The Song in My Heart (32 page)

“I know. And I have a feeling we’re going to write more together.”

“You do, do you? We could start tonight, you know.”

“Oh no, we can’t. I have other plans for us. You’re going to be kept very busy.”

Erika kissed Dess’s cheek, warmed by the vision of what was to come. “I like being kept busy, as you know. Especially when you and a bed are involved.”

“Ooh, now you’re getting me hot.”

“And wet, I hope.”

“Oh yes. Definitely wet.”

Erika tugged Dess’s arm until they were running. By the time they got to Dess’s condo building, they were breathless and laughing and kissing. In the elevator, Erika said, “God, I love you. I may never stop smiling again.”

“I wish I could freeze-frame this moment.” Dess paused beside the big oak door, and Erika flashed back to the first time she’d waited for Dess to open that door. How nervous she’d been, and hopeful and awed until she was almost dizzy.
I was a scared kid then,
she thought
. Now I’m a woman with absolutely everything I’ve ever wanted.

“You’ve made me so happy, Erika. Happier than I’ve ever been.”

“Good. But I plan for you to be even happier in about ten minutes.”

Dess licked her lips. “Care to elaborate?”

Erika licked, then playfully nipped Dess’s earlobe. “I could, but I’d rather show you.”

Dess shouldered the door open. Maggie galloped up to them, tail wagging a mile a minute, body squirming with barely restrained energy.

“Maggie! How are you, girl? I’ve missed you.” Erika knelt so the Labrador could lick her face. “Oh, you’re such a good girl, aren’t you? But your mother and I have some pressing business, so you’ll have to excuse us, okay? We’ll catch up later, I promise.”

Dess had already disappeared into the bedroom. Erika shed her coat and rushed to join her. “Ah,” she breathed, at the sight of Dess stretched out on the bed, naked. “The most beautiful woman in the world, and she’s all mine.”

“Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about you. Now come here.”

Erika only had time to slide off her slacks before Dess was pulling her onto the bed.

“Sorry, I can’t wait another second for you to be on top of me.”

The softness and smell of Dess’s skin was instantly familiar. Every contour, every tremor, every breath brought Erika back to all the other times they’d made love. It was as though no time had passed, like their time together was an endless circle, always bringing them back to each other.

“I’ve missed you,” Erika whispered. “So much. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Dess whispered, her face flushed, her breath quickening. “Please…”

Erika smiled against the silky skin of her neck. “You don’t have to ask twice, sweetheart.”

She slid her mouth down to Dess’s breast, anxious to taste its supple, salty sweetness again. Anxious to stroke the hardening flesh with her tongue. Her fingers stroked her other breast, and she had to remind herself to go slow. Her need to make love to Dess raged and tore through her with hurricane force, but she’d leave bruises if she didn’t relax.

“You don’t have to, you know,” Dess said haltingly, desire thick in her voice.

“Don’t have to what?”

“Go slow.”

Erika moaned. “Sweetheart, you read my mind.”

“Good.” Dess began guiding Erika’s head lower, trembling with a need that Erika understood all too well. And was happy to alleviate.

“Oh, you greedy woman, you. I love it.”

“Where you’re concerned, yes, I’m greedy, because I can never get enough of you.”

Making love with Dess never grew old, Erika thought, just as a classic song never grew tiresome. Anything pleasing to the senses only deepened the more familiar and more attuned you became with it. Learning every nuance, every movement, every hitched breath, every moan of Dess’s was a cherished discovery that made Erika hungry for more.

Taking Dess into her mouth, Erika moaned her delight, noting the corresponding swelling of her own desire. She tasted, toyed with the soft flesh, felt it harden beneath her tongue. Felt Dess’s hips rise up to meet the strokes her mouth meted out. Her mouth rocked in time with Dess, and she plunged two fingers inside her. Dess tightened around her, then bucked beneath her as her body absorbed, then released the violent pulses of orgasm.

“I love you,” Erika said, joy bursting in her heart. She crawled up the length of Dess, kissed her thoroughly.

“Oh God, I love you, Erika. I don’t ever want us to be apart again.”

“We won’t be. I promise you.” She wiped a tear as it crested in Dess’s eye.

“Please. I need that to be true.”

“It’s true, baby, so true.” Erika thumbed her cheek, her wet eyelashes. “We’re meant to be a duet, not soloists.” To make Dess laugh, Erika began singing the old Peaches & Herb song, “Reunited.” “
And it feels so good…
” she crooned, sliding her body softly against Dess’s.

Laughter bubbled up from Dess’s throat—a sweet sound that Erika wanted to hear every day for the rest of her life. But right now, she needed to come.

“I need you to love me slow. Deep,” Erika whispered, looking into Dess’s eyes and going breathless at the adoration reflected back at her. “I need you inside me. I need you deep inside.”

They flipped, and Dess’s body was warm as it covered Erika’s, glided over it, ground gently into it. Lips, soft, reassuring, swept across her chest, her nipples, her abdomen, back up to her shoulders, her neck, her throat, her mouth. Eyes closed, head back, Erika wanted to cry at the swelling of her heart and the frisson of their lovemaking. When Dess entered her, a light show erupted behind her eyelids and her heart pounded thunderously. She rose to meet the strokes…so deep, so languid, so full of tenderness. She was filled with Dess, and Dess whispered sweet things to her, but all Erika could focus on was the pounding of her heart, the crowning of her need.

“Ohh,” she moaned as the tremors tore through her, leaving her a throbbing mass of expended desire. But Dess was inside her, caressing her, kissing her, reassuring her.

“I love you, baby,” Erika said, still breathless. She held Dess tight to her and rocked with her, determined to keep this feeling in her heart forever.

* * *

Dess went dizzy at the sight of the small jewelry box sitting on the breakfast bar. Erika must have gotten up in the night and put it there. She looked back at the bedroom, where Erika was still asleep. A tiny peek. An infinitesimal one. What could it hurt?

As the coffee brewed, she tried to talk herself into snooping. Then, when she finally persuaded herself, she worked on talking herself out of it. Maybe it wasn’t even for her. And if it was for her and it was something big—really big—like an engagement ring or something, what would she do? There was no question she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Erika. Just as there was no question in her mind that Erika wanted the same thing. And there was no question they’d make it as a couple. But wasn’t it a little too soon for an engagement ring? Wouldn’t a little more time together, to get used to each other, to figure out some plans, be the practical thing to do? And yet…

She was pouring the coffee when an awful thought occurred to her. What if she had it all worked out in her mind that it was an engagement ring but it was something else entirely? Erika would see the disappointment and confusion on her face. And that simply wouldn’t do.
I’ll have to take a peek
, she told herself.
So I’ll know how to react
.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Dess jumped at the sound of Erika’s voice. Her hand, fortunately, hadn’t yet started creeping toward the little velvet box.

“Am I making you nervous, darling?”

“No, but that little box is. Coffee, my love?”

“Yes, please.”

Erika was intermittently smiling and yawning when Dess set a cup of coffee in front of her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jumpy. Wait, I didn’t get my good morning kiss yet.”

Dess leaned forward and gave Erika a soft, lingering kiss. “Good morning, lover.”

“Good morning.” Erika smiled, then tilted her head toward the little box. “I decided I didn’t want to wait until Christmas to give you this. I meant to get up before you and sneak it into your scrambled eggs or something.”

“Ooh, I like that idea.”

Erika’s eyebrows danced suggestively. “We could start the morning over. In bed. Eating a breakfast of champions.”

Much as the idea appealed, Dess was dying to know what was in that damned box. “Oh no. Now that you’ve got me curious about this, I don’t want to wait.”

Erika reached for the box, cradled it in her hands, her hair marvelously sleep-tousled but her dark eyes sharp with seriousness. Dess loved the idea of waking up with this gorgeous, wonderful woman every morning.

“I got this made for you just before I flew in. Because I wanted you to understand that you will always be the song in my heart, even with Dayna owning the rights and earning all the royalties from it. It’s still about us, Dess, about our love and it always will be.”

“Yes,” Dess answered, trying not to sound disappointed that it wasn’t an engagement ring. Oh hell, she thought, why should she sit around waiting for Erika to give her an engagement ring anyway? Why couldn’t she be the one to ask Erika to marry her? Once it came to that, of course. “Nobody can take that song away from us.”

Erika slid the box over to Dess. “Open it.”

Snapping the box open, Dess gasped at the contents. It was a gold necklace with a pendant comprised of an eighth note encrusted in diamonds and surrounded by a heart made of rubies. “Oh my God, Erika. It’s perfect, but it’s too much. It must be worth the price of a new car.”

“Nothing is too much for you, Dess. Nothing. I love you, and I love the magic we make together. That’s what this necklace represents.”

“Oh, honey. It’s absolutely beautiful. And it’s perfect.” Dess jumped into Erika’s arms and kissed her in a way neither would ever forget. She tangled her fingers in Erika’s hair, held her face firmly. “I love you more than anything, Erika. But I have a question for you.”

“Ask me anything.”

Dess toyed momentarily with the impulse of asking Erika to marry her, right then and there, in their sleep shirts and their messy hair and their growling stomachs. But no. She
would
ask Erika, but she would wait and do it in the most perfect, romantic way possible.

“What if you’d come all this way, with this gorgeous necklace in your pocket, and I’d said no to signing over the song?”

Erika shrugged, but she was smiling with her typical self-confidence. “I would have given it to you as a bribe.”

“And if that hadn’t worked?”

“Then I would have sneaked it into your coat pocket as a goodbye gift. Or kept trying to convince you until Christmas.” Her grin faded, and in its place, her chin trembled. “Oh, Dess, I was so afraid you’d say no. To everything. I can’t believe you’ve given me—us—a second chance. I’m so grateful. And so happy.”

Dess pressed Erika into her, inhaling the scent of her hair, her skin. “Sweetie, I love you so much. I’m the one who’s grateful that you never gave up on us.”

“Remember, I told you months ago that we weren’t finished yet?”

“Yes.” Dess smiled at the bittersweet memory. “And you were right.”

Erika’s lips found hers, and they kissed until arousal began burning a trail down Dess’s thighs and deep into her belly.

“I want to make love to you while you’re wearing that necklace,” Erika said in a low voice that was husky with desire.

Dess closed her eyes, her own desire pulsing between her legs. She couldn’t get enough of Erika, in bed and out, but they should talk. There were things…plans…stuff they should talk about, shouldn’t they? Logistics and whatnot.
Oh shit, I’m losing my mind
. Erika’s hands were all over her, under her sleep shirt, stroking her skin, lighting a fire in her belly. And all rational thought quickly ebbed from her mind.

“Take me to bed,” Dess demanded, grabbing the jewelry box as Erika tugged her toward the bedroom.

“You read my mind.”

Afterward, Dess commanded Erika to stay in bed, told her she’d be right back. She returned with a box full of the private binders of songs she’d written—songs she’d never shown anyone else, but she was ready to now. She set the box down on the bed.

“What’s this?” Erika said sleepily, sitting up.

Dess joined her on the bed, extracting one of the binders. “An early Christmas present from me.”

“Oh my God, Dess, these are your binders! Your songs! Are you sure you want me to look at them?”

Dess smiled. “Yes, I’m sure.” She wanted to share everything with Erika. The good times, the painful times and everything in between.

“Thank you, my love. This means everything to me.” Erika kissed her, then eagerly flipped open the binder.

Epilogue

Dayna had been right about one thing
, Erika thought with satisfaction as she and Dess walked the gauntlet otherwise known as the red carpet outside the Grammy Awards ceremony at LA’s massive Staples Center. Those in the business who last year had thoughtlessly shunted her aside—or had refused to even acknowledge her existence—were greeting her now like old friends. Perfectly straight, white teeth flashed pleadingly at her from all sides, almost as brightly as the endless camera flashes. Words, obsequious and dripping with artificiality, burbled at her and Dess like fountains gone wild.

Whatever
, Erika thought as she tightened her grip on Dess’s hand. She didn’t care anymore because she had everything she needed. Thanks to “The Song in My Heart
,
” the world now knew of her talent and had become reacquainted with Dess’s—this time as a songwriter. Dayna was reaping the truckload of money the song’s number-one status on Billboard was bringing in—the royalties from CD sales, digital sales and radio play. There was even talk that an upcoming Nicholas Sparks’ romantic movie wanted to use the song. Erika had no doubt that Dayna would pull it off and make another truckload of money.

As it turned out, if she and Dess had retained the rights to it, their song could have made Erika a millionaire in her own right. But what she had now was worth so much more than that, she knew in her heart. Being with Dess, creating more music over a lifetime together…
That
was priceless to her, even if they never had a hit song again. She was exactly where she wanted to be.