Ellis’s smile was soft and gorgeous. “Good. I’ll cook. You bring wine.”
“You’re bossy.”
“You love it.”
She wasn’t wrong, and Cherry watched as Ellis stood and walked away, the gentle sway of her hips doing delightful things to Cherry’s lower body.
God, was it time for dinner yet?
* * *
Dinner had been pretty amazing, if Ellis said so herself. Bolognese wasn’t complicated at all, but it tasted like it was, and if the sounds Cherry had made while eating her pasta were any indication, she’d knocked it out of the park.
“Oh my God, I’m so full,” Cherry said as they carried glasses of wine to the couch. Nugget lay sprawled on the back of it, and when they sat down, he put one paw on Ellis’s shoulder.
“Look at him, owning you,” Cherry said, reaching to stroke the cat’s soft back.
“He does this every time. He’s not big on me picking him up, and he doesn’t cuddle becauseIwant him to. He cuddles whenhewants to.”
“A cuddler on his own terms.”
“Exactly. I admit, I kinda love that about him.”
“Me, too.”
“But when I sit on the couch, he likes to put a paw on me.”
Silence fell for a moment, and then Cherry said softly, “It’s really nice to be back here.”
“I thought it was time,” Ellis said, and that was the truth. “We’ve done a good job of dancing around each other. Of talking…God, we’ve talked each other to death, haven’t we?” And when she rolled her eyes, Cherry laughed.
“Yes, oh my God, can we be done with talking now?” But it was good-natured and playful, and that was enough for Ellis to ask her next question.
“What do you think we should do instead?”
Cherry’s laugh died in her throat. Without saying a word, she took Ellis’s wineglass out of her hand and set it on the coffee table next to hers. When she looked back, Cherry’s eyes had gone darker, circles of pink had blossomed on her cheeks, and she wet her lips. Her fingers were soft and gentle as she tucked Ellis’s hair behind her ear, then leaned in and softly kissed her. Pulling back just enough to speak, she whispered, “I think we should do this,” and kissed her again.
In Ellis’s head, in all the various versions of the next time she kissed Cherry, she’d gone slow. Almost painfully so. She told herself she wanted to take her time, to ease back in. But all that went right out the window when Cherry’s mouth was finally on hers. Zero to sixty, that’s what kind of kiss it was. No. Zero to ninety. A hundred. A hundred and fifty. There was no slow. There wasn’t even a medium. They blew past both until they were kissing with such energy and fierceness, and the only thing that got their attention was when their teeth banged together.
“Ow,” Cherry said with a laugh.
“Sorry.” She laughed, too. They were both breathing raggedly, Ellis’s hand still in Cherry’s hair. “Well,” she said. “We’re still exceptional at that.”
“God, right?” And then Cherry’s expression went soft, and she said, very, very quietly, “I missed you, Ellis. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too, baby.” Ellis stood up and held out a hand. Cherry took it without a word, and they headed into the bedroom.
It was different this time, and they did slow down. They slowed way down. Clothing was removed with care, with reverence, as if unwrapping a gift. Ellis took time to look, to take in the shape of Cherry’s body, clad only in her yellow panties and matching bra. The expanse of her skin, the tone of it, the shape of her legs, the dip between her breasts as she sat on the edge of Ellis’s bed, looking up at her with soft, loving eyes.
Yes. Loving. It was there. She could see it. She could feel it.
She knelt down between Cherry’s knees, dipped her hands into her bra, and pulled her breasts up and out until they were free of the cups and right there for Ellis to take into her mouth. One at a time, shedid just that, pulling soft, sexy sounds from Cherry that only served to shove her arousal up into the stratosphere. Cherry’s fingers were in her hair, her head was thrown back, and when Ellis pulled back enough to look, it was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
And that was all she needed to speed back up again because she couldn’t wait any longer. She suddenly felt a blinding, aching need like she’d never felt before, and the shift into high gear was instant.
The rest was a blur. A blur of limbs and stroking and pumping and pushing and tongues and hands and cries of ecstasy. They would both be sore tomorrow. There was no doubt about it.
At one point, on her back on the bed, Ellis looked down the length of her own body, and a fresh wave of arousal hit her at the sight of Cherry, kneeling between her thighs and poised to do what she was about to do. As if sensing eyes on her, Cherry glanced up, and the eye contact held. The moment was heavy, weighted. When Cherry spoke, her voice was low and sexy. Gravelly.
