To the Moon and Back

by Melissa Brayden

  “Have you seen the moon tonight?” Lauren asked.

  Carly gazed up at the luminous moon broadcasting its warm glow in the night sky. Appropriately, the stars were plentiful. “It’s gorgeous. The entire sky.”

  “Almost like it’s sanctioning our opening, looking down on us.” She shook her head. “I’ve noticed the stars, the moon, the constellations so much more since we started work on the show.”

  Carly kissed Lauren’s hand. “I don’t think I’ll ever look at them in the same way.”

  Lauren sighed happily. “Neither of us will.”

  Chapter Eleven

  They were tipsy, but only a little, as they climbed out of Lauren’s Mini that autumn evening, the one that had already changed Lauren’s life. “Did you see the look on Trip’s face when you told him to send Nia onstage?” Lauren asked, laughing. She waved her hand in front of her face a few times as she tried to get control. “Man, you made his first show as PSM a memorable one. I’ll say that.” She continued to laugh as she thought back.

  “Who knew that all he needed was a little pizza porn and I’d be his?” Carly joined Lauren in her laughter and held out her hand. “Come here. I want to kiss you in the cold beneath this gorgeous moon.”

  Lauren grinned and leaned against the car. “The moon, I get. What’s so special about the cold?”

  “It’s on my list.” She caught Lauren around the waist and pulled her close. The streetlights in Lauren’s neighborhood illuminated her driveway, but only slightly, allowing her to bask in the battle between shadow and light.

  “What else is on your list?” Lauren studied Carly’s expressive baby blues.

  Carly looked skyward, still on the high of tonight. “I want to kiss you in the warmth of the West Coast, autumn in Maine, and on the beaches of Hawaii, Mexico, and Jamaica. We can negotiate European destinations next.”

  “Oh, we can?”

  “I’m a big fan of Germany and the Black Forest. Once shot a film there and couldn’t get enough of the food or the scenery. You’d love it. They sell schnitzel on a stick, Lauren. I’m not messing around.”

  “You take schnitzel very seriously. I can tell.” Lauren laughed but quietly filed away that this was the first time Carly had spoken plainly of a future. She shocked herself at how happy it made her. Was it possible this wasn’t just a showmance? It seemed ridiculous to think that someone with a life as exciting as Carly’s might be happy with regular Lauren who liked a good Sunday morning crossword puzzle and a satisfying game of pool. Yet their connection seemed so authentic and effortless, she couldn’t help but fantasize.

  “Are we going inside?” Lauren asked. God, she hoped Carly said yes. Yes, their celebration was tons of fun, but in the back of her mind she just wanted to race through it all, hoping to have alone time with Carly, dreaming about taking off her clothes.

  “If we’re not, I might weep silently on the curb.” Carly smiled, and waited. She rocked on her heels.

  “We’re definitely not weeping tonight. Follow me.”

  Carly’s hands touched her waist as they walked, sending an anticipatory shiver across her skin. She was ready for Carly, and growing more so with each second that ticked past. She let them into her home, to the sounds of Rocky’s tiny feet on the hardwood floors. “There’s my baby,” she said, scooping him up. He licked her face appropriately and shifted his attention to Carly. Seeing her there produced full on dog body-wagging, which required Lauren to place him back on the floor so he could wiggle around properly.

  “I like that dance you’re doing, Rocky.” Carly knelt down and allowed him to take turns leaping up at her face and wiggling his body more, in festivity. She flipped him onto his back and gave his belly a ferocious rubbing, which yielded his customary snorts of appreciation. Lauren joined them on the floor and scratched Rocky’s head, not wanting to be left out of the late-night lovefest.

  “We opened a show tonight, Rock,” Lauren said. He snuffled and wiggled.

  “I think they liked us,” Carly added. Rocky turned in three circles and trotted away.

  Lauren faced Carly. “He’s not really a night owl. He generally greets me after shows, but then heads back to his bed under the end table. He thinks it’s his own personal fort, and I’ve done nothing to correct him.”

  “And why would you?” Carly asked, sweeping a strand of hair behind Lauren’s ear. That did it. She was back to stop one on the Lust Express and watched Carly with heated interest.

  “Hi,” she said softly.

  “Take me to your room,” Carly said back.

  Lauren laughed nervously. “I really like that sentence.” She took Carly’s hand and walked through the house, turning off lights as she went.

  “I have others,” Carly said, as she was led down the short hallway to the master bedroom. “Here’s one. I want my hands on you yesterday.”

  “A second truly good sentence,” Lauren said.

  “Another that comes to mind…my legs are shaking just thinking about you touching me.”

  Lauren sucked in a breath at that one. Touching Carly. God. Her own knees went weak. One look back when they reached the door to Lauren’s bedroom told her everything Carly just said was true. Carly’s playful side had slowly receded, and what Lauren saw in her eyes was inarguably desire. Heat flared, and the anticipation of what was about to happen engulfed Lauren. She was wet. She was in need. She was ready. God, they’d waited long enough.

  She had her bedroom lights on a dimmer, which worked out nicely for them tonight. Dim enough for sexy, but enough to see all she’d been dreaming about for weeks. Lauren didn’t have to wait long. Carly slid a hand behind Lauren’s neck and kissed her with unmeasured passion. With Lauren gasping for air, Carly stepped back and, in full view, lifted her red sweater over her head, leaving her in black pants and a black bra so revealing Lauren had to swallow. She didn’t move a muscle as Carly unbuttoned those pants and slid them down her legs. The matching lingerie underneath rode the curve of her hip and dipped between her legs. Lauren trembled at the sight of the gorgeous, confident woman in front of her.

  “May I?” Carly said quietly as she approached. Her fingertips brushed against the skin of Lauren’s collarbone, and she unbuttoned the top button of Lauren’s red blouse. Lauren nodded, granting her silent permission to go farther. Carly stepped in closer and eased the top of her bare thigh up against Lauren’s center through her jeans. She heard her own gasp and felt her entire body tighten. Carly’s proximity did that to her, communicating her startling power. Lauren throbbed. She tried to concentrate. Carly continued to slowly unbutton her top, staring with interest as she revealed more and more. She let her hands drop after mastering the last button. Lauren’s open shirt revealed a glimpse of her cleavage and the long sweep of her torso and stomach. Carly took her in as if studying the most beautiful of paintings. Finally, she reached up and slid the shirt off Lauren’s shoulders, down to her elbows. She’d worn her yellow bra. She liked the way she looked in it best.

  “God,” Carly said and shook her head reverently. It seemed the yellow had been the right choice. She dipped her head and kissed the spot between Lauren’s breasts, prompting Lauren to drop her head back in sweet surrender. Carly kissed up her chest to her neck and the spot beneath her jaw, all the while working the button on Lauren’s pants like a damn professional. They were down around her knees along with her underwear before she could lift her head again. Carly would know how ready she was soon. Her bra quickly followed, and she watched Carly feast on that little reveal. “Finally,” Carly breathed. She caught a nipple in her mouth and swirled her tongue, sending pinpricks of pleasure shooting through Lauren’s midsection and immediately lower. God, it was the lower that nearly did her in. Carly palmed the other breast, clearly not at all shy in the bedroom. “You’re everything I imagined and more, you know that?” Carly continued to bathe her breasts, sending Lauren’s longing beyond anywhere she’d ever been before.

  “I want to see you,” Lauren whis
pered, running her nails up and down Carly’s back.

  “Mm-hmm. Soon.” It was a torturous word. Carly slipped her hand between Lauren’s legs and touched her softly for the first time. Lauren closed her eyes, melting, then jerking at the sensations that engulfed her.

  “Carly,” Lauren managed. She pushed against Carly’s hand, asking for more.

  “Yes, Lauren?” Carly said back, and smiled against Lauren’s neck. Yet Lauren had no further words. Carly stroked her softly. Slowly. God, so slowly. Lauren moved in rhythm against Carly’s fingers in pursuit of relief. She didn’t get it. Carly withdrew her hand and instead eased Lauren onto the bed. From where she lay on her back, she watched as Carly put on the very best show, unhooking her bra and dropping it to the floor. Sweet heaven above, she had gorgeous breasts. Of course she did. She was Carly Daniel, and she was topless in Lauren’s bedroom. Lauren thought of all the ways she planned to get to know them. Once Carly straddled her stomach, Lauren reached up and started a soft exploration with her fingertips that ended with the gentle twisting of Carly’s nipples.

  “I had a feeling I’d come undone when you touched me. Good God.” Carly dropped her head back which meant Lauren was on the right track.

  Lauren sat up with Carly still in her lap, lifted one breast to her mouth, and dipped her head to taste. Heaven. She licked Carly’s breast, her nipple, making a circle with her tongue. Carly murmured appreciatively, threading her fingers through Lauren’s hair as she worked. She held her in place, which Lauren didn’t mind at all. Touching Carly only made her own need escalate. Her own discomfort grew in the sexiest way possible.

  Lauren reached between Carly’s legs and grazed her through the fabric, making Carly moan, low and throaty. That did it. On a mission, she shifted forward and laid Carly down on the bed. She took her bikinis off in the blink of an eye, raked her gaze over all that was on glorious display to her now, and settled on top. Carly pulled Lauren’s face down and kissed her, hungry and powerful. The sensation of skin on skin for the first time might have been one of the more satisfying moments of Lauren’s life. She’d waited patiently for this moment, fantasized about this, and now it was all theirs. As they kissed, she settled her hips between Carly’s legs and rocked. Carly gasped. Lauren rocked some more, firm and slow.

  “God, yes,” Carly said, arching into her, searching for more. Lauren pushed up onto her forearms as she worked her hips, watching as Carly’s breasts lifted and fell with each thrust. Fiery desire flickered through her. She wanted Carly to come, and she wanted it soon.

  Lauren crawled down the bed, parted Carly’s legs, and kissed her between them sensuously, matching Carly’s rhythm with her tongue. Slow, then fast, and slow again. She slid her fingers inside and listened to Carly gasp. “Lauren.” Carly panted and made the best little whimpering sounds as Lauren pushed into her and out. She was a little drunk on those sounds, this whole experience more than she ever could have imagined. Her tongue circled and dipped, until the sounds only increased. With a final swipe, Carly went still and cried out, shaking all over as Lauren held her in place, protectively. She kissed up her body, treasuring it, memorizing each expanse of skin.

  Carly took Lauren’s face in her hands and kissed her, good and long. She flipped them easily, ready to take what she wanted. With fire in her eyes, she took Lauren’s nipple into her mouth and sucked. She almost came. When Carly bit down, gentle yet firm, Lauren felt the sensation gathering from somewhere deep within. She couldn’t stop it if she tried. Her hips pressed inward, and she tightened her stomach muscles, preparing for the tidal wave on the horizon. It built steadily every second that Carly touched her. “Almost,” Lauren said, desperate. Taking the cue, Carly pushed her fingers inside. Lauren gasped and balled the sheets with her fists, as Carly moved her thumb back and forth, making amazing things happen to Lauren. Her body felt like hers, but it didn’t. This was new. This was urgent. It was unhinged. The orgasm hit wild and hard in the best payoff of her life. Pleasure rocked her body and she bucked nearly off the bed, calling out. With her back arched and Carly still intimately joined to her, she rode out the waves that crashed one after the other. She’d been turned on for days—it was no wonder her body responded so powerfully.

  Limp and happy, she pulled Carly to her and smiled. There were no available words left, but Carly nodded at the smile. “Right?” she said, settling a thigh between Lauren’s, making her twitch with how sensitive she remained.

  “Off the charts,” Lauren finally murmured and ran her hand up the back of Carly’s neck into her hair.

  “That sounds like a challenge,” Carly said with a twinkle in her eye. “We could see how far off we could go.”

  “Don’t even think about it. You practically killed me just now.”

  Carly propped her head up on her hand and lay to the side, her gaze sweeping across Lauren’s body. She touched her breast lightly, circling it. “Oh, I’ll give it a few minutes. Don’t worry.”

  Lauren laughed, happy, sated, and feeling wonderfully like a wanton harlot.

  She could get used to this.

  * * *

  Carly didn’t have to open her eyes to know that she’d woken up in Lauren’s arms. God, she loved the way Lauren smelled, like fresh cotton and soap and sunshine, if that was even possible. She didn’t want to move from this spot. Ever. Her limbs felt heavy and comfortable. Her body felt the most rested it had for a long while. Lauren had seen to that expertly. Of course she’d be amazing in bed. She’d probably meticulously crafted her technique with careful thought, the way she approached every other aspect of her life.

  Carly found herself lying in the wonderful crook of space between Lauren’s shoulder and her collarbone, which gave her perfect access to place a soft good morning kiss on Lauren’s neck, causing her to stir. “Are you awake?” Carly asked in her best stage whisper. When she got no answer, she smiled to herself and spent a few more minutes reminiscing about the night prior. The details were etched into her being for all time. It had been the single hottest sexual exchange of Carly’s life, and in LA in her twenties, she’d experienced a lot. That was the thing, though. It wasn’t always what she and Lauren did, but how. Their connection, their pacing, their ability to predict the other, their yin-and-yang vibe. All of it.

  She absently traced the curve of Lauren’s breast, loving the quiet of the morning with Lauren in her arms. Lauren stirred and shifted closer, pushing lightly against Carly’s hand. Carly smiled at the signal and made her circles smaller, getting closer and closer to her nipple. Lauren, she’d learned just hours before, had very sensitive breasts.

  “What in the world have I woken up to?” Lauren asked. She sighed contentedly. “Good morning.”

  “It really seems to be.” Carly’s forefinger, at last, landed on the nipple itself and teased it lightly. She pinched it and relished Lauren’s quiet gasp. She ran her fingers between Lauren’s breasts, down Lauren’s stomach, and tickled the tops of her thighs, listening as Lauren’s breathing pattern quickened and hitched. Things were starting to work, and fast. With her knee, she nudged one of Lauren’s legs to the side and continued to lightly tickle her skin in a back and forth motion. When her fingertips reached the insides of her thighs, Lauren’s cheek pushed against the pillow, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Carly continued to tickle closer and closer to the exact spot she knew would take Lauren deliciously over the edge, and when she settled there, softly moving her fingers back and forth slowly, it only took seconds for Lauren to tense, arch her back, and cry out quietly with pleasure. That’s how Lauren did most things. Quietly and to perfection.

  Unable to help herself, Carly slid on top so she could feel her skin pressed to Lauren’s as she recovered. “Good morning, beautiful.” She ran her hand through Lauren’s luminous brown hair.

  “That might have been my sexiest wake-up.” Lauren shook her head. “Nope. I know it was.”

  “You came fast. Record time.”

  Lauren blinked. “I think we’ve establi
shed that I respond very well to you.” Pink invaded Lauren’s cheeks.

  “Are you blushing? Do I make you blush?”

  “No,” Lauren said adamantly, touching one of her cheeks to cover it.

  “But your cheeks are rosy and adorable. Just look at them.”

  “They are not. I checked. I love that you’re naked in my bed in my home. I have no idea how this happened from six months ago, before I knew you, to here, but I really, really like you naked.”

  Carly straddled Lauren’s thigh and rocked slightly, the whole process having turned her on in a big way. “We are in agreement about being naked together.”

  Lauren grinned and pulled Carly in tighter by her ass. “I had no idea you were this sexy minded in the morning. I mean, I definitely should have, because it’s you.”

  “Do you know what I’m also a fan of, besides you naked?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Lazy mornings. When there’s no rushing, no agenda, no alarm.”

  Lauren rolled them onto their sides, which revealed a more perfect view of Lauren’s body. Still not quite used to this intimacy, and loving every second of it, Carly let her gaze linger on the perfectly shaped, full breasts. “You are so sexy and alluring. Worthy of a painting. You need to know that.”

  Lauren pulled the sheet down farther, and Carly swore quietly.

  “Do you know what else we agree on?” Lauren asked.

  “What’s that?”

  “Our devotion to taking advantage of the lazy mornings you just described.” Lauren slid on top and cupped Carly firmly, intimately. And they were off.

  Lazy morning, indeed.

  * * *

  Lauren made coffee to the sound of the shower. With her blue silk robe fastened loosely around her, she practically glided through the kitchen, pouring the grounds with flourish, adding the water to the rhythm of the imaginary song in her head, pressing start on the coffee maker, and gliding her way to Rocky’s bowl for his breakfast. She felt like a sexed-up Snow White, bonding with all the animals and objects around her. Rocky quirked his pudgy little face at her as if to ask why she was so happy.