Escape to Pleasure

by Sandy Lowe

  ***

  The flight was worth it. Livvy couldn’t even pretend to say otherwise. They stayed at some Bennett-owned beach house, which Amanda said was for “smaller excursions.”

  Livvy’s room was actually a suite. The bed was the biggest she’d ever seen, and she wondered how many people Bennett expected to be using it at one time. And no, she didn’t think of Amanda in that bed at all.

  She did think of Amanda often in the days that followed, though. While Livvy and Jordan explored the beaches and whatever else they wanted, Amanda went off to do whatever business things she was doing with Bennett. She’d leave early and come back late. Livvy sent her a million pictures of Jordan, which Amanda always replied to quickly. Once, she said that she wasn’t sure Livvy was having any fun, since Livvy wasn’t in any of the photos.

  Was Amanda asking for pictures of her? She’d promised her mother a record of the trip anyway. She gave the phone to Jordan or whoever was passing by and got photos of herself, tan and happy. She took selfies with Jordan and made funny faces. Most pictures she sent to both Amanda and her mom. A few, involving a new bikini purchased just for the trip, only went to Amanda. Her boss. She was sending bikini shots to her boss. Livvy stopped taking many photos after that. Clearly the sun was messing with her brain.

  She expected more of the usual when she woke up a few days into the trip. She’d have breakfast with Jordan, Amanda would eat half a bagel while discussing their plans for the day, then she’d dash off. Except the house already smelled like breakfast when Livvy opened her eyes, and a distinct lack of smoke proved Jordan wasn’t behind it. Slipping on a robe over her sleep shorts and tank top, Livvy wandered downstairs to find Jordan on the counter and Amanda at the stove. She was also in a robe, but looking amazing and not remotely rumpled. Livvy should’ve run a brush through her hair before coming down.

  “Livvy!” Jordan clapped his hands and kicked his bare feet against the cabinet. “Mummy’s making eggies and soldiers!”

  “I see that.” When Amanda first explained her boy’s breakfast habits, Livvy had a moment of panic before Amanda took pity and translated the British words to English. Soft boiled eggs and sticks of toast. She could’ve just said that to start with instead of ruining Livvy on eggs forever.

  “Bacon for you,” Amanda said as if reading her thoughts. “You Americans and your love of cholesterol.”

  “Darn right,” Livvy said, tempering her language for Jordan. “Shouldn’t you have been out of here an hour ago?”

  “So anxious to get away from your wicked old boss, are you?”

  “Mummy’s spending the day with us!” Jordan clapped his hands again.

  Livvy swallowed. “Don’t you have…things?”

  “I always have things. If I were an utter slave to those things, I’d never see either of you again, and that’s hardly acceptable, is it? Have you grown too tired of the beach?”

  “I…no. Beach is great.”

  “Fabulous. Jordan wants sandcastles and a swim.”

  “Right. And, what do you want, Boss?”

  “A live view of that swimsuit would be nice. I doubt even a Bennett camera did it justice. Come then, sit down, eat up, we’ve got a long day ahead.”

  After getting Jordan ready and packing a bag with the essentials, they locked up the house and set up camp on the beach. It was there that Livvy first saw Amanda in a bikini. Not counting a few images she’d found on Google, and those definitely didn’t count when compared to the real thing. It was a simple black number, a contrast to Livvy’s more colorful suit. It showed off her legs, her abs, nearly everything. Livvy felt positively inadequate by comparison, but thought Amanda might’ve been staring at her from behind her designer sunglasses.

  When Amanda finished putting sunscreen on Jordan, he insisted on repeating the process. On Livvy. Giggling and with no method whatsoever, he smeared gobs of cream all over her, until Amanda told him to pick what towel he wanted to use from the bag. When he was occupied, Amanda took the bottle, squirted its contents into her hands and rubbed them together, her eyes still shielded by the glasses.

  “Turn around,” she said softly, a twist of her finger accompanying the words.

  Livvy stilled, frozen in place on her beach chair. “I can…I’ve got it.”

  “Nonsense, I won’t have you burned and incapacitated the rest of the trip. Turn around.”

  Incapacitated. Not exactly the word. Livvy shifted on the chair and felt Amanda sit behind her. She jumped when Amanda’s hands touched her back.

  “All right?” Amanda asked, pausing.

  Christ no. “Of course.”

  “Good,” Amanda said, close to Livvy’s ear, her fingers strong and sure as they kneaded her skin. The next time Livvy shivered, Amanda didn’t bother stopping.

  ***

  “Oh my God. This shouldn’t be legal.”

  Livvy licked her lips, searching for every trace of the fruity drink Amanda had concocted. She’d spent the whole day with her boss, most of it with her boss in barely any clothes, and she hadn’t jumped her once. Livvy considered this a major accomplishment deserving of reward. Now, Jordan was in bed and they were occupying a couple of chairs on the balcony. Livvy didn’t know what this drink was, but it was miles above her usual strawberry margarita.

  Amanda smiled at her over her own glass. “It might actually be illegal, for you.”

  “Oh stop.” Amanda had given her a too-generous bonus on her birthday, so she knew exactly how old Livvy was.

  “What? You’re young, it’s no bad thing, just truth.”

  Livvy felt a slight shift in Amanda’s mood, even through her own slight buzz. The ten, almost eleven years between them, seemed to matter suddenly, at least to Amanda. “Not so young. You still hired me.”

  Whatever it was seemed to clear, and Amanda relaxed in her chair and sipped her drink. “I did. Fabulous decision on my part, not that I’m bragging.”

  “Why?” Livvy asked, the booze and the atmosphere letting loose a question she’d been afraid to ask. “Why me? You must’ve had a million candidates.”

  “Hardly. Only hundreds. You were the most qualified.”

  Livvy thought of her few years babysitting, her degree still in progress. “Bullshit.”

  Amanda laughed. “Well, that would be part of it. You were the only one with guts enough to say something like that to me.”

  “Guts, or stupidity?”

  “Guts. I liked you. And Jordan loved you. Loves you.”

  “I love him.”

  “I know. And I…love anyone who loves my son.”

  Maybe she was just tipsy, but Livvy thought Amanda had almost said something else. She thought Amanda’s smile was different from any of her other smiles.

  She stopped thinking when Amanda leaned over and kissed her. Her lips were as soft as Livvy had always imagined. They tasted like salt and whatever else was in that fruity drink. Amanda’s tongue brushed Livvy’s lips softly, and just as Livvy was parting them to let her in, Amanda pulled away.

  “Fuck. Forgive me, Livvy, I never should’ve put you in this position. Please don’t—”

  “Are you flustered?” Livvy asked, not sure such a thing had ever happened.

  “Among other things.”

  Amanda was blushing. Livvy hadn’t known that was possible. She touched the pink skin of Amanda’s face. “Do you want me?”

  Amanda looked as startled at the question as Livvy was at having asked it aloud. “Desperately.”

  Livvy wondered if she’d ever been wanted desperately by anyone. If she had, the feelings hadn’t been reciprocated. She’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted Amanda. She cupped Amanda’s face and felt the heat there. She kissed her, half-sure she’d wake up any moment, that she’d passed out from heatstroke and all this was just a wonderful illusion. But Amanda felt real, tasted real. Amanda’s hands were real when they covered Livvy’s.

  “You’re sure?” Amanda asked.

  “Yes.” Livvy di
dn’t trust herself to properly express how sure she was.

  Amanda gave her that smile again, that different smile that was mostly tender and a little wicked. Amanda held out her hand and Livvy took it.

  It was Livvy’s room they went to. Amanda assured her that Jordan was asleep, but said they still had to remain regrettably quiet, for now.

  For now?

  Livvy couldn’t obsess over that. Amanda urged her back to the bed with kisses and a playful tweak to Livvy’s nipple.

  She thought Amanda would be quick and methodical about clothing removal. She could dress and undress faster than anyone Livvy had ever met, courtesy of her military training. Livvy had seen it a thousand times when Amanda was running late for some function, or when Jordan was lagging behind. Her prediction was and wasn’t true. Amanda was quick and careless in tossing her own clothes aside, but not Livvy’s. With Livvy, it was slow and torturous, and there were kisses to every inch of skin. Amanda’s hands, which could snap someone’s neck, were gentle when they traced over the artery by Livvy’s throat, only slightly less so when she bit the same spot, dragging her teeth over it.

  Livvy groaned, her hands in Amanda’s hair, holding her in place. Their breasts touched and hardened against each other. Amanda’s were at least two sizes bigger than Livvy’s, and Livvy decided that whoever said that more than a handful was wasted hadn’t lived a full life.

  Finally, Amanda had them both naked. She stood between Livvy’s legs while Livvy sat on the edge of the bed, trembling. Amanda’s pussy was beautifully inviting, bare, and made Livvy worry about the well-trimmed but visible strip on her own body. She hadn’t believed she’d get anywhere on this trip, and now she was caught unprepared.

  But Amanda smiled and stood back a little, raking her eyes over Livvy, setting her on fire in this room where they could hear ocean waves crashing outside.

  “You are lovely,” Amanda said, then kissed her. “And not too young, you’re right. As usual.”

  Amanda’s hands moved, one toying with Livvy’s breast, the other moving lower, to her clit. Livvy shuddered. Amanda’s fingers were light and careful, as they’d been when they moved through wet sand earlier, shaping miniature castles on the beach. Livvy tried wrapping her legs around Amanda’s waist, but Amanda stepped back.

  “Turn around,” Amanda said, with that same little finger twist she’d used earlier. “Move up the bed.”

  Amanda’s fingers were most definitely in the wrong place, but Livvy listened, maneuvering until she was farther up and facing the other way, her ass to Amanda. It was only then she remembered the mirror on that wall. She’d come back so happily exhausted the last few days that she’d fallen to the mattress barely noticing the reflective surface over the headboard, except for a brief thought about Bennett being a perv.

  Now Livvy faced a mirror as clear as the pristine water surrounding this island. She had her ass in the air and Amanda was crawling up behind her. “God, we look hot together,” Livvy said, without meaning to say it aloud.

  “Indeed.”

  Amanda’s hands drifted up her back with feather touches, her fingers exploring Livvy’s back, her ass. The path she laid burned and soothed all at once, those cool fingers warming Livvy’s skin in a way the island sun never could.

  “You’ve tanned.” Amanda kissed along Livvy’s spine. “Beautifully.”

  Livvy hummed acknowledgment but couldn’t do much else. Amanda’s lips and hair tickled Livvy’s skin like the warm island breezes. Livvy closed her eyes as Amanda kissed her spine, the small of her back.

  “Open,” Amanda said, one hand going lower, between Livvy’s legs. “Open, darling.”

  Livvy did, her legs and eyes both. She barely registered getting that darling she’d dreamed of for months before thinking became impossible. Amanda’s fingers rubbed on her, in her, coaxed her open. When her fingers slipped in, Livvy saw stars, colors that put the pretty, exotic fish she and Jordan had oohed and aahed over to shame. Livvy watched herself buck and squirm in the mirror, Amanda holding her steady as though it were nothing.

  “My darling,” Amanda murmured, kissing the swell of Livvy’s ass, the dip in her back. “Lord, you’re soaked.”

  “Been like this since I met you.” Livvy struggled for words as she pushed back on Amanda’s thrusts, Amanda’s thumb working her clit.

  “God, Livvy.”

  Was that a surprise? How could Amanda possibly be surprised? Livvy thought of asking her but moaned instead, the sound going through her whole body as Amanda finally did that finger twist thing where she wanted her to. A repetition of the move had Livvy nearly screaming.

  “Shh, shh. Not yet, love, not here.”

  Livvy remembered Jordan and bit her lip. A hand over her mouth wouldn’t do, since she didn’t have the balance in this position. She shifted a bit and Amanda moved with her. She pressed her face against one of the pillows, muffling her sounds. That ridiculously expensive pillow had been the softest thing to ever touch her face, until Amanda’s lips. Livvy gripped the covers and hid her cries against the material.

  “That’s it, there you are. That’s it, darling.”

  Livvy half heard Amanda’s encouragements, muffled as they were by the fabric and the thud of her own heart. Livvy had lain at the edge of the sand earlier and let the waves swell against her. These waves were so much stronger, they threatened to pull her away completely. And Livvy would’ve let them, gone willingly, if Amanda wasn’t holding her steady.

  Amanda did hold her, though, murmuring sweet, quiet things into Livvy’s skin as she relaxed and came down. Amanda’s lips and mouth were soft, persistent, everywhere, as she helped Livvy lie back against the pillows.

  There were many things she could and should say now, with a beautiful woman on top of her, peppering kisses over her damp skin. The one Livvy went with was, “So, you do like girls, huh?”

  Amanda snorted, very un-British of her. “I’m fond of some, yes. Of you, in particular.”

  Livvy said she wasn’t sure about that, that she required further proof. Amanda moved so she was straddling Livvy, took Livvy’s hand, and placed it over her wet, bare cunt.

  “Slip your hand here then, if a demonstration you must have.”

  Amanda was slick and warm, and she made the most wonderful noise when Livvy went inside. Livvy wasn’t at all surprised at Amanda being on top. The view was amazing, better than any she’d seen on this trip, in this beautiful place.

  Amanda rocked herself on Livvy’s fingers, biting her lip and pulling at one of her breasts. Her other hand stayed over Livvy’s, only directing her every so often, mostly just holding her there. Livvy used her thumb on Amanda’s wet, hard clit. She watched Amanda tug at her nipple and decided she absolutely had to feel the two points of stiffness together. She reached up her free hand and worked at Amanda’s other breast.

  Amanda gasped. “You’re marvelous.”

  Lovely and marvelous. Two things she’d never been called and instantly wanted to be called again. She played with Amanda’s nipple, spread her fingers wider inside. Amanda made a choked noise and let go of her breast, holding an arm over her mouth to keep quiet.

  She was making Amanda Davenport struggle for control. Livvy had never been more powerful.

  She watched the play of muscles on Amanda’s body, felt the ones within. Amanda’s grip on her wrist was almost painful, but Livvy kept going, pushing in and out, rubbing at Amanda’s clit. She let go of Amanda’s breast, grabbed her hip and squeezed at the same time Amanda’s walls squeezed down on her fingers.

  Amanda made muted, desperate noises against Livvy’s arm. Her eyes were wide, almost frantic, but they never left Livvy’s. Livvy’s wrist hurt, but the feeling was meaningless compared to the sensations she’d given Amanda and what Amanda let her do.

  Amanda did, adorably, apologize for her grip after she’d calmed enough. She massaged Livvy’s wrist and took the excuse to suck on Livvy’s fingers, which nearly sent Livvy’s body into arrest. Then Aman
da kissed her and lay next to her and called her marvelous again.

  “What happens when we go home?” Livvy asked after a few minutes, her head pillowed on Amanda’s breast.

  “Whatever we want to happen,” Amanda said, fingers in Livvy’s hair. “Whatever you want to happen.”

  Livvy said promptly that she wanted more of that, while rolling her knee against Amanda’s crotch. Amanda cursed and laughed.

  “That can be arranged. You’re a terrible flier, though. I don’t relish the return trip with you.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Don’t pout. As I said before, we’ll just have to do something to calm your nerves.”

  “Something?”

  “It is a private jet, and a long flight. Jordan slept away half of it last time, more than I can say for you. Have you heard of the mile-high club?”

  Leave it to Amanda to plan a getaway so perfect that even the leaving would be amazing.

  Happy Anniversary

  T.L. Hayes

  T.L. Hayes has three books published through Bold Strokes Books and two short stories published in anthologies from Sapphire Books. She currently resides in Springfield, IL, after a long sojourn in the south. Find her on Facebook or at TLHayesweb.com.

  “Dammit, Chi, I don’t believe you!” Sam exclaimed as she opened their hotel room door, her arms laden down with two suitcases, while Chi followed her in, carrying a third. Sam put the bags on the floor in front of the desk, which was less a desk and more a dark brown wooden desktop screwed to the wall with an uncomfortable-looking hard plastic chair, and ran her hands through her long, dripping hair. “Who doesn’t check the weather before booking a trip? I mean, how hard is that?”

  Chi put down the bag she was carrying and ran a hand through her damp, close-cropped hair. “I’m sorry, okay? As I said in the airport, and the cab, and downstairs. Do I at least get credit for the location? You’ve been wanting to come to the Pacific Northwest forever. I thought our anniversary would be the perfect time. Who knew April was one of the rainiest months here?” Chi closed the distance between them and tried to put her arms around Sam, but Sam backed out of her embrace.