by Sandy Lowe
“Jesus Christ, Allison.”
I took a deep breath, inhaling the scents of soap, shampoo, and her skin, and briefly closed my eyes. My legs were starting to feel shaky, and it occurred to me that this would be much more enjoyable if we were lying down. So I bent a little, wrapped my arms tighter around her, and lifted her off the ground just enough so I’d be able to carry her over to the bed. Ryan murmured something that I didn’t catch and started to wrap her legs around my waist. Then she yelped and squirmed in my arms, and I dropped her. Fortunately, Ryan was quick, and she got her feet back under her in time to avoid landing on her ass, but she did stumble on impact and ended up pressed completely against me.
“Oh, my God. Are you okay? What happened?” I scrutinized her for any clue that would tell me why she’d squealed.
Ryan laughed and rubbed the top of one of her knees with the tips of her fingers. “Sorry. I forgot you still had all your gear on. I think I caught the muzzle of your pistol with one leg and the edge of your radio with the other.”
I groaned and ducked my head. I couldn’t decide which was more mortifying; the fact that she’d just sustained a minor sex injury or the fact that I’d been so wrapped up in what we’d been doing that I’d failed to realize I was still all suited up.
Ryan cupped my jaw in her hands, grazing the skin there so lightly that it sent chills up my spine. When I looked up, she was smiling at me in this soft, gentle way that made me a lot warmer and fuzzier than I’d ever want to admit. “Why don’t we get you out of those clothes?”
In that moment, I was grateful that I was dressed in casual attire and boots rather than my usual suit and dress shoes because it didn’t matter that everything got kicked or ripped off in haste and ended up strewn across the room in my zeal to get naked. I was also glad that I didn’t need to worry about securing or stowing my weapon because Ryan was an agent, too. I left all of my equipment on my belt and just allowed it to drop to the floor before I stepped out of my pants, shoved the robe off of Ryan’s shoulders, and pushed her onto the bed.
Ryan’s eyes were alight with mischief and glee as she gazed up at me, and it was an effort not to get ensnared by how beautiful she was. My heart thudded painfully, and when she reached up to place the palm of her hand over the center of my chest, I was afraid she’d be able to feel it beating beneath her fingers. This thing between us was still too new, and we didn’t know one another quite well enough yet for me to feel comfortable with her knowing exactly what sort of effect she had on me. We probably wouldn’t even make it that far. But that was another thought for another time. Right now, I needed to keep her distracted, so she wouldn’t notice how fast and hard I was falling for her.
I reclaimed her lips and set to work kissing her slowly and languidly as I settled myself on top of her. The sensation of her heated skin melding with mine was exquisite, and I had a fleeting thought of calling in sick tomorrow, so I wouldn’t have to leave her. Chasing protectees around on the slopes all day while knowing she was here waiting for me was going to be torture. But all considerations of how I would get through my next shift evaporated when I slid my palm up her side and circled her erect nipple with my thumb.
One of us groaned at the contact. I didn’t know, or care, who. But as I rolled the hardened flesh between my fingers, our lazy kisses became more urgent. I adjusted my position so I could have easier access to more of her breast and ended up slipping one of my legs between her thighs. Ryan gasped and then shuddered at the contact, and her grip around my shoulders tightened. Pleased with the reaction, I rocked and pressed my leg more firmly against her, smiling at the strangled moan that remained trapped between our lips.
Impatient, I shifted again and slid one hand down her body to stroke her sex. I closed my eyes, bit my bottom lip, and dropped my head so that my face was resting between her breasts when I felt how wet she was for me. She moved the leg that wasn’t trapped beneath my weight, opening as wide as she was able, granting me the access I desired.
I pressed the tips of my fingers to her center, lifting my head so I could look at her. She was staring back at me, her eyes hooded, her pupils dilated. When I hesitated, she nodded and dug her fingernails into my back. I snaked my other hand underneath her body so I could cup the back of her neck with my palm and slipped inside her.
“God, Ryan,” I whispered, awed by how ready she was for me. The feel of her silken flesh enveloping my fingers was divine, and I dipped my head to take her nipple into my mouth as I debated whether to draw this out or give in to my desire to have her quivering beneath me.
“Please,” Ryan whispered softly, her breath tickling my neck. “Allison, please.”
Okay, decision made. I drew my fingers out slowly and then thrust them back in again, curling them as I circled her clit with my thumb. Ryan and I may not have bothered to get to know one another as thoroughly as we should have, but we were intimately acquainted with one another’s bodies by this time. Which was how I knew exactly what pattern and pressure to employ to drive her insane.
A sound that was a cross between a wheeze and a chuckle escaped Ryan’s lips, and when I glanced up at her, I saw that her head was thrown back, her eyes were closed, and her lips were turned up in a smile. “Oh…oh, God…you’re doing that thing…”
Whatever else she’d been trying to say got lost on the heels of a groan, and I smiled, too, as I felt her start to flutter around my fingers. I squeezed the back of her neck hard as I drove into her with my other hand. Ryan started shaking her head back and forth and gripped my hair as hard as she could as the muscles in her thighs tightened.
I kept up my pace and my rhythm for a few more thrusts before I performed the signature triple wrist flick that always sent her over the edge. Ryan’s breath caught in her throat, and mine got stuck right along with it as her body trembled and shook. After a few long moments, she sighed and went limp, and I kept my thumb pressed to the base of her clit for another few seconds before I finally withdrew my hand slowly. Ryan shivered, and I tried not to smile.
I pressed a soft kiss to her lips before rolling off her and throwing my arm across her waist. While I waited for her to regain her bearings, I dropped kisses on her shoulder and neck and traced random patterns on her skin with my fingertips.
Ryan grabbed my hand tickling her side and rolled over to face me. Her cheeks were flushed, and the flesh of her neck and upper chest was blotchy, but her eyes were bright, and she was grinning.
“Wow,” she breathed, tangling our fingers together and tucking them beneath her chin. “That was amazing. Thank you.”
My heart jumped, and it was an effort not to roll her back over and take her again. Instead, I squeezed my legs together in a vain attempt to relieve the ache that’d built there and ghosted my lips across her knuckles.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was.”
Ryan retracted her hand and started dragging her fingertips up and down my side. I shuddered and closed my eyes, and I could feel Ryan’s breath on my collarbone as she leaned in to whisper, “If it’s okay, I’d like to return the favor,” before sucking lightly on my pulse point.
Everything after that became kind of a blur as Ryan used her hands and lips and tongue to drive me to the brink of ecstasy over and over again before finally letting me fall. As I collapsed back onto the bed, finally sated for the time being, my lust-addled brain briefly wondered whether I’d begged as she’d teased me. Closing my eyes, I decided I was too tired at the moment to care. I could worry about that tomorrow when I would surely be dwelling on everything else that was troublesome about this relationship.
“We’re in a relationship?” Ryan blurted out, sounding surprised.
My blood flashed from boiling to freezing in less time than it took to blink, and my eyes flew open in horror. Ryan had rolled over onto her side and had propped herself up on one elbow so that she could look at me. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Had I said that out loud? Clearly I had. Could I get away with pretending I hadn’t?
“What?” I finally went with when I could speak again.
Ryan frowned at me and pursed her lips. It was clear that she was mulling over the situation in her mind and choosing her next words very carefully. I held my breath as I watched her, dreading whatever she was about to say.
The moment stretched and pulled until it felt like it’d been extended into eternity, but eventually, Ryan’s features softened. I waited to see whether she was going to push the issue or get offended by my avoidance of it, but she surprised me by dropping a quick kiss onto my lips and curling up next to me.
“Roll over,” she said when I remained still and didn’t react.
“Huh?”
“I’m going to RON, right?”
RON stood for remain overnight, and I looked at her like she was insane. “Of course you are. What? Did you think I’d make you drive back to NYC?” Or chance you being seen by someone while sneaking out of the hotel, I thought but didn’t say.
Ryan grinned and shoved at my shoulder. “Good. Then roll over. You’re going to be the little spoon.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was such a Ryan thing to say, and it conveyed her message loud and clear without actually speaking the words. We were fine. And she was going to let me figure this out on my own for at least a little while longer.
“Why do I have to be the little spoon? I’m older than you are. And taller. And I’ve been on the job longer.” But despite my arguments, I did as she asked and rolled over onto my side, sighing as I felt her snuggle up against my back.
“True,” she said. “But I didn’t get any dinner tonight. So I get to be the big spoon.”
I laughed again. “Fair enough. If I feed you tomorrow, does that mean I get to be big spoon?”
“We’ll see,” Ryan said softly, squeezing me tight and pressing a kiss to the sensitive skin behind my ear. “We’ll see.”
XO, Beatrix
Jane C. Esther
Jane C. Esther is a librarian by day and a writer by night. The author of The Universe Between Us, she lives in New England with her wife and cats.
Alexandra felt herself losing it. One tear after another rolled down her flushed face, which she covered with the soft sleeves of her sweatshirt. An airplane halfway across the Atlantic wasn’t the ideal place for a panic attack.
She noticed the young woman next to her glancing in her direction and avoided her eyes, focusing on her phone screen. She read the email again. Cruise has left port. Passenger will need to embark at next port of call.
Alexandra shrank into the seat and remembered all the nightmares she’d had about the ship hitting an iceberg and sinking in the middle of the sea. Maybe she’d watched Titanic too many times, but she was pretty sure those things still happened once in a while. Now, with an impending and unplanned stay alone in Amsterdam, then another leg of travel to Denmark, she began to hyperventilate.
She felt a soft tap on her arm and turned too quickly.
The woman withdrew her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said with a slight accent that Alexandra couldn’t place.
Alexandra had the inconvenient habit of not making eye contact with anyone when she was anxious, so she hadn’t really taken a good look at either of the people sandwiching her in the middle of Row 17. When she finally looked at the woman on her right, she was sorry she hadn’t done it sooner. Even in the drabbest sweats, she was gorgeous, only a little older, with slight creases around her bright green eyes. Alexandra wished she’d look that attractive in five or ten years, but she didn’t consider herself that good looking to begin with.
She caught herself staring too long into those green eyes while her breath evened out. “Sorry, I’m just not good with changing plans,” she said. She dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve.
“Can I help? I’m actually very good at being flexible,” the woman said.
Alexandra watched as a flash of panic crossed the woman’s face, and felt her own lips relax into the ghost of a smile.
“That came out wrong,” she said, clearing her throat. “Wow, okay. Now that I’ve made it awkward, I should probably introduce myself. Beatrix.” She turned slightly toward Alexandra and offered her hand.
“I’m Alexandra. Thanks for making me forget about myself for a second.”
Beatrix’s laugh contained all the warmth of the sun coming out from behind a cloud. “Glad to help, Alexandra.”
She loved the way Beatrix said her name, and the way she gathered her honey brown hair over one shoulder. While Beatrix wasn’t looking, she glanced at the logo on the front of her orange sweatshirt. It was some university she’d never heard of, but it sounded Dutch, from the little she knew about the subject.
“Do you go there?” Alexandra asked, gesturing toward the sweatshirt.
Beatrix hadn’t been looking at her. “Go where?”
“Wagon-something University?” She pointed to the word on the bright orange fabric.
“Oh, Wageningen. I used to. I graduated four years ago. Now I’m a stage manager for a theater company in Amsterdam.” Beatrix looked down at Alexandra’s shirt. “Is that where you are in school?”
Alexandra looked down to remember what she’d put on this morning, then laughed. “Oh, no, that’s a fake university. I’m at Boston College, actually.”
“What do you study there?” Beatrix had leaned against the window and turned so she was almost facing Alexandra.
“Math. Statistics, mostly. I’ve been creating these really cool visualizations for changing wind patterns in New England over the past century.” She glanced up at Beatrix, who was suppressing a smile. “I’m sorry, this probably sounds really boring.”
Beatrix laughed. “Not at all. I can tell you’re quite passionate about it. So, going back to the whole plans changing thing,” she said. “Is there anything I could help with?”
Alexandra felt her anxiety tugging at her once again, and she showed Beatrix the email. “I missed the cruise ship my whole family’s on. I’m stuck until I can get to wherever they dock next. Denmark, I guess. And all I have is a backpack with approximately one change of clothes.” She sighed heavily and heard Beatrix chuckling softly.
“So you’re about to have a big adventure.” She handed the phone back to Alexandra.
“I wouldn’t put it like that. I have no idea where I’m going to stay or how I’m supposed to get to Denmark. And I suck at geography, so I don’t even know what’s in between the two places.” Alexandra groaned and put her head against the seat in front of her.
Beatrix didn’t say anything for a moment, so Alexandra glanced at her. She was biting her bottom lip, deep in thought. A river of hormones flooded her body as she watched her mouth.
“So you have two options, right? You can either figure all of this out on your own, or you can accept my offer to be your tour guide until we can get you to Denmark.” Beatrix looked hopeful, which was confusing because Alexandra wasn’t one to make friends easily.
She shook her head. “Thanks, but you really don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have better things to do. I’m not really that fun to hang out with when I’m freaking out like this.”
Beatrix stared at her for a moment, then looked down. Alexandra watched as she decided what to say.
“Alexandra, I’m not going to try and convince you, but you should know that I have the next few days off, and I can’t think of a better way to spend them than to show someone my city.”
Alexandra wanted to say no, that she didn’t want the responsibility of being an inconvenience, but she found herself nodding. “Okay.”
Beatrix seemed shocked that she’d agreed so easily. “Okay then. Good. Great. It’s a date. I mean, it’s a plan.”
Alexandra felt the urge to take her hand and squeeze it, but that was way too forward. Besides, Beatrix was just being nice and helping out a naive, stranded traveler. There was no hidden agenda. Beatrix took out her phone and sent a couple of messages, then nodded at her.
“All set. You
will stay in my guest room and you will have the greatest adventure of your life. Now, you should probably get some sleep because I have a feeling we won’t get a lot later.” As she realized what she’d said, she shook her head. “I don’t know why I can’t talk around you, Alexandra. Anyway, you know what I mean.”
Beatrix closed her eyes and leaned against the window, a small smile lingering on her mouth. Alexandra wanted to take her advice and have a nap, but the promise of a big, late-night adventure with a gorgeous woman who kept making accidental sexual innuendos was enough to keep her awake forever.
***
“Wait, this is your house?” Alexandra drew the straps of her backpack close to her chest and stepped to the edge of the canal.
“You like it? Her name is Queen Sofia. Home sweet houseboat.” Beatrix stepped onto the deck and extended her hand toward Alexandra.
“Oh, I don’t do boats. I mean, I know I’m about to go on a cruise and everything, but my grandpa had to convince me to do that for three months before I agreed.”
“Come on, she’s completely safe. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you. Besides, we’ve got a lot to do this evening, and we should change.” Beatrix waited as Alexandra remained rooted to the solid ground. “How about you just throw me your backpack for now, and we’ll work on the rest after we get some food.”
Alexandra sighed. She’d come this far, what was a few more feet? “Okay, fuck it. Help me down.” She stepped nearer to the boat and took Beatrix’s hand. It was soft and warm and made her stomach flip.
The inside was small and cramped, but Beatrix had decorated it with mirrors and light fabrics, and it somehow seemed much bigger than it was.
“We have a few hours of daylight left, so put on something comfortable to walk around in, okay? Guest bedroom is over there.” She pointed to a room off the kitchen, not fifteen feet away. “Let me show you the light switch.”
