Assassin (26 page)

Case turned her head slightly and pressed her lips into the soft cotton of Rain's T-shirt. The need to bring her lips into contact with Rain's even softer skin caused her to drag her lips over the cloth until she brushed passed the collar. She kissed the side of Rain's neck and felt Rain tilt her head to give her more access.

Rain felt tingles run through her body and she pulled Case a little tighter to her in an effort to keep from moaning. Then she realized there was no reason to stay silent and let the sucking sensation at her neck draw a gasp from her and then a groan.

"God, Case. That feels good," Rain whispered, and let her head fall forward to nuzzle into Case's neck.

"Mmm," Case agreed.

Rain pushed her hands underneath Case's shirt, her fingertips and the palms of her hands running over Case's exquisitely soft skin. She moaned and heard Case do the same.

Case brought her own hands down far enough to pull up Rain's half-untucked shirt and drew it out even further, so that she could experience the pleasure of touching Rain's bare skin the way Rain was touching her. As her hands glided up, she ran into Rain's bra and immediately started undoing the hooks.

Rain smiled, as she felt what Case was doing, and pulled back a little to look into Case's eyes.

"You know, it would probably help if I didn't still have this on," she pulled at her shirt.

Case smiled and nodded in agreement.

Rain reluctantly removed her arms from where they'd been cradling Case's back and reached for the hem of her shirt. She pulled it off over her head and Case took the opportunity to do the same. As Rain let her already loose bra slide down her arms, Case reached behind herself and quickly performed the same procedure for her own undergarment, though the twisting of her sore fingers against her back was a bit uncomfortable.

As soon as the clothing was tossed aside, they found themselves in each other's arms again. Case looked down at the beautiful breasts slightly overlapping her own and hugged Rain tighter. There was no way either of them could have described the feeling of warm, soft, sensitive skin meeting up with even more warm, soft, sensitive skin.

Case buried her face in Rain's neck and simply basked in the feelings of contentment and love. She knew she'd never felt this way before and there were no guarantees that she ever would again. Her heart hurt for a few moments with that realization, but she refused to let it consume her. She had tonight. She wanted to enjoy it.

Rain held Case and stroked her fingers up and down Case's bare back, enjoying the privilege of being able to touch Case in such a relaxed way. Things had been so frenetic the past couple of days, or really ever since she'd teamed up with the assassin. Just being able to stand in the middle of a hotel room, with a half-naked Case in her arms, was a wonderful place to be.

Case felt the skin beneath her mouth and puckered her lips to offer a kiss. But one was nowhere near enough and Case moved her lips down half an inch to place another kiss on the neglected skin. Once she'd started, she couldn't stop, and Case placed kisses all over Rain's shoulder and neck.

Rain let her head drop forward and drank in what Case was doing to her. She absentmindedly raked her fingers through the short hairs at the back of Case's neck and scratched and pulled a little at the hair, as she groaned in appreciation. Her other hand continued to roam over Case's naked torso and she felt a sudden urgency to attach her lips to some part of Case's body.

Rain pulled on the hair in her grip and, though Case resisted at first, it wasn't difficult to redirect her to Rain's needy mouth.

Oh God, Rain thought, as their lips and tongues finally made contact.

It was too intense. Case felt her mind go wonderfully blank, as all her concentration went into tasting Rain's mouth. There were no thoughts of past encounters in which she'd been taken against her will. There was only Rain, here and now, and Case's need to never stop kissing the woman.

Case's hands grazed over every bit of skin she could reach. There was so much energy inside her, feelings that had never been expressed, emotions she'd never allowed herself to experience. Touching had always been a threat and the lack of fear weighing her down gave her a sense of exhilaration that she wanted to share with Rain.

Rain couldn't pull away from the kiss. Even the thought of losing contact with Case's lips was too much to bear. Her tongue tasted every part of Case's mouth, and swirled around Case's tongue, feeling the texture of the muscle.

Rain's hands gripped Case's waist, sliding down to where her jeans covered her hips, and she tried desperately to push them down, but didn't have much luck. She slipped her hands around and squeezed them between their bodies in an attempt to unbutton Case's jeans without breaking the kiss, but Case felt what Rain was trying to do and released her mouth, so that Rain could do the job properly. And quicker.

Rain looked up from her task and smiled at Case, who smiled back. Rain barely finished unbuttoning Case's fly before she was attached to Case's mouth again. Rain's hands were finally able to push the jeans down enough to allow her access to Case's buttocks, and she pulled Case's lower body into her own.

Case tightened her grip on Rain's neck and speared her tongue deeply inside Rain's mouth, filling it completely. Rain started sucking on her tongue and Case ground her hips into Rain and whimpered. The feeling of her exposed pubic mound pressing against Rain's jeans only increased Case's arousal.

Rain groaned from hearing the sounds Case was making. Having Case's tongue in her mouth was one of the most sensual things she'd ever experienced. The taste was all Case and Rain wanted more. It was only the thought of getting Case completely naked that allowed Rain to disengage herself from Case's mouth, so that she could slowly slide to her knees.

Rain finished what she'd started a minute earlier by pulling Case's jeans further down her legs and off over her feet, taking her socks with them. Case held Rain's shoulders, as she balanced and lifted each leg in turn for Rain, and then Rain tossed the unnecessary clothing away.

Rain stared at the hair that was conveniently at eye level for several moments before leaning forward and hugging Case's lower body firmly to her own. She pressed her cheek into the soft, curly fur and allowed herself a moment of pure indulgence. Then she drew back a little and gently kissed Case's mound, but Case urged her back to her feet before she could start anything.

As soon as Rain was standing again, Case decided it was her turn to kneel down, but she took her time. She kissed Rain's breasts, sucking on each nipple for several moments, which wasn't nearly long enough in Rain's opinion, and then continued down Rain's stomach, tasting the skin until she reached the top of Rain's jeans.

Case slid her hands down Rain's torso and brought them to rest at Rain's waist. Case pulled the strap out of the buckle and then drew it completely out of the loops around Rain's waist. The sound had an electrifying effect on both women and Case grinned up at Rain's smiling face.

Rain looked down and watched, as Case popped each button of her fly, one by one. Finally, she had them all undone and spread the flaps apart. Rain was wearing white cotton bikini briefs, so as Case pulled the jeans down, she made sure to grab the underwear, too. She helped Rain step out of them and then pulled her socks off to complete the job.

Case placed her hands on the powerful thighs in front of her and nosed the dark, curly patch of hair between Rain's legs. Rain's hands, which had been resting on her shoulders for support, came up to cup the back and sides of Case's head. Case had a definite urge to forget about the shower and just start feeding on Rain right then and there, and she was pretty sure Rain wouldn't object. But she really wanted to make the night something to remember. Something to hold onto for later.

Case stood back up and moved into Rain's embrace once again. Feeling Rain's arms naturally wrap themselves around her body was the most amazing thing in the world to Case. She wasn't sure how she could miss being held by Rain after only a couple minutes, but she did.

No one had ever cared about her the way Rain did. In her more disconnected moments, Case found it impossible to believe that Rain was for real, but for right now, she felt Rain's love and allowed it to come inside for a little while. She knew it would be gone again and that the doubts and fears would return, but that made feeling it now so purely all the more precious to her.

Rain felt her body mold itself to Case's and couldn't get over how completely aroused she was for Case. She couldn't stop running her hands over the woman's skin and every movement of their bodies together made her breathing come faster. They both groaned at the same time and hugged each other tighter to increase the percentage of skin-to-skin contact.

"You feel so good," Rain moaned, as her hands instinctively moved to touch as much of Case's skin as possible.

"So do you. God, Rain," Case whispered into Rain's chest.

Rain bent her head and licked Case's ear. She felt Case shiver and Rain smiled against the side of Case's head, a grain of pure joy centering itself in the core of her being at the knowledge that she had caused that reaction and was probably the only one who ever had.

She was the one who Case had let in. She was the one who Case trusted. And even though Case hadn't said it explicitly, Rain could feel that she was the one who Case loved. There was absolutely nothing in the world that could top the feeling that gave her in that moment. Except maybe feeling more of it.

As Case pulled her head back from where she'd been rubbing her cheek against Rain's chest, Rain ducked her head and captured Case's lips in a tender, yet passionate, kiss.

Case whimpered and decided to ignore her instinct to keep everything inside. Tonight was about showing Rain how she felt and letting herself have free rein to feel whatever it was she was feeling. There was no rush and no urgency. And she made a quiet promise to herself that she wouldn't run; she wouldn't go away. She wouldn't let herself get so caught up in the physical that she lost out on the emotional. She wanted it all and she refused to settle for anything less.

Case softened her tongue and licked the inside of Rain's mouth. She sucked gently on Rain's upper lip and felt Rain's tongue licking at her own bottom lip in return. Case couldn't believe how soft and silky Rain's lips were.

"God, you taste so good," Case half-moaned into Rain's mouth, as she went back for more.

"I love your lips. They're so soft," Rain complimented in return when she got the chance.

Case smiled and could feel a slight blush warming her cheeks.

"You know, we're never going to get to that shower at this rate," Case mentioned, as she continued to brush her lips against Rain's as often as possible.

Rain nodded and smiled guiltily.

"Sorry. I know we both need it after the workout we had. Come on."

Rain gently disengaged from the very comfortable position of holding Case in her arms and motioned for Case to precede her. Case took Rain's hand to lead her into the bathroom, refusing to be separated from Rain for more than a few moments. After she flipped on the lights, though, Case was forced to release Rain's hand in order to turn on the water and make sure the temperature was just right, while Rain set out the towel mat on the floor in front of the tub.

Case stepped into the water's spray and reached out a hand to help Rain climb in after her.

"What the hell?" Rain exclaimed.

Case looked down to where Rain was staring and ducked her head in mild chagrin.

"It's not that bad. It barely even hurts," Case said convincingly.

Rain glared at her.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd hurt yourself that bad?" Rain accused.

In the harsh brightness of the bathroom lights, the bruises on Case's knuckles looked horrible. They were a shocking mix of violet and indigo, and with the flesh around her knuckles swollen to nearly twice its normal size, it was easy to think that the pain must be excruciating.

In reality, though, Case knew that as long as she didn't stop moving her fingers for too long, the soreness wouldn't go beyond a dull ache. In the morning, she would barely be able to move her fingers, but the day after that, she probably wouldn't even show a trace of bruising. She'd been through the process enough times to know how her body worked.

"I didn't want you freaking out. I'm okay, really. They're just a little stiff, but the hot water will probably make them feel better."

"You should put ice on them, not heat," Rain advised.

"Yeah, well, they're getting hot water. Unless we stand here long enough and then they'll get cold water," Case said pointedly.

"Case..." Rain started.

"Just get in here, okay? And don't worry about it. It's not like I've never had bruised hands before," Case admitted almost proudly.

Rain looked at her for several moments longer, trying to stay mad at Case, but then she grudgingly stepped the rest of the way into the shower. Case eased her body into Rain's, placing her hands behind Rain's back and out of sight, and Rain had no choice but to hug Case in return. Not that she didn't want to hold Case, but she was still upset.

Case decided she needed to do something to distract Rain, and her brain immediately hit on the most logical activity: kissing. It was a simple plan that Rain was helpless to resist and she was quickly caught up in the tastes and textures of Case's mouth again.

The kiss was slow, but hungry. Case's fingers tangled in Rain's hair and she easily maneuvered them under the water to get them both wet, but neither of them stopped kissing the other. To keep from drowning, they took shelter in each other, letting the water cascade around them.

Finally, Rain stepped back, bringing Case with her, and Case opened her eyes to take in the sight of a naked and wet Rain. The look of desire in Case's eyes almost made Rain insist that they leave the shower and go straight to bed, but she was enjoying Case's loving attention, so she held her tongue.

That is until Case recaptured it and started sucking on it. Case blindly reached for the washcloth she'd set on the bar in the shower and managed to soap it up with the small, complimentary bar that came with the room, while continuing to kiss Rain. Case started washing Rain's back and easily fell into the exquisite sensations of Rain's mouth once more.