Homecoming (42 page)

As Lizzie lay back down, Jill stayed right where she was, poking the muscles with her tongue. Now the horizontal dips were gone, just the two long vertical lines highlighting her belly. “When you’re on your back, you drop down to a two-pack.” She looked up again. “Not that I’m complaining. You’re still as sexy as hell.”

Lizzie’s hand went to her head, then gentle fingers removed the clip that held her hair back. “You can play with my two-pack and I’ll play with your hair. Fair trade?” Her fingers slid along Jill’s scalp, sending waves of sensation down her spine.

“Very fair,” she said, her voice cracking. “That’s an erogenous zone.”

“I could tell,” Lizzie murmured. “I can feel your nipples harden against my leg.” A hand slipped down and gently twisted a firm nipple.

“Another erogenous zone,” Jill squeaked.

“I think you have a lot of them.” She gripped Jill’s shoulders and urged her to move up. As Jill hovered over her, Lizzie slipped both hands behind her neck and exerted gentle pressure. Their lips met again, soft and warm. Tender kisses slowly turned into hot, needy ones, with Lizzie forcefully sucking Jill’s tongue into her mouth as she let out a low growl.

Breaking away to catch her breath, Jill paused over her, taking in her lovely face and glittering eyes. “I’ve never been happier,” she said, a burst of emotion making her feel like she might cry.

“You can cry any time you feel like it,” Lizzie whispered, apparently able to read minds. “You’re safe with me.”

“That’s it,” Jill murmured, her heart fluttering in her chest. “I feel safe with you. Safe to show you how I feel, how I think. That means…everything,” she admitted, a few tears springing to her eyes.

Lizzie’s gentle fingers flicked them from her lashes, then a soft kiss brushed over each eye. A warm embrace enfolded her and she nuzzled against Lizzie’s body, certain she could lie there for years and not tire of it.

“I’ve only been with people I trusted,” Lizzie said quietly, her voice having grown thoughtful. “But this is different. I always felt like I had to hold back a little. Like I might be laughed at if I got too close too fast.”

Jill tilted her head so their eyes met. A full smile bloomed on her lips as she said, “You can’t be too close. I’m ready for every bit of Lizzie Davis to open herself up to me.”

Lizzie smiled down at her. “I’ve made love before, but it’s always taken a while to turn from sex to love.” She ran her fingers all over Jill’s face, like she was touching something sacred. “But not with you.” She moved down to wrap Jill in a tight embrace, then kiss her with abandon. They moved against each other as their lips met, skin sliding against skin, until Jill was throbbing with sensation.

“I have to taste you,” Jill managed, nearly unable to speak. “Right now.” She slipped from Lizzie’s weak embrace and moved down her body, pausing to place a reverent kiss on her belly. Then she found herself bedazzled by the heat radiating from Lizzie’s beautiful body. Her skin glistened in the lamplight, every part of her aroused and ready to be touched.

Jill’s mouth watered as she nuzzled between her legs, taking in her distinctive scent, the scent she was going to memorize down to the individual molecules. The thought of spending hours nestled between Lizzie’s firm thighs was enough to make her climax without being touched. But she forced her focus from her own body to Lizzie’s and swiped her tongue up the length of her, smiling when Lizzie let out a low, pleasured groan.

Each sound she made urged Jill on, but she forced herself to take her time, to make this a long, slow first exploration of a place she was going to return to again and again.

Lizzie’s heels trailed up and down Jill’s back as she twisted and thrust her body just where she needed attention. Strong hands gripped Jill’s shoulders, guiding and holding firm. All the while, Lizzie purred like a cat, a low, satisfied hum, more expressive than a thousand words would have been.

After a long while, Lizzie began to squirm under Jill’s ministrations, and her breathing grew ragged as her legs opened wider, clearly begging for more. Jill pressed into her, focusing her attention on the trembling flesh that pulsed under her tongue. Hands flew to her head as Lizzie’s body became rigid for a few heartbeats, clearly on a precipice. Then a low, rumbling moan made her shiver from head to toe. Suddenly, she collapsed onto the bed, arms and legs splayed out in all directions. “Good god,” she murmured. “I have never, ever had an orgasm the first time I had sex with someone.” She grasped a grinning Jill by the arm and pulled her up. “Come up here and kiss me, you luscious thing.”

Jill curled up next to her, and wrapped her in her arms. “Happy?” she asked.

“Terminally.” She gave her a long, gentle kiss then neatened Jill’s hair, pushing it off her face. “Now I know why you didn’t have a care in the world about how we’d get along. You knew how awesome you are in bed!”

A sharp slap to the butt made Jill wince. “I get a slap for being good in bed?”

“No, for holding out on me. You should have told me you have three or four tongues in that pretty mouth.”

“Well, I normally try to act like a human. I don’t want people to know I’m a super-evolved alien from an all-lesbian planet.”

“I’d believe it,” Lizzie insisted. “Now you just have to deliver the goods exactly like that twice a day and everything will be perfect.” As Jill’s eyebrows went up, Lizzie started to laugh. “I wouldn’t be able to walk!”

“I’m more than willing to try. We’ll do it until you’re on the verge of limping, then cut back a little.”

“We can think about cutting back later,” Lizzie said, sliding her hand down between their bodies to gently begin to probe between Jill’s legs. “I’m sure I could make you tingle again right now.”

“You definitely could,” Jill agreed. “But then I’ll want to return the favor and…” She twirled her index finger in a circle. “You’ll stumble into your morning meeting looking like…I’m not sure what you’d look like if we stayed up all night making love.”

“It wouldn’t be good, but it might be worth it,” she said, her smile adorably devilish.

“Let’s save some for tomorrow. I don’t want to wear you out on our first night.”

“Mmm,” she snuggled up against Jill’s body, her talented hand skimming along her side. “Sure?”

“Yeah, I think so. I could clearly go on, but I don’t want you dragging tomorrow.”

“I won’t argue,” she said, stretching out and sticking her arms up over her head as she yawned loudly. “I do have to be sharp.”

“Come on. Let me cuddle you to sleep.”

“You’re not just phenomenal in bed… You truly like to cuddle?”

“Truly.”

Lizzie rolled onto her side, and Jill pressed herself against her back. “Secret?”

“Sure. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“I wasn’t much of a cuddler before. But I’d glue myself to you if I could.”

“That might be the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Jill grasped Lizzie’s arm and tucked it against her chest. “Got your alarm set?”

Abruptly, she sat up, then got to her feet and headed towards the bath. When she returned, she was pressing buttons on her phone. “Gotta get up early.”

“That’s why we’re going to sleep now.” When Lizzie lay back down, Jill stroked along her arm, then let her hand trail down to her leg, where she kept up a gentle massage. In a few minutes, Lizzie had totally relaxed. Jill felt her jerk once, then settle down again. When she started to breathe heavily, Jill buried her face in her hair and whispered, “I love you.”

Lizzie started, then turned, her eyes wet with tears again. They gazed at each other for long seconds, then she searched Jill’s eyes. “You do?”

“I do,” Jill said, full of confidence.

“Are you sure? Absolutely sure?”

“I am. I love you, Lizzie. I truly do.”

“I love you too,” she whispered, tears sliding down her face to land on her pillow. “You make me so happy.”

“We’ll make each other happy. Promise,” she murmured, then graced her lips with a final kiss. “Now close those beautiful eyes and go to sleep. We’ve both got big days ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Together,” Lizzie said, her eyes still brimming with tears. “We’ll share our big days together.”

“There’s no one on earth I’d rather share them with.” Jill tucked an arm around Lizzie’s waist, smiling when she nestled her face against Jill’s chest and slowly drifted off to sleep.

An annoying buzzing pulled
Jill halfway out of a lovely dream. The volume grew, then a weird voice said, “Pound the alarm.” Music played for a few seconds, something very techno, then the voice commanded again, “Pound the alarm.” Now the bed shook, and a muttered curse preceded a warm softness disappearing. Cats whined for attention, then…silence. Utter silence. Nice.

***

The alarm gently woke Jill at seven thirty. Immediately, she reached out to find the spot next to her cold. And entirely without cats. She sat up, wincing at her sore abs and thighs, courtesy of wake boarding, then looked around. No sign of Lizzie or the boys. They’d never failed to start their antics a few minutes after sunrise. Had Lizzie locked them out? No. The door was wide open. Jill got up and opened the blinds to see a low, gray sky, with a clear threat of rain.

Her curiosity wasn’t as great as her need to have some warm water help her wake, so she went to shower. The glass doors were dry, abandoned clothes were still lying in front of the tub, along with the box of berries and chips. It had been moved a few feet, probably by a feline checking it out, but neither one of them liked chocolate, thankfully, so it was otherwise unmolested.

After standing in the pounding water much longer than usual, Jill blew her hair dry and got dressed. When she went into the living room, the boys were in their favorite morning spot, along the back of the sofa, in front of the big picture window, waiting for the sun to come out and warm them. They regarded her with lazy detachment, with David closing his eyes to manage a soft “meow” of acknowledgment.

The kitchen showed only one bit of evidence of Lizzie’s presence. An empty Pepsi can with a sticky note lying on top of it. Little hearts and a stream of X’s and O’s covered the yellow square, and Jill smiled like she’d received a sonnet. After folding it, she put it in her pocket, just so she could take a look at it later.

The cats’ bowls had fresh food in them, their water was filled, and their litter box clean. Jill took out her phone and texted Lizzie. “You’re quieter than a cat! How’d you sneak out without a sound?”

In a few seconds, a reply came back. “You sleep like the dead. Busy!” That was punctuated by a smiley face giving a kiss.

Well, that wasn’t terribly romantic given they’d made love for the first time just hours earlier, but, all things considered, Jill decided having a quiet lover who cleaned the litter box was a lot more valuable than hearts and flowers.

***

The first day of fall semester was always crazy on campus. Besides a ton of new students not quite knowing where they were going, it was a day for everyone to greet old friends, usually by loitering on the central staircase of her building, blocking the way for harried administrators.

Jill made it back to her office after meeting with her boss, the VP for finance, and spent a moment reminding herself that the newness would wear off in a day or two and people would remember how to walk in a straight line. She checked her phone, a little disappointed not to have heard from Lizzie. Rather than mope, she texted her. “If you come over for dinner, I’ll make your favorite dish. What
is
your favorite dish?”

It took a half hour for Lizzie to respond, but the phone finally buzzed. Jill took a look at the message. “Too many favorites to pick one. I’m incredibly easy to please. But I’ve got a class tonight. How about tomorrow?”

Jill stared at the phone for a minute. They’d made love. They’d jumped off the cliff and
declared
their love. Something that had taken her six months to do with Becca. And after that, Lizzie was too busy to come by?

She stood and dug her wallet out of her briefcase, heading out in search of a cappuccino. It took a few minutes to get out of the building, but once she was out in the drizzle, she felt better. While walking to the Davis Center, she reminded herself that they were going to have to be attentive to each other’s needs—especially at first. Lizzie was a very independent woman, and Jill had to give her the space to live her life. That meant no whining when Lizzie wasn’t willing to trash her plans to spend the evening together.

After ordering her coffee, Jill sipped at it as she walked back across the campus. She had to grow up and not be so damned clingy. This was a good day to start. Texting while she walked, she wrote, “Tomorrow’s great. Stay over?”

“Great. Miss you! XOXO.”

“I miss you too.” Then she used the same emoji Lizzie had, adding a big kiss to the end of her text.

By five-thirty Jill had answered every critical e-mail, fought every minor fire that had broken out, and calmed down at least a dozen people. Now she was looking forward to going home and getting some exercise, even if she had to ride her bike in the rain. Someone stood in her doorway; it was her friend Scott.

“How was your day?” Jill asked. “Did it suck as much as mine?”

“Yeah, I’d say it did.” He entered and sat on one of her guest chairs. “Doing anything tonight?”

“Nope. Well, I was going to ride my bike. I thought some exercise would let me vent a little of the agitation this sucky day has built up. Boy, people act dumb on the first day of a term.”

“That’s the brutal truth. Let’s go have a drink. I’ll buy.”

She thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Good idea. We’ve barely seen each other this summer.”

“Yeah. What’s up with that?”

“Oh, you know me. I love summer so much I can’t wait to run out of here at the end of the day.”

“I thought maybe you’d finally found a girlfriend.” He gave her a sly smile. “Holding out on me?”

She blinked, then decided this was a discussion better suited for a bar. “I’ll tell you over a drink. Walk or drive?”