head tipped back against the fridge, and she entered Iris, finding the rhythm that Iris wanted, sliding her fingers in and out. Cam snaked a hand behind Iris’s neck and pulled her into a kiss. Iris gripped Cam’s T-shirt tightly, bunching the material and using it to pull Cam closer. And still Cam moved her fingers in and out. Iris lifted herself slightly, pushing up on her toes, her thighs tensing. The moans, the words, told her Iris was close.