Only One Bed: A Steamy Romance Anthology Vol 1 (Romancing The Trope)

by Lucy Eden

  Those thighs should not be allowed on a someone who is already that gorgeous. It’s just not healthy...for me.

  There wasn’t another person alive that got Emme’s water boiling quite like this woman. She’d dated some sexy people, but Kendall was in a league all her own. Part of it was definitely plain old physical chemistry.

  Emme’s earliest physical memories of Kendal were of her applying bug repellent to her neck and collarbones. Bug repellant changed in Emme’s mind forever when she realized the sheen and highlight it brought to Kendall’s perfectly crafted collarbones. How could anyone judge a mosquito for wanting to land there and drink of that gorgeous neck? Emme had spent quite a few quiet shadowy nights bringing her body release imagining licking that neck. But there was something else she felt around Kendall. It was as if their spirits reached for each other. Sometimes Emme thought she felt an actual tug. She envisioned a shimmering gold thread running between their hearts.

  It brought her comfort imagining she’d be tied to Kendall in that way no matter what.

  “Earth to Emme.”

  “Hmm? Oh, yea sorry.”

  “Are you okay? You seem to be somewhere else. Everything okay? Is this a bad weekend?

  “No, no, this weekend is perfect. I am just really looking forward to the river.”

  “Dreamy Emme, always dreaming! Girl, can you just try to be in the moment for once? Stay with me!”

  Emme smiled remembering how Kendall would always call her out when she seemed to float away. If only Kendall knew that she was what was usually distracting the dreamer.

  “I guess I was just thinking about the weekend ahead. Fantasizing about what’s to come.”

  Fantasizing about you.

  “Well, no need to fantasize because it’s about to be reality. Just gotta put in our gear and then ourselves.”

  “Speaking of that, I don’t actually know how to get into a canoe. They’ve always seemed a bit wobbly to me.”

  And I do not need help being wobbly!

  Kendall turned making purposeful direct eye contact with Emme, “Don’t worry Em, I’ll take care of you.”

  Emme’s heart jumped and simultaneously her stomach dropped. Those words, Kendall’s voice, and that look…what a trifecta! Heat was spreading up her chest to her face.

  Pull it together Emme, it wasn’t a promise of everlasting love. She’s just saying you won’t drown on her watch

  “Thanks. Um, what do I do first?”

  “I’m going to stabilize the canoe while you get in. Try to stay balanced and low to the canoe.”

  Kendall leaned over the dock and grasped the sides of the canoe, “Okay, now just step in, but remember, stay low.”

  Emme was fixated on Kendall’s face. Had she ever really noticed the perfect curvature of Kendall’s cheekbones? Light danced across them bringing to mind the way music notes seem to dance across skin. They can be felt but not touched.

  With those thoughts in mind, Emme took a step into the canoe, at her full height. She’d obviously missed the stay low part. The canoe started to sway and Emme’s barely there balance was nowhere to be seen. She could see herself going down and hoped maybe she’d float away without Kendall noticing. Kendall must have recognized the signs of an Emme going down because in a flash she had one strong hand around Emme’s wrist and was pulling her back toward the dock. Emme landed knees first with a thud that rattled her teeth.

  Of course.

  “I said stay low, not do a pirouette,” Kendall said while trying to hold in laughter that was threatening to spill out.

  Emme looked into the mischievous eyes and laughter began to bubble up like when adding vinegar to baking soda in a science fair volcano. How could a look, a simple look, fill her with such pure joy, even whilst she had two, throbbing, soon to be black and blue, knees? Her spirit was magical, infectious, and healing in a way that Emme almost couldn’t bear. What would it feel like to bathe in that spirit? To lap it up like the most decadent cream?

  “You hush and help me up. It’s not my fault you are unaware of the fine art of canoe ballet!”

  “It would be an honor my lady. Perhaps you will teach this art you speak of.”

  Both women laughed until their stomachs hurt and eventually made it into the canoe and on their way.

  A few minutes of shared silence floated with them as they both took in the scene around them. The water was clear, moving with purpose and determination. Birds chirped and sang to one another like call-and-response in church. The sun’s rays felt like liquid honey, and Emme luxuriated in the sensation. Grasses and flowers fragranced the air, and it reminded her of a delicate perfume she had smelled before but couldn’t quite place.

  Kendall’s paddling appeared ritualistic and meditative. There was a rhythm to it that reminded Emme of drumming’s power to take a person to another place, another world. She seemed to come back from her communion of sorts with the river.

  “I know we are doing this because you need to take photos for a new project, but you’ve yet to actually tell me what the project is. Though I completely understand,” she added, at the look on Emme’s face, “if it’s top secret and you can’t divulge it without having to kill me!”

  Emme bit her lip nervously, “Uh, well I haven’t told a ton of people…”

  Kendall starred at Emme for perhaps a bit too long, “I’m just teasing a bit, and you don’t have to share if it’s private.”

  Emme felt bad. She did want to share, but she was nervous. She had been outlining, then scrappin’ and re-outlining this project for at least a year, and it felt somehow private or, maybe, more the beginning of something special. How could she explain the way tarot helped her discover the power of intuition? How it was a tool for self-reflection as well as divination?

  Her biggest fear was that Kendall would think her ridiculous. Would her friend be able to fathom a world where all are connected, and where all have travelled through life together many times before? A world where ancestors, angels animal spirits and other guides can and do watch over them.

  Could Emme articulate the sense of coming home she’d felt when she walked into her first metaphysical shop? That sense of belonging so totally to something bigger than herself, but which made space for her, despite its vastness.

  Well maybe she’d just start with the basics.

  Hi Kendall. How are things? I am a Witch. Anyhow…

  “No, I do want to tell you.” With a cleansing breath Emme continued, her words running on until her sentences blurred into an outpouring, “I practice tarot and have for a while, it’s a big part of my spiritual life and I’ve created my own deck of nature-based tarot cards, and the idea is that hopefully the photos from this trip will complete the project.”

  A large breath, and then she waited. She waited for Kendall to roll her eyes, snicker, or say something about New Age mumbo-jumbo and incense smoke. What she got instead was one of Kendall’s most beautiful smiles. The kind that made her chestnut brown eyes seem backlit by amber flames. A wave of something akin to warm cashmere and cream washed over her.

  “That’s incredible! You are so creative and I think tarot is fascinating. I’ve always wanted to understand it more.”

  Emme’s stomach flipped in surprise. Kendall was interested, fascinated even. She hadn’t realized how scared she was of judgement until there wasn’t any. What else could she share with Kendall? Maybe she wasn’t giving her enough credit. A voice inside of her whispered, “It’s going to be okay.” Emme took another deep cleansing breath.

  “Really? I had no idea you were interested in this…”

  Emme’s mind jumped to the tarot card she drew that morning, The Queen of Cups.

  Trust my intuition, pay attention, lead with my heart.

  Kendall gave a slow lazy grin, “Em, there are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

  And that quickly, Emme’s mind went from the Queen of Cups to a dull heat gathering behind her belly button.

  “Like what
? Give me an example.”

  Kendall paused to consider, “I sometimes eat dinner for breakfast.”

  “You mean breakfast for dinner.”

  “Nope, I mean pot roast and mashed potatoes at 8 am.”

  Emme giggled, “That’s healthier than most cereals. Give me another one.”

  “Sometimes, when I can’t sleep or wind down, I watch…” she paused and then said, “…videos.”

  Emme’s face began to heat up, “What kind of...videos?”

  “Tutorials mostly, like how to grout a shower, or refinish a piece of furniture. I’m really into this one on how to build a tiny picnic table that’s actually a chicken feeder”

  Emme laughed so loud, a bunch of birds fled a bush rather abruptly.

  Gods, she has no clue that her soul is like a healing balm for my tired heart.

  “Do you have chickens?”

  “Well, no. Is that funny?” asked Kendall with a hint of challenge in her eyes.

  “Of course not,” giggled Emme, her amusement giving her away. “I mean, it’s just so industrious.”

  And so sweet, honest, and perfectly you. “One more, something really good.”

  Kendall’s lids slowly lowered sweeping long-lashed downward, and then her eyes met Emme’s, “I have piercings...ones you can’t see.”

  Emme’s throat went dry, “Where?”

  “My nipples.”

  Emme’s breasts tightened, and her own nipples hardened at the thought of Kendall’s, erect and pierced, glimmering in the light. Instantly, a pulsating sensation began to grow between her legs. It was so noticeable that she found herself clenching her thighs together in an attempt to stop it, or maybe feel it more. Emme’s tongue felt extra moist and her mind’s eye provided an impeccable image of Kendall’s nipple glistening with Emme’s saliva and Kendall’s arching form.

  She blinked her eyes and found the object of her desire was staring directly into them. Was Kendall breathing faster? Biting the corner of her bottom lip? Clenching her jaw?

  Kendall took an obvious deep breath. So deep, it seemed like she was trying to inhale Emme herself. “Your turn. Tell me some things I don’t know about you.”

  I’d like to tear your clothes off and kiss every inch of you right in this boat.

  “Well, I sleep with a purple shimmery stuffed mermaid named Violet.”

  Kendall belly laughed and Emme’s own stomach spun as if butterflies were dancing a tarantella. “Okay, what else?”

  “I sing power ballads in the shower.”

  Is she thinking of me naked and wet?

  “And?”

  “I have a tattoo.”

  And back to my body we go…

  Kendall seemed to sit up a bit straighter.

  “Where?”

  Emme sheepishly glanced around at the non-existent bystanders, “On my left and right hip.”

  “You said a tattoo. That sounds like two.”

  A gust of wind brought her mass of red curls over her face just in time to cover her flushing cheeks.

  “Well, they are a pair, so I count them as one.”

  “What are they?”

  “The right hip is the sun, and the left hip is the moon.”

  Kendall was quiet for a moment longer than was comfortable for Emme.

  Had she said something wrong? Did Kendall have an aversion to hip tattoos? Why was she gripping the side of the boat? Maybe she wasn’t really into tattoos. Well that would just be fucking great.

  Kendall was tapping her foot in rhythm with her now drumming fingers.

  What in hell is she thinking? Note to self, look into tattoo phobias.

  Kendall seemed to snap out of whatever she was feeling, “This is where we go to shore. We can pitch our tents over there to the left, and there is a safe fire pit to the right.” Then, in a flash, Kendall was out of the boat and walking the final bit to shore.

  Emme took the much-needed respite to roll her neck in an attempt to release the tension that had formed and run her hands through her now even wilder wind-tousled nest of curls. Why was she feeling sad, a sense of loss?

  It was as if she had lost something with Kendall that she didn’t even have. Her heart thumped harder watching Kendall move farther and farther from her. Nothing had happened. They were just chit-chatting. So why did she feel so off?

  Letting her fingertips trail through the water, Emme imagined the coolness running up her fingers into her arms and soothing her neck and back. Once a sense of calm returned, Emme prepared to disembark the little canoe of confusion and prepared to make land with the sexiest river guide imaginable.

  The location was perfect, and Emme was so glad she had taken Kendall’s recommendation. Originally, Emme thought an area upriver, known for its tall trees, would be the spot, but then Kendall told her about this area that had beautiful trees, and a hill with a fantastic view of the river basin below. She could already see trees that called to her and large slabs of stone that had weathered lifetimes. The forest was teeming with life and this spot seemed livelier than any other she’d experienced. This was going to be perfect.

  There was so much to photograph, beetles, trees, berry-bushes, and butterflies. She knew she would be able to complete the entire deck with the images from this trip and maybe start a companion deck. While she worked, Kendall walked with her, pointing out things and explaining their role in the local ecosystem. Emme was amazed at how much Kendall knew and how effortlessly it seemed to come to her. Kendall really seemed to feel the nature in her bones. Maybe she had some witchyness to her too. Wouldn’t that be interesting?

  Eventually Kendall stopped pointing things out and the conversation slowly transitioned. They talked about silly mundane things, like the college version of who’s who and where they were now. Emme updated Kendall on her family, her sister’s twins, and her best friend’s current, new obsession, custom tambourines. Kendall talked about her plans to turn her garage into a studio where she could work on boats and birdhouses, her raised bed garden, and an ever-growing collection of vintage typewriters. It felt so peaceful and calming to be wandering around the woods together.

  Emme wondered what it would be like to have a special person in her life like Kendall...maybe Kendall herself. The heat started to pool in her lower belly again, and she knew she needed to distract herself. She’d had this conversation with herself over and over. Kendall’s presence in her life was more important than giving into damn desire.

  What if it didn’t work out? Would they remain friends? Probably not, it would hurt too much. Would they see each other and cross the street or pretend to be on a call? That was too painful to even contemplate.

  Emme forced the negative thoughts away. “Can I photograph you?”

  Where did that come from?

  “Me?” Kendall seemed genuinely surprised.

  “Only if you are comfortable with. It’s no big deal. I can’t help it. Once a photographer always a photographer.”

  Kendall seemed to be seriously considering the request, “No, it’s cool. What should I do?”

  Emme looked around and there, a few feet away, was a beautiful large rock covered in emerald-green moss. “Go over by that rock and just look at me.”

  Kendall looked a bit sheepish but did as she was instructed. Emme picked up her camera and placed Kendall in the frame. She felt bold when she had a camera in hand. “Okay, just look at me. Don’t worry about smiling or anything. Just do what feels natural.”

  Emme’s beautiful subject was looking at the forest floor at first, then slowly lifted her head and looked directly into her photographer’s soul. The shutter seemed to be snapping on its own, like it knew Emme was becoming lightheaded from the intensity of the moment.

  As quickly as it started, it ended. Emme put down her camera. “Do you want to see?”

  “No, who likes looking at themselves? You can show me after you work some editing magic.”

  I wouldn’t alter a single pixel.

  “I’m getting hung
ry. Is there a place you think would be nice to stop and eat?”

  Kendall looked around, thinking for a moment, then pointed up and to the left a little, “There’s a nice area over there where we can eat.”

  Within minutes, they were laying out a green-checkered blanket and preparing to indulge in homemade sandwiches, large pickles, and soda.

  After taking a few bites Kendall looked at Emme quizzically, “You don’t have to answer this, but what happened to Dominic?”

  Emme’s heart stuttered at the mention of her ex; the last thing she really wanted was to talk about that breakup with Kendall.

  “He’s running a small engine repair shop I think.”

  “You know what I mean. What happened between you and him? I heard from Sierra that you were wearing a ring for a while.”

  Damn Sierra and that mouth of hers.

  Emme exhaled and put down her sandwich. She’d known this would come up, and, honestly, she was surprised it had taken this long.

  “Nothing happened...ever, and that was the problem. He’s a great guy for someone, just not me. We didn’t have that thing that causes a person to rush home from work just to see the other person or get butterflies when they text – even if all that text says is ‘forgot to get milk.’ We were great housemates, cornhole partners, and friends. I know there’s more, and I want more. I tried to make it work and yes there was a ring for a little bit, but I gave it back. It was painful, but more for our families than us. In all honesty, I think he was relieved when I finally told him that this wasn’t working. I heard he’s dating a dental assistant and they have a puppy.”

  Emme sat back feeling relieved and picked her sandwich back up. She’d done it. She’d spoke the dreaded words and now it was over. For a while, she had viewed it as a failure on her part but was now at peace, mostly. Kendall didn’t seem shocked. No one ever was. Everyone else must have known before her. Emme wanted her lunch companion to know the truth and maybe more than that, that she was unattached.