Keep Tahoe Blue

by Nicole Pyland

  “You’re so tight,” Reese said.

  “It’s been–” Kellan tried, but finished with two back-to-back moans followed by a near yell, “Reese!”

  Kellan’s hands were clenching Reese’s lower back as she came again. Reese continued her pace. Her eyes met the shaking arm holding her above Kellan, and she wondered how it felt for other people. She could tell her arm was tired because she could feel the shaking. She knew she was exhausted because she’d hiked all day, and there was soreness. She recognized the soreness, but the pain that others felt that told them to stop doing something wasn’t present. She knew the gash on her arm would be causing someone else pain, but there was nothing for her. There was nothing except Kellan coming beneath her. Her bright blue eyes were closed. Sweat droplets covered her hairline. Her nose was scrunched in an adorably sexy way, and her mouth hung open as she attempted to ride out this moment of bliss. Reese slowed when Kellan’s grip loosened and her eyes opened. Reese stopped moving inside her in that moment because the beauty of Kellan’s satisfied gaze caused her to get distracted.

  “I needed that,” Kellan said and then laughed.

  CHAPTER 24

  “What are you guys going to do?” Remy asked.

  “I don’t know. We keep saying we’re going to talk about it, but then we don’t,” Reese offered as she tossed the football into the back of Remy’s car.

  They’d played their last game of the year, and it had been a cold one. Reese had played, but her shoulder had started bleeding again, thanks to a run-in with Dave in the end zone. She hadn’t noticed the pain, but she had noticed the blood on her shirt. Kellan had taped her back up, but she’d decided to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the game. She’d watched Kellan say goodbye to everyone just in case she didn’t get a chance to see them before she left. She was currently talking to Morgan and Kinsley by Kinsley’s car while Reese and Remy were packing up Remy’s. Ryan and Dave were loading a cooler into Dave’s truck. Reese closed the door and leaned her back against it.

  “Time’s kind of running out,” Remy reminded. “You guys exchanged some pretty big words, little sister. Also, some bodily fluids.” She wiggled her eyebrows and shoved lightly at Reese’s uninjured shoulder.

  “Gross.” Reese crossed her arms.

  “I bet it wasn’t gross last night though.” She stuck her tongue out for a second, but then her face turned serious. “You told her first, didn’t you?” she asked.

  Reese and Kellan had driven from the trailhead to Kellan’s cabin where they’d cleaned up and gone immediately to the beach for football. During the few water breaks, Reese had confided in Remy that she and Kellan had made love and that they’d shared the words as well. Unfortunately, they’d not been alone enough for Reese’s satisfaction to talk about the other words she’d exchanged with Kellan the previous night.

  “How’d you know?”

  “You seem different today, and not in that way where people say you have sex and you look different after. You do look different because of that as well. You’re finally satisfied, I’d wager.” She winked and then turned serious again. “But you’re also lighter somehow. That can’t just be because you told each other how you feel or because you finally had sex.”

  “I told her before. I told her I loved her first, and then told her about it.”

  “And?”

  Reese looked over at Kellan, who was hugging Kinsley. She turned back to Remy and smiled widely.

  “Nothing’s changed. She doesn’t look at me any differently or seem to worry more. When we were hiking down this morning, she didn’t do anything differently than she’d done in the past. She didn’t charge ahead and cleared the path to be extra cautious, and she didn’t try to overcompensate by letting me take the lead this time. She just walked ahead like she’d always done. She didn’t ask me how I was fifteen times or ask a million questions about what I can feel and what I can’t feel.”

  “Like mom used to do?” Remy laughed.

  “Yeah, she used to ask me if I could feel the blanket over me when we were little, remember?”

  “She didn’t understand it back then.” Remy smiled at the memory. “None of us did. I never knew if you could feel things. We used to hold hands all the time as kids, and I remember wondering if you could actually feel my hand.”

  “I remember.” Reese laughed lightly as she watched Kellan hug Morgan. “When we were together last night, it was right after I told her. I worried she’d be so gentle and worry about whether or not she’d hurt me and I wouldn’t know.”

  “Like you wouldn’t even know she was doing anything to you?” Remy chuckled.

  “Right.” Reese smiled and watched Kellan head over to Dave and Stacy. “But she didn’t.”

  “No?”

  “She…” Reese searched for the right words. “Handled me.”

  Remy burst out laughing. Reese shoved her to get her to knock it off. Dave, Stacy, and Kellan had all turned to see what was going on. Even Morgan and Kinsley had heard them as they prepared to leave.

  “Handled you?” Remy whispered as she recovered.

  “I can’t talk about this now,” she whispered back.

  “You’re blushing, Reese.” She pointed at Reese’s reddening cheeks.

  “I am not,” Reese argued.

  “It was that good?” Remy took a step closer and whispered again.

  “Hey, babe,” Reese greeted Kellan, who approached from behind Remy.

  “Hey.” Kellan moved right past Remy to Reese’s side. “I’ve said all my just in case goodbyes. Are you ready?”

  She placed a hand on Reese’s abdomen over her shirt, and Reese felt it in her bones. They hadn’t made love that morning. They’d been cutting it close to make it to football. Her body craved Kellan’s touch again. She knew she was likely blushing for the second time in only a couple of minutes. Remy was smirking at her as she, too, must have realized what Reese was thinking about.

  “Are we still doing dinner?” Remy asked with a lifted eyebrow.

  “Yeah… no,” Reese replied before Kellan had the chance and pulled on Kellan’s arm as she started to walk away. “We’re staying at Kellan’s place tonight.”

  “Bye, Remy,” Kellan said while being pulled by the hand toward her car. “See you later.”

  “No, you won’t,” Reese said.

  ◆◆◆

  “We’re on the floor,” Kellan stated. “We seem to have a thing with having sex on the ground.”

  “Not my fault you couldn’t wait until we got to the bedroom.” Reese kissed down Kellan’s abdomen, enjoying the feel of the skin beneath her lips.

  “You’re the one on top of me,” she retorted.

  “Are you complaining?” Reese asked as she kissed the inside of Kellan’s thigh.

  Before Kellan could respond, Reese’s tongue licked from her entrance to the very tip of her clit, returning to its origin point right after. She slid her tongue inside Kellan while lifting Kellan’s hips with her hands on her ass. Kellan sucked in a breath while Reese’s tongue moved in and out. Her hips jerked up when Reese’s tongue met her clit and flicked it before Reese sucked her into her mouth.

  After Reese had pulled Kellan into the car so they could head back to the cabin for some privacy, they’d barely made it inside before she had Kellan’s shirt and sports bra off. They’d bumped into the coffee table on the way to the sofa. Kellan had tripped over her sweats as she’d tried to get them off quickly. Reese had caught her in time, but they’d ended up on the floor. Kellan had torn at Reese’s clothes, and Reese had settled on top of her.

  “Reese,” Kellan uttered and spread her legs wider.

  Reese had been waiting all day, and if she was being honest with herself – much longer, to be with this woman this way. Kellan’s breasts were in her palms. She squeezed them as Kellan climbed higher. She tweaked at Kellan’s nipples and pinched them as Kellan came in her mouth. Reese slowed her strong strokes until Kellan’s body released its tension, and
then she slid on top of her.

  “That was…” She stared down as Kellan opened her eyes. “Beautiful.”

  “That was amazing,” Kellan expressed. “Seriously, that was…” She wrapped her arms around Reese’s back and flipped them over.

  “Whoa!” Reese laughed when she realized she was now underneath Kellan, who had her trapped beneath her weight, with her arms on either side of Reese’s head.

  “I was thinking I’d make us dinner now. What are your thoughts on that?” Kellan asked as she rubbed her center against Reese’s.

  “What? No way,” she objected.

  Kellan gave her a playful laugh before kissing her.

  ◆◆◆

  “Reese, we should talk.”

  “I know, but I don’t want to talk right now. Can’t we just sit here and enjoy the fire, go to bed, make love, and pretend like you’re not leaving in a week?”

  “I don’t think so.” Kellan didn’t want to have to say. “It’s not that far. Once I get back, I’ll try to get my schedule and see which weekends I have to work. We can schedule a trip for you there or one for me here when I’m free.”

  “I have a fall break next month. Well, it’s like six weeks away. I can go there then. I don’t know what you normally do for Thanksgiving, but Remy and I were planning on having it here and inviting our friends. Can you come? If not, I can do the day here and drive there or something so we can have the weekend. We should probably figure out Christmas and New Year’s Eve, too. I want a midnight kiss with you, and there’s this party we usually go to here. Could you come?”

  “Six weeks?”

  “Huh?” Reese lifted her head to look at her. “Babe, are you crying?”

  “No,” Kellan lied as a slow tear ran down her cheek. “Six weeks, Reese?”

  “That’s just when my break is, but you can come here before that, or I can drive up after school on Friday.” She paused. “Kell, how often did you think we’d be able to see each other?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just – hearing six weeks and thinking that I won’t see you for that long – got to me.” She lifted her arm from behind Reese and leaned forward, clasping her hands together. “I just found you.”

  “Baby, I know.” Reese rubbed her back. “I can’t get away every weekend though. I have Remy here, and my friends, and–”

  “Your whole life?”

  “No, not my whole life.” Reese stilled her hand. “You’re not here, or at least you won’t be soon.”

  “I know.”

  “I have a job on the weekends too, sometimes, remember? I volunteer at the visitor center. I know it’s just volunteer work, but it’s important to me because my mom did it, and it was important to her. I’ve been skipping a lot of it already because you’re here, but I do normally work there every weekend.”

  “I can come here on the weekends when I don’t have a shift. I’ll go down to one job.”

  “Can you afford that?” Reese asked.

  “It’s mainly to try to pay back loans faster, but yeah, I’ll have to budget closely. It’ll be worth it though. I want more time to see you.” She turned her head to Reese. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” Reese let out an exasperated sigh. “I guess we should feel lucky that you don’t live further away. A few hours on the road isn’t as bad as a flight to the east coast.”

  “What happens when it becomes too much?” Kellan asked. “When you’re supposed to come here, but you’re too tired after a long week at work; or it’s my turn, and I have to pull a weekend shift unexpectedly?”

  “We’ll make it work,” Reese insisted.

  “I don’t want to make it work, Reese. I want it to work.”

  “Every relationship takes work, Kell,” she countered.

  “Yes, and this just adds to that work.”

  “You’re worried we won’t last?” Reese sat back and removed her hand from Kellan.

  “No, that’s not it.” Kellan turned to her on the sofa, placing her leg underneath her body. “Reese, I’ve had relationships, but I’ve never experienced something like this.”

  “Like what exactly?”

  “This feels so right to me.” She took Reese’s hand. “I thought things were right in my past relationships. I guess we all do. That’s why we date people as long as we do. But I’ve never felt how I feel about you.”

  “Not even with Keira?”

  Kellan couldn’t tell by her expression and tone if Reese was asking her seriously or in jest. Kellan leaned in and placed her forehead against Reese’s. She let go of her hand so she could place it on her cheek instead.

  “Not with anyone.”

  “Then, we’ll be okay, Kell. If it matters this much to both of us, we’ll be okay.”

  CHAPTER 25

  It was Thursday, and that meant she had one more day at the vet clinic here and only a few more days with Reese before she’d have to return home. While she and Reese had spent nearly every night working out their visit schedule through the end of the year, she’d tried to keep herself focused on the present and the fact that she and Reese were together now. They’d made love every free moment, as if they could store up the feelings and sensations of their experiences for their upcoming time apart.

  “How do you like your sandwich?” Dr. Sanders asked her after she took her first bite of the roast beef she’d ordered at his suggestion.

  “It’s great.”

  “This is my favorite place to grab a quick lunch. It can get busy during the summer and winter, but this time of year, the locals get it all to ourselves.”

  “I can see why it would get busy.” She took a drink from the styrofoam cup that contained her peach iced tea.

  “I wanted to talk to you about something, Kellan. I know we’ve only just met, and that you’re leaving in a few days, but I was hoping you’d be coming back soon because of Reese.”

  “I will. We’ve planned out the rest of the year. I should be back next month. But it’s just for the weekend. Did you need help in the clinic?”

  “A bit more than that.” He slid his untouched plate toward the center of the table, placed his elbows down, and clasped his hands together. “I need a replacement.”

  “Replacement for what?” She focused on his brown eyes with near white, bushy eyebrows above them.

  “Me,” he answered. “I’m sixty-eight years old. My wife has put up with me for forty-five years. She’s given me three children, who are off living their lives with my five grandchildren. Despite my attempts, none of them appear interested in taking over the clinic. My oldest son is a nature photographer and travels the world, my middle daughter practices law. My youngest is almost done with medical school in Portland, but he’s content to practice medicine on humans.” He chuckled a little. “I don’t have anyone I can leave the place to. I don’t want to just sell it. I will if I have to, but I’d like it to remain a vet facility. If I sell the building, the new owner can turn it into anything they want.”

  “And you want me to take it over?” Kellan asked.

  “I’ve still got another six months or so in me, but Elizabeth wants to travel. She’s retired. She’s been waiting on me to do the same. I’ve watched you work, Kellan. I think I can trust you with these patients and the people that bring them in. I’ve watched you taking looks at the reference materials to ensure you’re doing the right thing and just to learn. I’d like to teach you more if I can, and I’d like to offer you a job.”

  “A job?” Kellan lifted both eyebrows.

  “Well, at first. You’d work with me until I retire. We’d make sure you understand the business parts. I’d connect you to the accountant and suppliers. If things work out as I suspect they will, I’d give you the keys, and you’d run it for me.”

  “But you’d still own it?”

  “Just until you could afford to buy me out. We could do a lease to own if that would work for you. I’m not concerned about the money, but I do believe the process should be handled legally an
d properly.”

  “Dr. Sanders, I don’t know what to say.” Her hands were clasped in her lap. “I have a job. I live in San Francisco.”

  “I don’t need an answer today. That’s why I was hoping you’d be returning soon. I thought we could meet and talk then, once you’d have some time to think it over.”

  “What would happen to the place if I don’t take it?”

  “I suppose I can try to find another vet to take the place over. There are a couple that might be interested in adding a new location or maybe even one that wants their own practice.”

  “They can probably afford to buy it from you faster than me.”

  “Probably. But I’ve worked with you, Kellan. I like you. I’d trust you with my practice. I’ve known Reese and Remy forever, and if they trust you too, that makes this an even easier decision.”

  “I can think about it?”

  “Of course. Take your time. I’d like to make a decision about what to do next at the beginning of the year though.”

  “Okay. I understand.”

  As Kellan put her car in drive to head to meet Reese after they’d locked up the clinic, she still couldn’t believe that she’d come to Lake Tahoe to get over a broken heart and had somehow managed to fall in love with a beautiful woman, and, perhaps, had even found a job. She couldn’t wait to talk to Reese about this. She thought about how she could go back to the city and think further about it while they continued building their relationship. When she came back to Tahoe, she’d talk to the doctor, and they’d make a plan for her to start working there officially. The thought of leaving the city she’d always lived in didn’t scare or intimidate her as she’d expected it should have. It felt right. It felt like everything in her life had led her here.

  ◆◆◆

  Kellan’s right hand moved to the back of Reese’s neck, and Kellan pulled her back for more. Reese obliged. Their tongues met and danced slowly until Reese gave in and moved to lie on Kellan’s side. Kellan was in a t-shirt and shorts while Reese had put on a pair of sweats to go with her tank top. Reese pulled her shirt over her own head and tossed it aside. Kellan stared at her breasts and the points of her nipples while Reese slid a hand inside Kellan’s shorts under her panties. Kellan lifted her own shirt up to her shoulders but couldn’t remove it because Reese’s hand was already between her legs, stroking her clit through her wetness. Kellan’s head went back slightly as Reese leaned down and kissed her breasts before sucking a nipple into her mouth.