Radclyffe - Wild Shores

Austin dipped her head and caught Gem’s earlobe between her teeth, tugged it just enough to make Gem jerk. Gem tightened around her inside, and Austin pressed her thumb over her clitoris as she stroked. “Nothing usual about this.”

Gem’s eyes flew open, and she searched Austin’s face, her gaze hazy and undone. “You’re about to make me come.”

“Go ahead. I’m not done.”

“I can’t—”

Gem’s fingers dug into Austin’s shoulders as she bore down, riding Austin through a fast hard orgasm and slipping into a rocking rhythm that signaled there was more. Austin kept pace, stroking and pressing, harder and higher, until Gem cried out, a shocked, exultant cry, and came again.

Austin stilled until the pulsations stopped and Gem let out a long sigh. Gently, Austin eased down beside her, wrapped her arm around Gem’s shoulders, and cradled her head against her chest. “No, nothing usual at all. Like the first time ever.”

“I know. How can that be?” Gem nuzzled Austin’s throat. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Maybe we don’t have to know any more than this,” Austin murmured, hoping desperately that would be true.

Chapter Seventeen

Gem’s brain finally went back online and reality cut through the lazy haze of satisfaction. Reality was so much more vivid than it had been just a short time before, like a black-and-white image suddenly suffused with color. Austin’s heart beating beneath her cheek was real. The scent of spice and sea was real. The lassitude and lingering pleasure in her loins was real. And so, too, was the certainty of the end drawing closer.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but she knew it was running out. Usually she could tell the time without a watch to within a minute or so, but apparently great sex derailed her inner compass. Austin had declared she’d only had an hour, without explaining why. Gem hadn’t asked. It hadn’t been important then. Maybe Austin was one of those people who worked on a specific schedule and never deviated. Gem didn’t know, but then she didn’t know a lot of things about her. That hadn’t seemed important then and still didn’t.

She did know her touch, more intimately than that of the man she’d been married to or the woman she’d been making love with for the last two years. She knew her body and what caused her to tighten with anticipation and explode with satisfaction. She knew the heat of her gaze and the intensity of her attention. She knew things on some primal, fundamental level that had nothing to do with all the daily tasks of living that usually consumed her time. In another minute or five, Austin would disappear again, possibly never to return, and she’d known that too. Gem pressed a kiss to the inner curve of Austin’s breast where her heart beat so close to the surface. “You have to go, don’t you?”

Austin stroked Gem’s hair slowly, letting strands sift through her fingers. Fog climbed up the small window next to the bed, an ever-thickening shroud heralding danger. “I do. I’m sorry.”

Gem rose up and kissed her before meeting her eye to eye. “No apologies are necessary. I knew this would be brief.” She grinned. “And I must say, it didn’t feel fast, it just felt…amazing.”

Austin cupped her jaw, kissed her back. “Such an ordinary word for something extraordinary. But yes, amazing.”

Gem sat up and swung over the side of the bed before the fire surging in her depths made her try to keep Austin from leaving. “We should get some clothes on. I’ll walk you back.”

Austin skimmed a hand down the center of Gem’s spine, imprinting the firmness of muscles and the delicacy of fine bones beneath ivory skin. “No need. It’s going to be ugly out there.”

“All the more reason I should go check in at the center. I want to make sure the team members we expected actually got in today. And that everyone else is settled.”

“All right then. You’ll be careful, won’t you, if you stay?”

Gem turned back, leaned down to kiss her. “I will. And you, the same. You’re sure you don’t want to get out ahead of the storm? I’m afraid it’s not going to be very restful around here for the next few weeks. If it’s peace and quiet you need for your work, you might not get it.”

“I’ll be here.”

“I’m glad, then.” Gem brushed her fingers through the dark lock of hair slashing across Austin’s forehead. “I hope I see you again.”

“I do too.”

Gem dressed quickly, used to being fast in a cold cabin in the morning, and Austin moved just as efficiently. Outside the fog lay a foot thick over the marshes, but she knew the trail by heart and led Austin back to the center as evening threatened to come early. Only three cars dotted the small parking lot, and she recognized Austin’s rental next to her own. She stopped beside Austin’s, resisting the urge to grip Austin’s jacket and hold her in place for just another minute or two. “Would you mind texting me when you get back to your B and B? Just so I know you’re all right.”

“As soon as I’m settled,” Austin said after a moment. She handed Gem her phone. “Put your number in there. Then you’ll have mine when I text you.”

“Are you sure? I know it might be a little too persona—”

Austin slid a hand beneath her hair and cupped her neck, drawing her closer, tilting her head up. She kissed her, a deep, possessive kiss. “I’m sure. Very. I’ll let you know.”

Gem slid her arms around Austin’s neck, pressed close, took her mouth again. She drank her in as deeply as she could, feasting on her heat and the dark promise of her mouth. When she drew back, her heart was pounding and her breath was short. “Well. That will hold me for a little while.”

“Not long enough for me,” Austin muttered.

“Be careful.” Gem backpedaled, watching until Austin slid into the driver’s seat, started the SUV, and pulled away. The fog quickly swallowed her headlights and Gem finally turned and went inside.

Paul was just zipping up his backpack. “I’m going to close early. There’s no one around, and the weather really sucks.”

“I don’t blame you. Go on ahead. Is anyone in the back?”

“Emily’s there. A couple of other people stopped in earlier and then went to their cabins. Joe left about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Thanks. Take care on your way home.”

“Will do. I’m walking. It’s not that far.” He headed out the door, his bright orange backpack slung over one shoulder.

“’Night,” Gem called after him and went down the hall to the canteen.

Emily was the only one there, nursing a hot cup of instant soup.

“Hey.” Gem pulled another packet of soup out of the box that sat on the counter, ran water into a mug, and emptied the packet. After she put it in the microwave, she turned to find Emily studying her with an unmistakable smirk. Heat rushed to her face. “What?”

“How is it you failed to mention the hottie?”

Gem laughed. “Hottie?”

Emily made a sizzling sound. “Like, if I didn’t have a thing for a certain type of appendage, I could almost see myself getting all sweaty and—”

Gem held up a hand. “Okay, let’s not go there. A picture is worth a thousand words and all.”

“Pfft,” Emily said. “Seriously, where were you hiding her?”

The microwave dinged, saving Gem for a moment. She took out the soup, stirred it until the lumps on the surface disappeared, and sat down across from Emily. Confession time. “I didn’t mention her because I just met her yesterday.”

“Whoa.” Emily sat up straighter, her expression sharpening. “Yesterday and already—wow. Who knew?”

“Will you stop,” Gem said, laughing again self-consciously. “You make me sound like a…I don’t know what.”