Radclyffe - Sheltering Dunes

“Because you asked. And because I want to tell you.” Flynn reached across the bar and touched Mica’s arm. Her fingertips were warm, soft. Like her lips had been. Mica’s skin tingled all over, as if electricity were shooting out from the small spots where Flynn touched, heating her body like an electric coil on a stove. “I don’t have anyone else I want to tell, Mica.”

“I don’t understand you,” Mica said.

“I’m not complicated. When I look at you, I feel things.”

Mica swallowed. This was crazy. She shouldn’t be here like this. She shouldn’t care what Flynn said next, but she did. “What things?”

Flynn smiled. “Are you sure you want to know? Some of them might be X-rated.”

“Just some of them?” Mica tried to sound dismissive, but she wanted to laugh too. Flynn made her want to laugh. No one ever had before. “Spill.”

“I think you’re beautiful. You make a spot inside my chest glow, like sunlight on my skin, only inside. I think you’re tough and strong, and that makes my heart race a little bit. Sometimes I think you’re sad, and I want to make you smile. You make me feel all kinds of things, and when I think about you, I want more.”

“If I thought you really meant all of that—”

“I do. Someday I hope you’ll believe me.”

Mica almost believed her now. Flynn was easy to believe. Flynn was going to make her weak, make her vulnerable, and if that happened, Flynn was going to get her dead.

“You don’t want to get involved with me, Flynn,” Mica said softly.

“How do you know?”

“Because I know you don’t know me.”

“Then let me. I’ll talk to you and you can talk to me. That’s how it works.”

“You don’t know how anything works in my world.”

Flynn slid her fingers down Mica’s arm and grasped her fingers. Flynn’s hold was gentle, but firm. Certain. And the heat shot lower, into Mica’s depths.

“Then teach me. Let me learn you.”

Mica trembled. Her belly flared and for a second, her head grew as light as her heart. “And then what do I do when you walk away?”

“Why isn’t it easier to start out thinking I won’t?”

Mica shook her head vehemently. “I can’t.”

“Give me a chance, Mica. Please.”

How could she say no? No one had ever given her a choice before. They’d taken or commanded or threatened. But they’d never stood before her completely open and vulnerable and given her the choice to stay or walk away. She threaded her fingers through Flynn’s and the connection felt right. Scary, but right.

“I’m on a short shift tonight. Ten o’clock?”

“I’ll wait.”

“I’ll get you that beer—draft, right?”

“You remembered.” Flynn smiled, and a blaze ignited in Mica as if Flynn had poured gas on kindling. Mica didn’t run. She was going to burn for this, but she couldn’t run from the promise in Flynn’s eyes.

Chapter Fourteen

Allie awakened to the sound of the lock on the front door sliding home and footsteps crossing the living room toward the open bedroom door. She didn’t turn on the bedside light. She liked waiting in the dark for Ash. One or the other of them so often returned during the middle of the night after a late shift or an out-of-town job, they’d gotten used to moving around the bedroom by memory. She liked lying under the covers, absorbing the small sounds of Ash emptying her pockets, piling change and keys and her wallet on the dresser, taking off her clothes. Those small familiar tasks of Ash coming home to her made Allie think of permanence, of an endless tomorrow. The safety and certainty of that future warmed her as much as knowing in another minute Ash’s hard, strong body would slide next to hers. Ash approached the bed, and Allie pulled the sheets back.

Ash lay down with a sigh. “Hi, babe.”

“Hi, baby,” Allie whispered.

“Sorry to wake you. I didn’t think you’d be in bed.”

“I didn’t sleep much last night, so I turned in early tonight. It isn’t late, is it?”

“Just a little after ten.” Ash turned on her side and drew Allie against her.

When Ash kissed her, the last shadows of worry and longing disappeared from Allie’s mind. Right at that moment, all she knew was Ash was here, and hers. “I love you.”

Ash stroked her back and kissed her throat. “I love you too. You okay?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Allie pulled Ash on top of her, opening her legs so Ash could settle between her thighs. She stretched beneath Ash, fitting her breasts and her belly into the solid planes of Ash’s body. “I’m really, really good right now. I bet in a few minutes, I could be even better.”

Chuckling at the not-so-subtle message, Ash braced herself on her elbows and skated her mouth over Allie’s. The feel of Allie’s warm pliant flesh, the scent of her—light and sweet with an undertone of dark orchids—went through her like a knife. Wanting her was a sweet agony she would gladly bleed for. “Jesus, I missed you so much.”

“Do you think you always will?”

“Babe, I’m sure of it.” Ash skimmed her open mouth over Allie’s breast, scraping her teeth lightly over Allie’s nipple.

Allie made a soft purring sound in her throat, the kind of sound she made when she was happy and turned on. Ash loved pulling that moan from her, almost as much she loved Allie’s cries of pleasure when she came. She rocked her hips between Allie’s, slipping her tongue deeper into her mouth, stroking slowly in all the places she knew got Allie even hotter. When she’d been away for a few days, Allie was always on edge when she got home. Allie was going to need a lot more reassurance to convince her she wasn’t walking out on her again. A lot more time, a lot more reassurance, and a lot more moments like this. Sex was more than just physical pleasure for Allie. For her too, but Allie was one of the most passionate women she’d ever met. Allie connected with others in a lot of different ways, but sex was definitely one of her most intense forms of expression. Allie absorbed sensation with every glance, pulled in emotion through her fingertips with every touch. Making love to Allie was just one way to prove she was staying—and definitely no hardship.

“I’ve been thinking about this since we talked last night.” Ash wanted to be the one to fill her, to satisfy her, to convince her she’d be there every single day from now on. She caressed Allie’s belly, stroking softly until Allie’s hips lifted and her legs went tight.

“Ash,” Allie murmured, half warning, half plea, “I’ve been ready since last night. If you’re not careful—”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to be very, very careful.” Ash slid her fingers between Allie’s legs, finding the silken path that took her home. She entered Allie in a long smooth thrust, and Allie gasped. Sometimes she took Allie slow, sometimes she liked to tease her until she begged, but after she’d been away a while, she took her fast the first time, reminding Allie of what was theirs alone. She kissed her mouth, pushed deeper, filled her until there was no space between them. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Allie murmured, her fingers digging into Ash’s shoulders. “More than I ever…thought…oh God, Ash, I’m going to come.”

“That’s right, babe, that’s right.” Ash clenched her teeth, her clit pounding, the urgency in her loins painting her vision red. She wanted to own her, down to her last fiber, she wanted to move her the way no one else ever would or ever could, the possessive passion driving her nearly insane. She picked up her pace and Allie came, squeezing down around her fingers, twisting and whimpering.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop,” Allie cried. “I’m going to come again, baby. Don’t stop.”