Chapter Eighteen

THE REST OF the week was busy for Ridley and it passed by quickly. She had talked to Dana on the phone twice, once on Wednesday just to see how her week was going and then again on Friday, just to hear her voice. With each day, her desire for Dana grew more pressing and by the end of the week, she had trouble keeping her mind on anything else. On Friday she went out with friends from her previous school which provided her with some relief, but on Saturday, she had nothing to do all day but to dwell on how much she missed Dana and wanted to be with her.

Sunday morning she made herself eat breakfast, read the paper, clean her room and do the laundry. Performing mindless chores helped the time go by, but it had little or no effect on the persistent desire that plagued her. Later in the afternoon, she showered and got dressed and by the time she stood in front of the door to the kitchen at Café De Marco, her heart was pounding in her ears. As she knocked, she opened the door and poked her head inside. She waved to Jimmy and walked up to greet Tracy. " Hi. Dana's expecting me. Is she around? "

Tracy wiped her hands. " Dana already went upstairs. She told me to tell you to go right up when you got here. Are you hungry? We have some stuff left over."

" No thanks. I had a big breakfast, " Ridley said although she'd had to force down the toast she made to go with her coffee. All week her appetite had been lousy and according to her scale at home, she'd dropped five pounds in the last few weeks. She didn't need food, she needed Dana and her constant state of arousal seemed to be the only bodily preoccupation she had any awareness of or need to satisfy. " Did you have a lot of people today? " she asked Tracy.

" Yeah, we did earlier but we slowed down so Dana went upstairs. Our last customers are almost done. Why don't you help yourself to some coffee? "

" Honestly, I couldn't eat or drink a thing. I'm just going to head up to Dana's apartment and get out of your way so you can get on with your work. I'll talk to you later." Ridley backed out the door as she said goodbye. Since she'd met Dana, her life seemed to be all about waiting and she had waited all week. She needed her like she needed water and air and she couldn't wait one more minute. Her pent up energy sent her bolting up the stairs to Dana's apartment.

Dana answered the door wearing nothing but goose bumps and a towel. " Brrrr, get in here. It's chilly out there." She grabbed Ridley by her jacket sleeve, pulled her inside and shoved the door shut. " Sorry, I'm not ready yet. I just got out of the shower. We were really busy earlier and..." Dana stared into Ridley's eyes and let go of her sleeve, but she didn't move. " I'll go get dressed."

Ridley grabbed her by the waist and held her firmly. " No, don't. I've ached for you all week and I want you so much right now, I can't think straight. I don't want anything else." She pulled Dana toward her and in doing so, she caused Dana's towel to come loose and fall to the floor. Ridley kicked it aside. " Leave it."

" You've got it bad. Why don't I see if I can relieve some of your suffering? " Dana spoke with her lips moving against Ridley's mouth, her breath mingling with Ridley's.

" Please. Only you can, " Ridley whispered.

Dana tugged at the buttons on Ridley's shirt. " It was very thoughtful of you not to wear a bra, " she said as she got the shirt open and covered Ridley's breasts with her hands.

Ridley moaned from deep inside. " I need you so bad."

Dana covered a nipple with her mouth and sucked on it.

" Good God." The sensations produced by Dana's mouth made Ridley feel faint. She moved until her back was against the wall for support, unbuttoned her jeans, tugged the zipper down and brought Dana's hand to her lower abdomen. " Touch me, please"

Dana ran her hand down Ridley's abdomen and into her panties. As if she wanted to tease just a little to prolong the anticipation, she stopped when her fingertips reached Ridley's damp curls. " Tell me what you want."

" You know what I want." Ridley put her hand on Dana's and urged her on.

Dana reached into Ridley's wetness and entered her. " Is this what you need? "

Ridley threw her head back against the wall, clamped her eyes shut and became rigid as the waves of her climax gripped her body like a series of electrical shocks. As she rode it out, she clung to Dana and after it subsided she fell into her arms. After a minute or two, she stood up. " God, I'm sorry. I never even said hello or kissed you."

" You'll have to make up for that, but first I think we should lie down." With her arm around Ridley's waist, Dana walked her into the bedroom. " Why don't you take your clothes off? It would make things a lot easier."

Ridley removed her clothing under Dana's watchful eyes and as soon as she was naked, she gathered Dana into her arms and kissed her. " I could kiss you forever."

" Forever? " Dana repeated with a sparkle in her eyes. " What's gotten into you? "

" I have no idea. All I know is that I've never been like this, not ever." She kissed Dana on her neck just below her ear. " It's not a problem, is it? "

" Not for me. I like it."

" I'm glad to hear you say that because I still haven't done what I've wanted to do all week." Ridley urged Dana to the bed and helped her lie back with her legs hanging off the edge. She parted Dana's legs and knelt on the floor between them. Prompted by Dana's urging, Ridley ran a hand up the inside of her thigh and entered her. Since Monday, she'd wanted to make love to Dana in this way again. In fact, she'd found it difficult to keep her mind on anything else and now that they were together, she knew she'd never get tired of this.

After Dana screamed her release into the room, Ridley climbed up on the bed, took Dana in her arms and kissed her. " You're so beautiful. I love how you look, how you feel, how you taste. I love..." Her hand found Dana and she began to touch her again.

Dana reached to touch Ridley. " And I love how wet you get when you're really hot for me and how you feel inside. It's just like...God, this feels so good. I..."

Their words and their touching transported them to a place where they lost all awareness aside from the feel of each other's bodies and the quest for mutual gratification. Ridley was the first to let go and Dana followed right behind her.

Afterward, with her cheek against Dana's, Ridley whispered, " Being with you is wonderful. Everything about you is wonderful."

" And you are the sexiest thing alive. I've never..."

Ridley propped herself up on her elbow and looked into Dana's eyes. " You make me sexy." Although Dana hadn't finished her thought, Ridley knew what she'd wanted to say. " I haven't either. You must know how special this is. Everything until now has been like child's play and I can't believe I still want you this much. Do you think I've gone mad? "

" I doubt it. If you have, then we're both raving lunatics."

Ridley exaggerated a sigh of relief. " That's a relief. I was afraid I might be the only one who had completely lost my mind."

" Well, you're not." Dana kissed her. " This is a nice way to spend a chilly Sunday afternoon, don't you think? We can make love all day if you want to."

" If I want to? " Ridley gathered Dana into her arms. " Believe me, I want to."

HOURS LATER, DANA disentangled herself from Ridley's embrace and got out of bed. " Are you hungry? Because I'm so hungry I could eat a horse or a house or maybe a cardboard box." She pulled her jeans and tee shirt on over her naked body and stuck her bare feet into a pair of moccasins. Then she went over and nudged Ridley. " Get up and put some clothes on. We'll go downstairs and I'll make us something to eat."

Ridley stretched her arms over her head. " Don't you have any food up here? "

" I'm afraid not. I'm always eating downstairs and it doesn't make sense to stock up on groceries in both places. Quit asking questions and come on."

" I see your point. Okay, downstairs it is. Just give me a minute." Ridley went into the bathroom and when she came out she stepped naked into her jeans and put her shirt back on. " No one's down there, right? "

" Are you kidding? Everyone went home a long time ago and Tracy told me earlier that she'd be spending the night with Erika, so we have the place to ourselves. Unless..."

" Unless what? " Ridley asked.

Dana walked over to Ridley and stood in front of her. " Unless there's someone or something lurking in the shadows down there that I don't know about."

" Stop trying to scare me, silly." Ridley grabbed her, picked her up off the floor and spun her around. " So, what you're saying is we'll have to keep an eye out for attack-trained chickens or killer cucumbers or karate trained carrots or..."

" Or the boogie man."

" He's not here. He's in the closet of my old room at home."

" So you think we're safe then? "

Ridley laughed. " Yeah, we're safe. Let's go before you starve to death."

In a matter of minutes, Dana whipped up two cheese and mushroom omelets along with toasted bagels and cream cheese. They ate at the kitchen counter and drank hot tea without saying a word to each other until they had consumed every morsel.

Ridley pushed her empty plate away. " That was good. I didn't realize how hungry I was--for food I mean. I haven't eaten since this morning and that wasn't much. I was too nervous to eat before I came over here."

" Couldn't wait to see me, huh? "

" I couldn't wait to see you and touch you."

" Have you touched me enough? " Dana asked.

" No, but I think we could both use a break."

" I agree, so let's talk a little. How was your week? "

" Busy as usual and filled with teenage drama. One of my ninth graders told me she was pregnant. It's a shame because she's smart and has potential. I convinced her to talk to Erin Lafferty about her options, but she made it clear she planned to have the baby and keep it. Of course she expects her mother to raise it."

" Did she go see Erin? "

" Yes, the next day. I really like Erin. We've gotten friendly and sometimes I go up and eat lunch with her or she comes down to the gym to see me."

" She does, huh? " Dana chewed on the inside of her cheek. " Uh, about this Erin Lafferty... is she attractive? "

Ridley didn't answer right away. What did she see hiding in Dana's face? Was it jealousy? " Yeah, she's attractive. As a matter of fact, she's quite cute. She came home with me after work on Friday and we hung out and talked for a while and then later on, we went out to eat at South Street Souvlaki. They have great Greek food. Have you been there? "

" Hmm... whose idea was that? "

" Mine. I invited her because I wanted to get to know her better and it's hard to talk at work. She's constantly busy and so am I."

Dana chewed on the opposite cheek. " You went out to dinner with her and you didn't bring her to my restaurant? I'm just a few blocks from South Street Souvlaki."

Ridley reached over and flicked a small crumb away from the side of Dana's mouth with her thumb. " That's right. I wouldn't want to make a pest of myself and I wouldn't want you to think I was stalking you. Besides, your restaurant's expensive."

" Did you consider your evening with her a date? "

" No, Dana, I didn't. We're becoming friends and we just wanted to talk." Ridley raised her eye brows. " If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."

" I am a little, but I know I don't have any right to be."

" That's true, but aside from that, you don't have to be." Ridley covered Dana's hand with hers. She longed to tell Dana that she didn't want anyone else and she could have reassured her that even though Erin was attractive, she wasn't attracted to her, but she didn't. Dana had set the limits for their relationship and she would have to deal with the consequences. " I found out she's one of us. I had suspected she was because of something she'd said and while we were talking, we just came out and told each other."

" Great. Does Laurie know her? "

" Not that well, but I told Laurie about her and Laurie thinks Erin should join our group of friends. We're all going out together sometime soon or Laurie's going to have us over to her house for dinner some weekend."

" Swell. Does she have a girlfriend? "

" I asked her that and she said she's currently single."

" So, that means she's available? " Dana asked.

" Yes, that's what that usually means, " Ridley replied.

Dana picked up their plates and carried them to the sink. " Help me clean up." She threw a dishtowel at Ridley. " Here, you can dry."

Ridley thought Dana had thrown the dishtowel a little harder than she had to, so she dropped the subject of Erin. However, it did please her that she'd gotten a rise out of Dana. " Did you mean it when you invited me to bring my mother here for dinner? " Ridley dried the dishes as Dana handed them to her and stacked them on the counter. " She has to come into the city this Tuesday and she wants to meet me for dinner. Would it be all right if we came then? "

" Of course it would. I'll write you in the book for six o'clock. Is that okay? "

" That's when she wanted to meet me."

" Remember, though, I told her it would be my treat. You can bring some wine if you want it, but you're not paying for dinner. Does your mother have any favorite foods? "

" She loves duck, " Ridley answered immediately. She paused to think of more, but ended up saying, " I can't think of much she wouldn't like on your menu."

" I'll make something special. I know just the thing."

" Don't go to any trouble. Anything you make will be fine."

" It's no trouble. It'll make me happy to do something nice for her and for you."

" Thanks, " Ridley said.

" You're welcome." Dana handed Ridley the omelet pan and washed the silverware and utensils. She drained the water out of the sink and dried her hands prior to giving Ridley her undivided attention. " So what do you want to do now? "

" What a question." Ridley moved close enough to feel the heat radiating from Dana's body and get her nose tickled by Dana's rapid breathing. With her arms wrapped around Dana she walked her backward, until they reached the counter. In a display of strength, she picked Dana up, set her down on the stainless steel top and situated herself between Dana's knees. As they kissed, she held onto Dana's thighs.

" What are you up to now? " Dana asked between kisses.

" I'm thinking about having something sweet for dessert." Ridley opened Dana's jeans and slid the zipper down. " Lift your hips so I can pull these off."

" Here? "

" Why not? You do serve dessert, don't you? "

Dana kicked her moccasins off and lifted her hips. " Ooh, that's cold on my butt, " she said as she settled her bare behind back on the counter.

" You'll warm it up soon enough." Ridley kissed her again, this time more urgently.

Dana broke away from the kiss. " Wait. Hold on a second. Before you get carried away I want you to promise me you'll never tell anyone I had my naked butt on this counter." Dana put her hands on Ridley's shoulders and kept her at a distance. " I'm begging you. I'll never hear the end of it if you do."

" I can just imagine, " Ridley said, unable to hold back a mischievous smile.

" I don't think you can. I know them and it would be awful." Dana still held onto her so she couldn't move closer. " Promise me right now or I'll put my jeans back on."

" All right, I promise. I wouldn't want you to go through that. I'll keep quiet if you let me have my way with you, but I'm also thinking this will come in handy if I ever need to blackmail you." Ridley ran her hands under Dana's tee shirt and reached for her breasts.

Dana jerked as Ridley touched them. " Oh... they've never been this sensitive."

Ridley lifted Dana's shirt enough to expose her breasts and with one arm around Dana's back to support her, she leaned in and took a swollen nipple into her mouth.

Dana groaned as Ridley brought her nipple to a stiff peak and pushed her hips firmly against Ridley's abdomen. " I'm getting your jeans all wet."

Ridley let go of Dana's breast and lifted her head. " Don't worry about it. They're already plenty wet inside." She brought her mouth to Dana's nipples a second time, but she didn't linger there for long because she couldn't wait any longer for what she really wanted. She bent her head and found Dana wet and open and more than ready.

" I almost fainted that time, " Dana said minutes later.

" If you had, I'd have held you up. I'd never let you fall."

" That's comforting. Now help me get down from here, " Dana hung onto Ridley's shoulders as she slid to the floor and then she held on to her arm as she pulled her jeans on and stepped into her shoes. After she pulled her tee shirt over her head, she put her arms around Ridley and kissed her soundly. " Let's go back upstairs before you find some other crazy place to attack me."

" I love making love to you, " Ridley said as she pulled Dana closer.

" I have noticed that and now that we've had something to eat, I'd like to do to you what you just did to me--only in bed." Dana gave Ridley a light spank on the butt.

" Let's go, " Ridley said. " We're wasting time."