Uncommon Romance (8 page)

The taste of tobacco lingered from Simone’s cigarette, and Abby wanted to taste it again, to suck the flavor from her tongue. She reached for Simone. As her fingers touched the fabric of Simone’s dress, light flooded the patio.

“There you are, Abby.” Gavin’s voice boomed, too loud for the fragile intimacy woven into the night air.

The blood drained from Simone’s face and she swore again. She tried to sidestep Abby, but Abby put a hand on Simone’s chest and held her in place. “Stop, please.” The words were a near whisper, completely desperate and needy.

Simone halted abruptly at Abby’s touch. Her eyes were wide open and stormy.

“Abby?” Gavin spoke quieter this time. He sounded confused.

“Gavin.” Abby kept her focus on Simone. One wrong move and she’d bolt. “This is my friend Simone. We haven’t seen each other since high school.”

The door slid shut behind Gavin, and the curtain fell back into place, shutting out the light. She felt him move closer. “It’s nice to meet you, Simone.” He extended his hand.

Simone’s body tightened even more beneath Abby’s touch, and then she made her move. “I have to go.” She ignored Gavin’s greeting and made her way to the door.

“Simone…” Abby might as well have been talking to the night air. Simone was gone.

“That was awkward.” Gavin dropped his hand with an uncomfortable laugh.

Abby spun around, intent on following Simone. “Damnit, Gavin. I have to catch her.”

Simone didn’t say good-bye, didn’t excuse herself to her bosses. She ran. She made it all the way to her car before she realized she’d left her purse, and her keys, behind. She
hated
feeling so out of control. It went against everything she worked so hard to achieve.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” She punctuated each swear word with a kick to the door of her car. “Fuck!” The last time she kicked it hard enough to dent the metal and strain her toe. Her slingbacks weren’t steel-toed.

She leaned against the rear fender and dropped her head into her hands. This couldn’t be happening. She sucked in a breath and raised her head.

Tonight was supposed to be about finally,
finally
, proving her worth. Law school had been one long bitch of a struggle. Securing a position at Dmitri, Holt, and Stevens was her dream. And like the ghost of Christmas past, out pops Abigail Nelson. After all these years, Simone deserved a fucking break.

“Simone?” Abby skimmed her fingers over Simone’s shoulder, her touch timid.

“Abby, why are you here?” Simone stared her down. She stood tall and proud, ready to defend. “Go back to your boyfriend.”

Abby withdrew her hand. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Really? I saw you together.” Simone shook her head, filled with disbelief. Simone turned away, disgusted by how much Abby still affected her.

“Gavin is just a friend.”

“My friends are…not that friendly.” Simone refused to let her guard down. Abby had a history of lying to and about her.

“Please, we need to talk.”

“Talk?” That ship had long ago sailed. They could have talked when Abby found out she was a lesbian freshman year. They could have talked when Abby held the power to destroy Simone’s life in her hands. They could have talked every single time Abby chose to torment her in front of their friends, the threat ever present. Every word Abby said was a reminder, a challenge.

“You’re wrong.” Abby reached for her again, her hand stretched between them, but not quite far enough to bridge the divide. “We have everything in the world to talk about.”

Simone stared at Abby’s hand, her fingers, long and tapered and capable of such unrepentant cruelty. She’d dreamed about how much pleasure they must hold but had never been allowed to feel. Simone wouldn’t let herself fall prey to Abby again.

“What do you think’s going to happen, Abby? We’re going to hug and kiss and giggle about what amazing bitches we were back then?” Simone shook her head. “We’ll never be those people.” The ones who fall into each other and laugh about a shared past and awkward adolescence. She had wanted Abby so much then she could barely function when she was near. And after all the time and distance, Simone was dismayed to learn Abby still had the same effect on her equilibrium.

Abby stepped closer, until her body was flush with Simone’s. “No, you’re right. I don’t want to talk either. What I want is for you to stop acting like a scared little girl. It’s been ten years, Simone.”

“And what?” Simone shook her head. “I’m not the scared sixteen-year-old you used to push around.” She let her mouth curve into a cruel half smile. It felt sickeningly familiar. It’d been so long since she’d been this heartless person who used her words carelessly as a weapon. The rush of power made her sick to her stomach, and she swallowed it. Simone squared her shoulders and straightened her spine, forcing her body closer to Abby, invading her space. She traced the line of Abby’s jaw with her fingers, then moved her hand around until she had a firm grip around the base of Abby’s neck. If she was going to play with fire, she might as well go all in. After all, she’d already kissed Abby. What more did she have to lose? “Or is that what you want? For me to show you how different I really am?”

“Yes.” The word escaped on an exhale and Abby’s eyes slid shut in the same moment. “Please.”

“I bet your boyfriend would love that.” Simone laughed. She sounded bitter and aged even to her own ears.

Abby’s eyes flew open. “I told you, Gavin isn’t my boyfriend.”

Simone growled, an honest-to-God growl deep in her chest, and it exhilarated her. Hearing Abby say his name made Simone want to push all memory of him from Abby’s mind. She stopped herself from kissing Abby again, barely. Their shared kiss on the patio wasn’t enough to satisfy years of simmering want, but Abby wasn’t hers to take.

Abby laid her hand on Simone’s chest. “I wouldn’t do this if he was.” Her voice was tinged with laugher as she brought her lips to Simone’s. Abby delivered a sweet, searing kiss that robbed Simone of all thoughts.

Everything in Simone lasered in to one primal point. This might be her only chance to have Abby, and she wouldn’t surrender it now, consequences be damned. She wrapped her arms tight around Abby’s waist and dragged her to the rear of her car, deeper into the shadows. Nothing she could do—save driving to her apartment, and there was no way she would take the time to do that—would shield them from view completely. The shroud of darkness was the best she could hope for under the circumstances.

Simone wrenched her mouth from Abby’s even as her hands were gathering Abby’s dress, drawing it up around her waist. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Abby’s head rolled back, opening the line of her throat to Simone. Simone licked from Abby’s clavicle up, up, up along the smooth skin and ended with her face buried in Abby’s hair, her tongue worshipping the sensitive hidden place just behind Abby’s ear. “Yes, please,” Abby repeated.

Simone lifted Abby onto the trunk and dropped to her knees between Abby’s spread legs. The gravel bit into knees, reminding her this wasn’t a dream. It was very real, and everything that came after this point was a memory she wanted to savor. Still, she would not take without Abby’s permission. It was bad enough that Simone showed no regard for Abby’s boyfriend, but she wouldn’t violate Abby completely. She raised Abby’s leg and rested Abby’s ankle on her shoulder. She pressed her lips to a small heart tattoo on the inside of Abby’s left foot, just above the leather strap that held her low heels in place. She couldn’t see the tattoo in the dark, but she remembered the first time she saw it right after Abby turned eighteen. It was during one of the small pockets of time during high school when they were more friends than enemies. Simone raised her face to meet Abby’s gaze. “Tell me this is okay?”

A shiver worked its way through Abby’s body and Simone could see her delicate body tremble and quake. “This is so much more than just okay.” Abby shook her head in wonder. “Please.”

“Okay.” Simone nodded, surrendering to her desire. She was no longer strong enough to hide from herself, from Abby. “Just this once.” Simone knew, even as she said the words, that one time with Abby would never be enough to slake her desire for her. Yet somehow it would have to be.

Simone ran her hands over the soft, smooth skin of Abby’s inner thighs, and Abby spread herself open wider. Her dress draped modestly over the sacred apex, the place Simone most wanted to know. Simone watched as her hands, then her arms, disappeared beneath the fabric, exploring Abby by touch alone. She closed her eyes and reveled in the touch, the feel of goose bumps rising on Abby’s hot flesh.

When Simone reached the juncture, the moist heat that had called to her from the moment she’d first spotted Abby across the crowded room, she opened her eyes. She needed to see Abby, to memorize her face as Simone spread her apart and entered for the first time. She wouldn’t rush. The moment was too important to lose to haste.

Abby stared down at her, heat coloring her neck and cheeks. Her eyes blazed with barely contained need, and Simone reflexively dug her nails into the sensitive flesh beneath her fingers. Abby gasped, but she held Simone’s gaze. Simone released, then strengthened her grip. She loved how Abby responded to her touch. With Abby’s needy stare burning into her skin, it took everything in Simone to not push the fabric of Abby’s panties to the side and stroke into Abby swift and deep.

“Show me.” Simone spoke low and sounded far more needy than she would have liked.

Abby inched the skirt of her dress higher by incremental degrees until she was exposed to Simone. She pushed her legs open wider and Simone whimpered. She could smell Abby’s need and it swamped her senses. The strip of material covering Abby was drenched. Simone eased her fingers beneath the fabric, running them along the edge and pulling it away from Abby’s sex. Heat flared through her at the feel of Abby’s wetness coating the backs of her fingers despite her effort not to make contact.

“Simone…” Abby sucked in a shaky breath. She thrust her hips gently, rocking shamelessly into the night air, but finding no purchase. She whined. “Please.”

“Yes.” Simone carefully removed Abby’s ruined underwear. She wanted to keep them, a souvenir of their time together, but she had no pockets and her purse was still inside. She folded the scrap of lace and laid it next to her.

Finally, after years of longing, Abby was bared and open before her. The sharp sting of gravel biting into her knees, the cool nip of night air on her skin, the faint noise of the party all faded to a gray state of nothingness. All that existed in that moment of time was Simone crouching before Abby. Simone felt unworthy of Abby’s beautiful perfection. Simone inhaled and forced herself to wait, to savor the essence of their inevitable coupling. Soon she would taste Abby, feel the warm tang as it coated her tongue and mouth. She needed every detail etched in perfect relief and captured forever in her mind.

Abby’s skirt rippled on a breeze, and the goose bumps that had receded sprang back to life, eternal and waiting just below the surface. The muscle high on Abby’s inner thigh, right at the juncture between leg and torso, trembled. With her tongue, Simone traced the contours of muscle, tendon, and the vein coursing with vitality. She licked and kissed and sucked the flesh, worshipping with her mouth, so close to where she wanted most to be.

Abby’s fingers wove through her hair, drawing her closer to Abby’s center. Her touch was insistent, yet gently coaxing. Simone pulled back, ending the contact from her mouth to Abby’s body. She was on her knees, willing to please, but she would not be controlled when Abby hadn’t earned that right. Abby whimpered but eased the pressure. She left her hands on Simone’s head, her fingers kneading and digging into her scalp sharply, but no longer attempting to force her movements.

Simone placed her hands on Abby’s thighs and urged her to open herself even further. There was no conscious thought to her movements. Simone let her hands roam as they wished, with the tactile sensation of Abby to guide her. Her fingers found Abby’s center and she spread Abby’s labia with her thumbs. She was slick and so very wet. Simone moaned and lapped at Abby’s opening.

“Yes,” Abby hissed quietly, and her hips jerked forward. Abby’s grip on Simone’s hair increased, and fire bursts of pain prickled over Simone’s scalp. She was too lost in the taste to care.

“So wet.” Simone moaned the words, too overwrought to remain silent, but too involved to stop working her tongue against Abby.

Simone wrapped her arms around Abby’s thighs and pulled her roughly to her. She would wait no longer. She thrust her tongue into Abby, burying the sleek muscle as deep as she could. It wasn’t nearly enough; she couldn’t reach far enough to truly feel Abby. Her palms and fingers itched with excitement. She longed to climb inside of Abby, to own her from the inside out. For now, she’d content herself with the use of her mouth, with the feel of Abby’s desire coating her face, dripping down her chin.

Simone thrust in and out, encouraged Abby to meet her rhythm with her hips. She wanted Abby above her, riding her face, fucking her mouth.

“Oh, God.” Abby groaned as her body quaked. It was too soon for her to orgasm. Simone wasn’t ready. Again she pulled away. Abby cried out. “No. God. You’re killing me.”

Abby tried to thrust her hips again, but Simone held her firm. Simone adjusted her hold until she was able to again use her thumbs to pull back Abby’s hood and leave her exposed. Her clit gleamed in the dim starlight, hard and proud and demanding attention. Simone laved it with her tongue, and Abby bucked against her so hard Simone couldn’t control it.

Abby clutched Simone to her and begged, “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

Simone wouldn’t. She circled Abby’s clit, sloppy and without rhythm. She usually had fabulous technique, controlled and precise. With Abby, all she could hope was to hold on and take Abby all the way through release. She flicked her tongue against the tight bundle, then scraped her teeth lightly against the tip.

Abby keened, her body drawn tight and pulsing. She was so very close. Simone sucked, gently at first, then hard and relentless. She drew Abby into her mouth and worked her with her tongue, the warmth of her mouth, the hard edge of her teeth. She used everything, including force of will, to bring Abby off.

As Abby quaked and shook, her hold on Simone tightened until suddenly it was gone. Abby slumped against the car, her hands slack in Simone’s hair.

Simone rose swiftly. “Oh, no, you don’t.” She drew Abby up and wrapped her left arm tight around Abby’s torso. Simone kissed her hard, forcing her tongue, and Abby’s essence, into Abby’s mouth. At the same time, she entered her with two fingers. Simone pushed inside as fast and deep as she could go, and Abby bucked to immediate awareness. Simone withdrew and pushed in faster and deeper.

“Simone, God, I’m not—” Abby protested only to have her words swallowed by another intense, deep kiss.

“Don’t tell me you’re not ready.” Simone thrust again and again; then she stilled. She held her hand perfectly, painfully, immobile. Then gently, she fluttered her fingers against the back wall of Abby’s vagina. She drew her fingers forward, scissoring open and closed. Abby pulsed around her. “I can
feel
you. You have so much left to give.”

She removed her hand from Abby’s cunt and brought her fingers to Abby’s mouth. She traced Abby’s lips, coating Abby with her own wet desire. “Taste.” Abby’s lips parted slightly, her breath ragged and hard. Simone pushed her fingers inside, sliding along Abby’s tongue. She groaned at the coarse texture as she pulled out and fucked inside Abby’s mouth again. There wasn’t a single part of Abby that Simone didn’t want to own, but they had so little time. She withdrew and thrust one last time. “Do you taste it? How much you want me? How ready you are for more?”