“Will you?”
She’d gone quiet. I waited, my heart twisted up, hanging, a bleeding piece of meat on a butcher’s hook. Her eyes stared blankly over my shoulder. Every muscle in my body screamed to be acknowledged, each bundle of tissue eager and willing to steal the tension from the excruciating, endless moment.
Cari’s fingers flexed against my shoulder, an absent movement much the way they twitched in her sleep. I kept my hands still where they rested beside her legs, my eyes on hers, resisting the urge to stare at her lips. I knew their curves, the full plump of the lower, the intricate curve of the upper and the way they parted in breathless abandon.
I wanted to touch her, erase my spontaneous words with the distraction of flesh. Seconds peeled away, one by one, marked off by the darkest, most painful beats of my pulse.
When she flattened her palms along my jaw I jumped. Her lips pressed to mine, soft, melting into a probing kiss. I let her turn my mind from the silence.
My hands slid up Cari’s thighs, riding up under her skirt. Her fingers twisted into the short hairs at my nape, pulling tiny hot sparks across my skin. “Vera.” She sighed my name, her lips against mine. The flex of her legs lifted her into my touch. With every flick of her tongue against mine she arched me further, pulling my spine into a taut bow. My desire flared, lengthening into an arrow ready to be loosed at her whim.
The question I’d whispered, staring into the depths of her gaze, faded from my mind. I just wanted Cari.
My touch quested into the crease of her hip, across her lower belly. “Yes,” she breathed. I spread her. My lips marked a wandering trail up her flesh, relishing the scent that taunted me. “Yes, Vera, yes.” Cari’s grip in my hair tightened, drawing me into her.
I inhaled her, my breath stirring the fine hairs on her mound. With a sigh I dipped into her cleft with my tongue, groaning at the perfect slick taste. Her urgent whisper sent a rush of heat down my back. I chased her hips, wrapped my arms up and over them, pinning her for my hungry mouth.
The tiny voice, cold and cruel, taunted me from the pitched recesses of my mind. Why did I try to push for more when we were so very good at this? I should have been content, I should have . . .
I shoved the thoughts away. That one missing word didn’t matter. Cari’s grip, her hands in my hair and her slick grip around my thrusting fingers erased everything as I chased her pleasure. When she erupted I held her as she shook, ignoring the slide of hot tears down my own cheeks.
Cari pulled me up. Her hands cupped my jaw, lips pressed to mine in a breathless kiss. “Yes, Vera.” The words came out soft and low and I blinked my eyes open.
Her eyes sparkled, her smile teetered on the edge of tremulous. My heart clenched tighter and hope bloomed. I kissed her.