Danielle Engle - Lavender Excursions

"I thought she might be needing these," Camarin explained. She dangled Kimberly's gloves in front of Mark's face. From the looks of his clothes, Camarin suspected she'd picked an opportune time to call.

When Mark reached for the gloves, she snatched them away and started into the cabin.

Stepping over so he blocked her path, Mark frowned and asked,

"What? You think I won't give them to her?"

Camarin frowned and wagged her finger back and forth in Mark's face. "Are you always so suspicious?" she asked. "I just thought we'd better make certain the gloves are hers. They look rather expensive, so if they're not hers, I'll drop them off at the lodge and hope that whoever lost them thinks to check there."

A sheepish look on his face, Mark stepped aside and motioned Camarin inside.

Acting very causal and nonplussed, Camarin strode past Mark and smiled when she saw Kimberly coming down the hallway.

"Kimberly! We were just talking about you," she said.

Kimberly smiled and walked over to Camarin. "What brings you here?" she asked, suddenly conscious of how disheveled she and Mark must look. She pressed her hands down her shirt, trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

Camarin found it very amusing. She held Kimberly's gloves out to her. "These yours?" she asked.

"Why, yes," Kimberly replied. "I take it I must have forgotten them." She reached for the gloves, acutely aware of Camarin's hand brushing against hers.

"Maybe," Camarin teased, pausing for a moment, "you didn't forget them at all." She winked at Kimberly as though at some private joke.

Kimberly felt her cheeks blushing with embarrassment. Afraid that Mark would pick up on the sexual innuendo, she laughingly replied,

"It wouldn't work. Mark would just buy me a new pair," she said, reaching for Mark's hand. She hooked her arm through his and pulled him to her side.

Mark grinned and squeezed Kimberly's arm affectionately. "Nah, I'd just make you use my pockets to keep your hands warm," he replied, a huge smile on his face. To emphasize his point and perhaps to show Camarin that Kimberly was taken, Mark took Kimberly's hand and pressed it inside the pocket of his jeans. "There," he said, wiggling her hand deep inside the pocket. "Now we'll both stay warm."

Camarin watched the display with an air of indifference, thinking how cocky and over-impressed Mark was of himself. She had an urge to kick him in the balls and watch his damn penis go limp. As it was, he had Kimberly's hand pressed against it, making it appear that he was trying to get her to stroke it for him, right then and there. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked, fixing her gaze very pointedly at Mark's groin.

"Uh, no. Of course not," Kimberly replied. She hastily removed her hand from Mark's pocket and placed it inside her own. Why was she embarrassed about another woman seeing Mark tease her this way? "You're fooling only yourself," the little voice whispered inside her head. The steady aching throb between her legs had started the minute she heard Camarin's voice at the front door. There was no denying it. For some reason, she was longing to feel this woman inside of her, making love to her, lying beside her in the bed she now shared with Mark, and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. She shivered just thinking about it.

"Well, I should be going anyway," Camarin said. She made a gesture of dismissal, a polite smile on her face, as if telling Kimberly she knew her little secret and it was okay.

Kimberly did not miss the implication nor had she missed the flicker in Camarin's eyes when she saw Kimberly's hand on Mark's penis. She felt certain now that the attraction was mutual and she wanted desperately to talk to her about it. As she was turning to leave, Kimberly caught Camarin's hand. "Wait," she said. "Mark was just getting ready to go visit his uncle. Weren't you, Mark?" She rushed on, not giving Mark a chance to reply. "I planned to fix myself a cup of hot cocoa and curl up in front of the fireplace. Why don't you join me? It's the least I can do to thank you for all your trouble."

Kimberly's unexpected behavior took Mark by surprise. He was at a loss as to what he should do, but his public persona dictated. His tone very polite, he looked at Camarin and smiled. "Why, yes," he replied. "Why don't you stay for a bit and keep my girl out of trouble while I'm away. I'll drive you back to your cabin when I return. I shouldn't be gone long," he added. Mark smiled and winked at Kimberly, not noticing her wince when he referred to her as his girl .

However, Camarin did notice. "Well, thank you," she replied, her voice very cool and distant. "I must admit, it's a bit colder out than I realized. Don't know what possessed me to walk all this way in the cold. And with my hair still damp, too," she added, running her fingers over her hair.

"Then it's settled," Kimberly said. She slid Camarin's jacket from her shoulders and gave her a gentle push toward the fireplace. "Go make yourself comfortable while I hang your coat up to dry and put the cocoa on. See you later, Hon," she called out to Mark.

He was standing at the kitchen door. "Yeah, I'll be back in a bit,"

he said. Looking at Camarin once more, he nodded very politely, then turned and left.

Both women listened as Mark started his four-wheel drive and sped out of the driveway. It was an awkward moment, Camarin thinking she'd stepped too far over the line and Kimberly wishing she'd step a little further. Trying to deflect an embarrassing moment, both women looked away. Camarin warmed her hands over the fire while Kimberly busied herself in the kitchen making the hot cocoa.

Mark pulled over once he was out of sight of the cabin. He knew something was going on between the two women. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it was something. When he thought about it though, he realized Kimberly might be experiencing the same premarital trepidation he'd experienced after he decided to propose to her. Time to talk to Uncle Bob , he told himself, patting the ring inside his jacket pocket. He'd planned to officially spring the question this weekend.

While Mark could work up a good argument to quiet his fears, Kimberly could not think of a way to dissuade her feelings toward the woman in her living room. She stirred the hot cocoa, postponing her return to the living room for as long as possible while she tried to figure something out. "Oh, hell," she muttered to herself. "What's the worst thing that could happen?" She poured the cocoa and carried the steaming cups on a tray into the living room.

Camarin smiled broadly at Kimberly as she crossed the room. She held the tray and two napkins that she'd grabbed on her way past the dining room table. Afraid she would drop something, Camarin hurried over and offered to take the tray. "Well, at least let me take the napkins," she said when Kimberly shooed her away, insisting she was okay.

As Camarin took the napkins, theirs hands brushed together once again. They paused, searching one another's eyes, looking for some sign, some hint of the other's attraction. Kimberly knew it was now or never. She set the tray on the nearest table and took the napkins from Camarin's hand. She tossed them aside, leaned forward and offered Camarin her mouth.

Acting as if the incident earlier in the day had never happened, Camarin pressed her lips against Kimberly's. It was a gentle kiss, filled with all the hesitancy and uncertainty of first time lovers.

Camarin's heart was racing, but she forced herself to keep her hands at her sides, her lips the only part of her body touching Kimberly. Her hesitancy was in part because of Taryn and her expressed interest in being the first woman to take Kimberly. Yet, at a deeper level, she knew it was something more. Kimberly Justin threatened to unnerve her and she found the prospect both exciting and threatening.