Chapter Ten

Colby followed Elizabeth into the villa, too nervous to notice the furnishings. She did see that the curtains were open, allowing the late-afternoon sun into the large room. In her experience, most women, for whatever reason, preferred the dark of night. But not Elizabeth. She had invited her here for only one reason. Colby wanted to make love to her in the daylight when she could see every curve, peak, and valley that was only Elizabeth. She wanted to watch her climax, see her lose control. That thought alone kicked her desire level up a notch.

She wanted Elizabeth desperately but at the same time she was cautious. Elizabeth had so many appealing qualities, the combination a powerful aphrodisiac. But something about her touched Colby.

She didn’t allow her emotions to get in the way of having sex with a woman. In fact, she rarely felt anything anymore. Over the years she had simply lost interest in anything other than surfing. She went through the motions with her friends and when other social situations required it, and the same was true with her sexual liaisons. She was simply responding to a natural bodily function. The need for sexual release was very different from the need to be loved and cared for. She would never allow that to happen again.

Elizabeth stopped in the middle of the room and turned to her, her face flushed and devoid of emotion except for the desire flickering in her eyes. She tossed the card key, her towel, and whatever else she had in her hands on the couch. Without taking her eyes off her, Elizabeth peeled her top over her head and slid the bottom of her swimsuit to the floor. She stood there waiting for her to make the next move.

Her pulse rocketed. Elizabeth was more beautiful than she imagined. She was trim with just enough curves to be appealing to any man or lesbian. Her breasts were firm and exactly as they should be for a woman her age, and she immediately remembered how they felt and tasted. A tan line on her flat stomach separated it from the neatly trimmed curly hair below. Colby couldn’t wait to have Elizabeth wrapped around her.

She dropped her own things and slowly crossed the room. Elizabeth didn’t move, and the sheer boldness of her actions made Colby’s knees weak. Being with a woman who took charge of her own needs and desires was exciting, and if she wasn’t careful she’d come at Elizabeth’s first touch.

Her hand shook when she caressed Elizabeth’s cheek with the back of her fingers. She wanted to explore every inch of the soft skin, warmed by desire and the sun. But she wanted to kiss her even more.

Before she had a chance, Elizabeth spoke, a catch in her voice. “You have too many clothes on.”

“Then take them off, ” she countered, her own voice more than a little shaky.

Elizabeth quickly disposed of her tank top, but with almost agonizing slowness she trailed her fingertips over every thread of Colby’s bikini top before slowly untying the two strings that held it together. It landed on the same pile on the floor.

Elizabeth took her time removing her board shorts, which drove her crazy, but she didn’t reach for Elizabeth or touch her in any way. She let Elizabeth take control, which was thrilling. She was always the one in charge, the aggressor, the taker versus the taken, but not this time.

“You’re beautiful, ” she whispered.

Elizabeth licked her lips and Colby stepped closer, the tips of their breasts almost touching. The heat from their bodies rose in waves, and her breathing matched the shallow in and out of Elizabeth’s chest. She desperately wanted to touch her but held back. She was afraid all this would go away, Elizabeth would go away if she did something wrong. For the first time in a long time she wanted to do everything right.

Elizabeth cupped her hand behind Colby’s neck and pulled her down for a kiss. When their lips met, an explosion shot through her and she had to fight the urge to take Elizabeth in her arms and never let go. The sensation was more powerful than the first time they kissed. Then they were two strangers, now they were more than that.

Elizabeth deepened the kiss and stepped into her, and she couldn’t hold back any longer. She wrapped her arms around Elizabeth’s waist, pulling her closer, and reveled in the feel of her naked skin. She didn’t know what aroused her more—Elizabeth’s kisses, the feel of her breasts against hers, or the soft hair tickling her thigh. She didn’t try to figure it out, simply struggled to maintain what little control she still had.

She explored the soft skin of Elizabeth’s back, and when she trailed her hands up her spine, Elizabeth arched her back, her hard nipples pushing against Colby’s chest. When Elizabeth moaned, Colby slid her thigh between hers.

Elizabeth practically climbed her leg, her wetness a mirror of what Colby knew was her own. Dragging her mouth away, she slid her lips and tongue down Elizabeth’s neck. Her head dropped in surrender, giving Colby complete access, and she sucked on the throbbing pulse point. Elizabeth’s hands were in her hair, pulling and guiding as she ground against her leg.

“I can’t stand up much longer.” Elizabeth’s voice was choked with passion. “Take me to bed or take me now.”

Her ears roared and her pulse skyrocketed with desire. Just those few words aroused her almost to orgasm. She wanted to carry Elizabeth to bed and spend hours making love to her, yet she wanted her right here, right now. She couldn’t make up her mind. Elizabeth decided for her.

“Touch me, ” she breathed into Colby’s hair. Not giving her a chance to respond, Elizabeth grabbed her hand and guided it between her legs. Warm wetness filled her hand, Elizabeth’s sigh of pleasure filled her ears. Elizabeth started to move and her clitoris hardened with each stroke.

“God, yes, ” Elizabeth said, wrapping her arms around Colby’s neck. Colby spread her legs, distributing her weight more evenly to hold Elizabeth as she rode her fingers. She wanted to feel Elizabeth under her, above her, inside her. She slid one finger, then two into her warm center. Elizabeth’s arms tightened around her and she stopped breathing. Frightened, Colby started to pull away.

“No, ” Elizabeth emphatically replied, which was all Colby needed to hear. She began to stroke Elizabeth’s clit with her thumb. Elizabeth stiffened, the flesh around her fingers pulsated, and Elizabeth came in her hand. She held her as wave after wave of pleasure clearly shot through the woman in her arms. She was on the verge of orgasm herself but focused on giving Elizabeth as much pleasure as possible. When Elizabeth’s shudders subsided, she flicked her thumb over Elizabeth’s hard clit again, causing another round of orgasms to spill from her. This time she couldn’t hold back her own climax and her knees gave way. She and Elizabeth slid to the floor, Colby on top, breathing heavily.

“Oh, my God.”

She could barely speak. Her breathing was too fast and she was light-headed. She raised herself up on her arms, taking some of her weight off Elizabeth. “I’ll say.” The words were barely out of her mouth when Elizabeth slid her fingers into her, then had her on her back with her lips fastened to her breast. She climaxed again almost before she knew it was coming.

Elizabeth didn’t let up, and it was two hours before they got up off the floor and headed into the bedroom. They ricocheted off the walls, their desire for each other overtaking them in the middle of the hall. She lifted Elizabeth, and finally those legs that had tantalized her for days wrapped around her. Hands and fingers and mouths were everywhere, and they shared several more orgasms in the hall before they finally made it to Elizabeth’s bed.

Colby woke, at first not sure where she was. She had not woken in a place she wasn’t familiar with in more than fifteen years. Elizabeth was asleep, curled against her, her hand on her breast. Colby watched her nipple harden just by looking at Elizabeth’s hand against it. Her skin was lighter there than anywhere else on her body, and the contrast between Elizabeth’s tanned hand and her skin was as clear as the differences between them.

From what she knew of Elizabeth she had a successful career and a life she loved. Her future was in front of her and she was making the most of it. Colby, on the other hand, was ashamed of hers. Her old life, that is. How would Elizabeth react if she found out? Naturally she’d be shocked. Anyone who knew what happened would be, and rightfully so. Next she would be repulsed and disgusted because she had allowed someone who had done what she had to touch her. She would shower with the strongest soap and the roughest brush to erase all traces of Colby’s hands from her body. She would never forget Colby, but for all the wrong reasons. And that’s why Colby never wanted her to find out.

This was exactly why very few people knew anything more about her than she wanted to divulge. In the beginning, her dinner buddies had peppered her with the usual questions that passed between burgeoning friends. She became a master at avoidance and small lies to cover her tracks. She didn’t let anyone too close, having concluded that she couldn’t handle taking on the emotional or physical responsibility for another human being. Unfortunately that realization had come too late.

Elizabeth stirred, snuggling deeper in her arms. She wanted to wake her and rewind the last few hours. Making love with Elizabeth had been unbelievable. Just thinking about the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin, the tangy taste of her lips, she grew wet. Elizabeth must have sensed something because she woke.

“Hey, there, ” she said, sounding groggy.

“Hey, yourself.” Since Gretchen died she had not woken up with a woman regardless of whose bed they were in. Typically it was the other woman’s, but she always left before it reached this point. So why was she still here? And, more important, why was she not at all anxious to leave?

“Have you been awake long? ”

Elizabeth’s hand was moving in delicious circles on her stomach and she already had a hard time concentrating on anything other than the growing throb between her legs. “No, not long.”

“I’m hungry, ” Elizabeth murmured, raising herself on an elbow.

Her hair was tousled but her eyes clear, and she was the most beautiful woman Colby had ever seen. The sprinkling of freckles on her nose gave her a youthful appearance. She asked about them.

“I usually cover them up. Something about a college president with freckles that loses the desired punch.”

“The sun is bringing them out. I like them, ” she said honestly. Elizabeth’s hand stopped moving and she was disappointed.

“Really? ” Elizabeth asked as a mischievous smile started at the e.g. of her very kissable lips.

“Yes, I do. You look like you’re twelve.”

Elizabeth rolled on top of her, her mouth inches away, and began grinding her pelvis into her with slow, seductive moves. “Do I feel like I’m twelve? ” Elizabeth asked, separating each word with a searing kiss.

She immediately forgot the question as the pounding in her crotch intensified. Her hands instinctively went to Elizabeth’s waist, and when Elizabeth slid her tongue into her mouth, she climaxed. Not expecting the wave, she grabbed Elizabeth’s ass and held her while the spasms ran their course. She had never come so fast from so little. Her head spun, her mind pure mush.

When she opened her eyes, Elizabeth was gazing down at her while straddling her hips, wet and so aroused she could smell her. It wasn’t long before Elizabeth was rocking back and forth, spreading her juices on Colby’s stomach. Putting a hand on either side of Colby’s head, she bent forward just enough for her to catch a swaying breast in her mouth.

“God, that feels good, ” Elizabeth whispered. She moaned her pleasure a few times and tightened her legs around her. Colby lightly bit the hard nipple in her mouth.

“Yes, uhh, just like that.” Elizabeth dropped her head, soft blond hair tickling Colby’s face.

The stronger she sucked, the harder Elizabeth rocked against her. She slid her fingers inside Elizabeth, rewarded with another shudder of pleasure and a hoarse command to go deeper. She wanted to please Elizabeth like she had never been pleased before. She wanted her to experience the same thrill and power of orgasm as she had every time they came together. It mattered to her. For the first time in a long, long time, it mattered.

Elizabeth said her name in gasping breaths as she quickened her pace, Colby keeping up with each move. Finally she stiffened and, with one last cry, came hard. Colby watched Elizabeth become even more beautiful as orgasm overtook her. She felt every beat of Elizabeth’s heart in the fingers buried deep inside her. The changes in Elizabeth’s face mesmerized her. She had seen the mask of concentration transforming into the glow of release several times before and knew she would never grow tired of seeing this woman come in her arms. It frightened her that she wouldn’t have the chance.

Elizabeth collapsed on Colby, unable to stay upright any longer. She was breathing way too fast and her head was foggy, but she was aware when Colby slowly removed her fingers. Colby was a fabulous lover, sensing when she needed it fast and hard, and when soft and gentle was the only way to orgasm. They had explored each other’s bodies for hours, and she knew every freckle and scar on the woman holding her.

“Jesus. I don’t know what to say. I’ve never…” she mumbled into Colby’s warm neck.

“What would you like to say? ” came the equally breathless voice. Colby’s heart beat rapidly under hers.

“That was absolutely awesome. My God, you’re good.” Good was hardly an adequate adjective to describe Colby’s lovemaking, but it was all she could come up with at the moment.

Colby chuckled. “You did all the work.”

At this comment, Elizabeth lifted her head. Colby smiled, brushing her hair back from her face, and she felt herself blush. She hadn’t been shy in bed, or on the floor, or anywhere else, for that matter, but for some reason this time taking what she wanted slightly embarrassed her. It made absolutely no sense. They had sucked and fucked for hours and in more creative ways than this, but this time it had felt different. Colby had felt different, had touched her differently.

“I guess I did, huh? ” she replied, trying to lighten her mood. This was a summer fling and she could not, would not, let herself get swept away in it. In a few weeks she would be back on her own turf, and Colby would move on as well. There was nothing between them but a few good memories. There couldn’t be.

“Feel free to use me like that anytime. I’m here at your service, ” Colby said wickedly, a sly smile spreading across her face.

She was breathtaking when she smiled, Elizabeth thought. She hadn’t seen her do that much and she liked it, very much. It made her stomach tingle and her toes curl.

“Is that so? ” Colby’s dark eyes grew darker as Elizabeth repeated her movements from a few moments ago. “You liked it? ” Colby’s mouth opened but nothing immediately came out. She nodded instead.

Elizabeth moved again. “Did you like this? ” Again Colby nodded and her eyes began to glaze over. She was still on top but wanted Colby as Colby had had her. With little effort she switched their positions and felt the familiar weight of Colby’s body on hers. She wasn’t heavy, she just felt right. Smoldering eyes hovered above her as Colby began her own self-satisfying movements.

This time, Elizabeth mimicked exactly what Colby had done to her earlier. The feel of her warmth on her hand and tightening around her fingers was overwhelming. She was giving this spectacular woman pleasure, and it was as simple as that.

She wanted to prolong her own enjoyment of watching Colby. Her breasts heaved and her graceful back arched, giving Elizabeth unimpeded access to her clit. She couldn’t resist when Colby whispered, “Please, now.” She was aware that Colby needed to climax and ran her thumb over the exact place she needed. A quick flick, a little pressure, and Colby exploded and collapsed on her.

Colby might be having the orgasm, but stars were shooting in Elizabeth’s head as well. Her heart pulsed with something she didn’t recognize, and she had an overwhelming need to gather Colby to her and never let her go. She gave in to the first part and ignored the second.

“Didn’t you say something about being hungry? About three hours ago? ” Colby asked. She was zipping her shorts, her hair still damp from the shower. It would have been two hours ago if Elizabeth hadn’t slipped in behind her in the streaming hot water.

“Yes. We missed dinner.” Elizabeth buckled the strap on her sandal and looked across the room at her. Her face was glowing, even with the lack of any substantial sleep the night before. She had that just-fucked look, and Colby wanted to take her back to bed.

“Not that you need to, but what a great way to lose weight.” She raised her eyebrows several times and winked.

Elizabeth stood in front of the full-length mirror. “Don’t start or we’ll miss breakfast too, ” she warned, but not with any conviction.

She couldn’t help but smile, but inside she was troubled. Like waking in Elizabeth’s bed. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a morning-after conversation. However, though she wasn’t usually good at small talk, with Elizabeth she was downright chatty. After making love they had talked about politics, baseball, and the recent earthquake that had devastated Haiti. Elizabeth told amusing stories about her family, to whom she was clearly close.

Colby suddenly realized how much she missed her family. She used to talk to her sisters at least once a week, her mother filling in anything she might have missed. She hadn’t spoken to them in years and even though she had her monthly call with her mother, it seemed like forever since she’d seen her smile. Elizabeth touched her shoulder.

“Colby, are you all right? ”

Concern filled Elizabeth’s green eyes and she almost said no, she wasn’t. She was suddenly very lonely and tired of shouldering her burden alone. Like she had for the past three years she simply said, “Yep, I’m great. Now how about some breakfast? ”