Lightning Strykes

by Sherryl Hancock

  “Don’t look at me like that, babe. I’m sorry!” Lauren said, her tone beseeching. “I just lost my shit… I saw all that stuff about you and her,” she said, gesturing angrily at Remington, “and I just lost it… I’m sorry… I love you…” Lauren said, stepping in to take Wynter in her arms.

  Wynter’s eyes went immediately to Remington. Their eyes connected for a second, then Remington broke the contact. She walked over to her nightstand, picking up her cigarettes, lighter, and phone.

  “I’m gonna give you two some privacy,” Remington said, not looking at Wynter.

  “Where will you be?” Wynter asked worriedly, as she stepped back from Lauren.

  “Not sure, I’ll text you with my location,” Remington said with her back to Wynter as she opened the door.

  Remington walked out of the room a moment later, realizing belatedly that she hadn’t grabbed a jacket.

  “Modi li…” she muttered, saying ‘damn it.’ Sighing, she shook her head and walked away.

  Twenty minutes later she climbed onto the tour bus and went to lay down on the bed Quinn and Xandy usually slept in. She laid back on it staring up at the ceiling of the bus. She texted Wynter that she was on the bus, then lay back again.

  She was still lying there, half asleep when she heard a voice say, “What the hell!”

  She levered herself up on her arms, looking over at Billy Montague who was standing with her hands on her hips looking at her.

  “What are you doing here?” Billy asked disdainfully as she gestured to the bus.

  Remington rolled her eyes, dropping back down on the bed and blowing her pent-up breath out.

  “Lauren showed up, I gave them the room,” she said simply. “What are you doing down here?” she asked.

  “I was getting something out of my bus when I saw a light on over here,” Billy said, then she gave Remington a derisive look. “Are you fucking crazy?”

  Remington craned her neck to look over at Billy. “Not that I’m aware of,” she answered mildly.

  “Why the fuck would you let Lauren near Wynter again?” Billy asked.

  “She’s Wynter’s girlfriend…” Remington said, feeling like she was stating the obvious.

  “They broke up, remember?” Billy said.

  “Not officially,” Remington countered.

  Billy stood staring at Remington and after a long minute she shook her head.

  “You know, Remi, I pegged you for smarter than this,” Billy said bluntly.

  “I’m sorry?” Remington said, not following Billy’s train of thought.

  “You have the chance to fuck a rock star and you’re stupid enough to throw it away?”

  Remington blinked slowly, her face reflecting a stunned reaction to Billy’s brash statement. She opened her mouth to respond, but realized she had no idea what to say to the outrageous singer.

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Billy asked, her tone haughty.

  “Get what, Billy?” Remington sighed, as she turned her head back to face the ceiling, already tired of trying to keep up with Billy Montague.

  Billy shocked Remington by crawling onto the bed on all fours, and positioning her body above Remington’s seductively, her blue eyes staring down into Remington’s hazel eyes.

  “What are you doing?” Remington asked shocked.

  “I’m showing you what you’re missing,” Billy said simply.

  Without warning, Billy leaned down, her lips moving over Remington’s in a sensuous kiss, pressing her body close to Remington’s as she did. Remington’s immediate reaction was to put her hands on Billy’s waist, ostensibly to move her off of her, but that thought never completely made it to fruition. Billy kissed Remington’s lips for what seemed like forever, and Remington allowed the kiss, but when their lips finally parted and Billy leaned up, Remington’s look was sardonic.

  “So,” Remington said, her tone matter of fact, “that’s what I’m missing?”

  “That’s right,” Billy said confidently.

  Remington nodded, her look inscrutable. Then Billy was shocked when Remington’s hand came up, sliding through Billy’s long hair, grasping a handful as her hazel eyes stared up into Billy’s.

  “This is what you’re missing,” Remington said, pulling Billy’s head down to hers, and kissing Billy with the passion and strength she usually kept at bay.

  Billy was stunned by the strength of Remington’s kiss; the woman could really kiss! Her body lit up, every nerve coming alive and screaming all at once. She moaned against Remington’s lips, her hands grasping at Remington’s shirt, and her body pressing closer. Remington’s lips continued to move over hers, sucking and parting and taking possession again and again. Billy was sure she was about to come when suddenly Remington stopped, pulling back, and looking up at Billy, their faces only an inch apart.

  “Now,” Remington said, her voice low and heated, “go back upstairs to your husband and let him finish the job.”

  Billy let out a gasp of pure frustration, her eyes staring into Remington’s. “Or you could just finish the job yourself,” she said breathlessly.

  Remington shook her head slowly, a look of near malice entering her eyes.

  “You’re married, Billy, I don’t mess with that,” she said seriously.

  Billy drew in a sharp breath, then nodded, knowing she’d just been bested at her own game, and feeling admiration for Remington LaRoché starting in her. Climbing off the bed, Billy looked down at Remington her look both admiring and still a bit seductive.

  “You win that round, Remi,” she said, grinning with her eyes sparkling. “But we’ll see who wins the war,” she said with a wink.

  Remington rubbed her index finger over her lips thoughtfully, and simply smiled back at Billy.

  “Good night, Billy,” Remington said.

  “Good night, Remi,” Billy replied with a wide smile.

  Wynter was stunned to see Billy walking out of the bus. As she walked toward the bus, Billy smiled at her, making a gesture of buffing her nails on her shirt with a confident smirk on her face. Wynter stood openmouthed staring after Billy, watching her disappear into the elevator. She climbed onto the bus and walked back to the sleeping area.

  “What the fuck was Billy doing in here?” she snapped.

  Remington’s head snapped around to look at her.

  “What the hell are you doing down here?” Remington asked.

  “I asked you a question,” Wynter said, putting her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing.

  Remington looked back at her for a long moment, then she turned her head back towards the ceiling. “She was getting something from their bus when she saw the light on over here.”

  “Uh-huh…” Wynter said her tone disbelieving.

  Remington propped herself up on her elbows, looking over at Wynter. “Again, what are you doing down here?”

  Wynter looked back at Remington, just wanting everything to be back to right with them. Blowing out her breath, she threw caution to the wind and climbed onto the bed, lying down next to Remington like she would have before their fight.

  “We had a fight, I left, I’m done with her,” Wynter said simply, putting her face against Remington’s shoulder.

  Remington turned her head to look down at Wynter. “And you left the room…” she said.

  “Yes, I left the room. I walked straight from the room to the elevator and from the elevator here, no one accosted me along the way, I promise,” Wynter said, her tone glowering.

  Remington looked back at her for a moment, then a slow grin spread across her lips.

  “I meant,” she said, her tone holding humor, “that you left a room that was heated, to come to a bus that we’re likely to freeze to death in overnight… and you left your now ex-girlfriend in said heated room… Kalite fou.”

  “What does that mean?” Wynter asked, grinning.

  “Kind of crazy,” Remington said, smiling wryly.

  “Wi,” Wynter said simply.

  They b
oth were silent for a few minutes. Remington lay back on the bed, lifting her arm so Wynter could snuggle closer, and then pulling the covers up over both of them.

  “What really happened with Billy?” Wynter asked after a few minutes.

  “Let’s just say I beat her at her own game,” Remington said, smiling in the semi-darkness of the bus.

  “How?” Wynter asked, leaning up on her elbow to look down at Remington.

  “Not important,” Remington said, smiling slightly.

  Wynter knew she wasn’t hearing the whole story, and the fact that she wasn’t hearing it meant there was something about it that Remington felt she needed to be discreet about. There was a long moment during which Wynter debated arguing further, but she decided that it wasn’t worth possibly destroying the fragile truce they seemed to have at that moment.

  “Can I ask you a totally different question?” Wynter asked then.

  “Sure,” Remington said.

  “Why have you kept your apartment in New York? I mean, that’s a lot of money to spend on a place that you’re not living in, right?”

  Remington shrugged. “If I decide to stay in LA, I’ll look into selling it, but not until then.”

  Wynter moved to sit up, looking down at Remington in alarm.

  “What do you mean if you decide to stay in LA?” she asked.

  Remington looked back at her for a long moment. “Wynter… I haven’t decided where I’m going to live. LA was just my first stop.”

  “But…” Wynter began looking crestfallen.

  “But what?” Remington asked gently.

  “I just thought… I mean, I figured you were staying in LA…” Wynter said, her voice trailing off as she bit her lip.

  Remington shrugged. “Like I said, I haven’t decided yet.”

  Wynter took a deep breath, feeling a knot in her stomach as she nodded, and moved to lie back down next to Remington. Remington glanced down at her, surprised by Wynter’s reaction.

  They both lay lost in their own thoughts, finally falling asleep an hour later.

  The question of what had happened with Billy was resolved the following evening just before the show. They were in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wynter was in her dressing room when she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find Billy standing there. After a brief moment where she considered shutting the door in Billy’s face, Wynter finally sighed and stood back to allow Billy entry into the dressing room.

  Billy walked in, looking around at Wynter’s dressing room, then over at Wynter.

  “So, what’s up, Billy?” Wynter asked, already on her guard.

  Billy looked at her for a long moment, then grinned, shaking her head. “So tense for someone so young…”

  “What do you want?” Wynter asked impatiently.

  “It isn’t what I want,” Billy said then, her look pointed. “It’s what you want.”

  “What?” Wynter queried, scowling at the other woman.

  “Remington,” Billy said simply.

  “What about her?” Wynter asked, her tone instantly sharp.

  Billy started to smile. “She’s pretty hot, huh?” she asked suggestively. “I mean, I know now, just how hot…” she said giving Wynter a pointed look, her grin leering.

  Wynter stared openmouthed at Billy, knowing that this had everything to do with whatever had happened on the bus the night before.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Wynter snapped.

  Billy chuckled, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “Oh, it wasn’t all me, honey…” she said. “Remi had everything to do with it, and she did it so damned good…”

  Wynter’s mouth opened in pure unadulterated fury, her hands clenched in fists and she was ready to pummel Billy Montague into the ground.

  “Woah, woah, woah!” Billy said, holding up her hands, knowing she was about to be attacked by this girl. “Hold on…” she said, smiling. “I’m really seriously here to help you out.”

  “Get the fuck out of my dressing room, Billy,” Wynter gritted out.

  “Wynter,” Billy said, her tone placating now, “what I’m telling you is this… If you want Remington LaRoché you’re going to need to grab her with both hands and not let go, no matter what.”

  “And why would you tell me that?” Wynter asked.

  “Because she laid a kiss on me last night that lit me up like the Fourth of July. I kept Sky up for three hours with the remnants of it… So if you’re smart, and I think you are, you’ll see that she’s not going to take what’s not offered, so you’re just going to have to hand it to her.”

  Wynter stared back at Billy, warring with the desire to kill the other woman for getting that kind of kiss from Remington, and also the desire to hunt Remington down and kick her ass for giving in to Billy Montague’s ways.

  Billy could see the thoughts churning in Wynter, and took that opportunity to leave, figuring she’d done her good deed for the day, maybe even for the year.

  Later that night after the show, Remington and Wynter were back in the room. Wynter had gone to take a shower as usual. Remington was sitting on the bed, working on her laptop. She heard the door to the bathroom open, but didn’t see Wynter pass her. She glanced up and thought her heart would stop.

  Wynter stood a foot from her on her right side wearing absolutely nothing.

  “What are you doing?” Remington asked, her voice breaking slightly.

  Wynter looked back at her, smiling softly. Without a word she walked over to take the laptop off Remington’s lap, and set it aside. She moved to straddle Remington’s waist, her eyes looking down into Remington’s.

  Remington’s hands went out to the sides, as she glanced sharply up at Wynter.

  “Wynter…” she began, her tone chiding. “Go put some clothes on.”

  “No,” Wynter said simply, putting her hands on Remington’s shirt, and starting to unbutton it.

  Remington turned her head down and to the side, squeezing her eyes shut, her hands still up and out to the sides of Wynter.

  “What are you doing?” Remington asked again, not looking at Wynter.

  Wynter continued to unbutton Remington’s shirt, until she was able to lay the sides open. She then slid her hands over Remington’s skin, pressing closer to her.

  “Bondye…” Remington breathed, her voice a husky whisper. Her body trembled under Wynter’s hands.

  Wynter moved her hands under Remington’s shirt, to grasp her shoulders, as she looked down at Remington.

  “Remi, look at me,” Wynter commanded.

  Remington’s eyes were open, but averted from Wynter’s body. She shook her head.

  “Please look at me,” Wynter asked then, her tone softening.

  Remington grimaced, unable to deny Wynter’s second request. She turned her eyes up to look directly into Wynter’s. Her breathing was coming in short gasps as her body was reacting to Wynter’s proximity.

  Wynter looked down at Remington, her blue eyes searching. “Tell me you don’t want me, Remi…” she said softly. “Tell me you don’t want me and I’ll leave you alone.”

  Remington drew in an unsteady breath, then shook her head ruefully. “I can’t do that.”

  “Then kiss me like you did Billy last night,” Wynter said, her voice soft but strong.

  Remington slid her hands into Wynter’s still damp hair and pulled her head down to take possession of her lips forcefully. She dumped all of her pent-up passion and need into the kiss, sliding her other hand up Wynter’s bare back, and pulling her body closer. Within minutes, they were both crying out in their release but neither of them pulled away. Instead, Wynter removed Remington’s shirt, sliding her hands over Remington’s skin, their lips still meeting over and over again. Remington grasped at Wynter, her fingers biting into her skin, which only incited Wynter more.

  Wynter reached between them to unbutton Remington’s pants. Remington obliged her by taking them off, their lips never losing connection. As soon as Remington lay naked under her, Wynter presse
d her body along the entire length of Remington’s, reveling in the feel of her skin and the feel of her muscles shifting and flexing against her skin. She shifted her body against Remington, pressing harder against her in her need. Remington responded by groaning out loud and grasping at Wynter and dragging her closer, moving to Wynter’s rhythm.

  Wynter cried out as she came again, and Remington groaned loudly, pressing her mouth against Wynter’s neck as she reached her release again. As she breathed heavily, she began kissing and softly biting Wynter’s neck, as Wynter caressed her skin. Before long, they were both grasping at each other as they were overwhelmed again. They lay together for a few minutes, both trying to catch their breath, each of their hands caressing and moving over the other’s skin.

  “Mwen pa ka jwenn ase nan ou…” Remington breathed. “I can’t get enough of you…”

  Wynter smoothed her hand over Remington’s skin, answering with her body that she was having the same problem. At one point, Wynter moved to Remington’s side, wanting to pull Remington up over her. Remington obliged, shifting to put herself over Wynter, keeping most of her weight off her by bracing her arms to either side of Wynter’s body. She pressed against Wynter, shifting her body against hers, sliding over her. Wynter’s nails bit into Remington’s shoulders as she grasped at her, pulling her down.

  They spent the next four hours making love almost constantly, their hands and bodies intertwined, their lips meeting over and over. When they were finally sated, Wynter lay in Remington’s arms. Remington lay on her side, her arms around Wynter, her right hand up at Wynter’s face, her thumb stroking Wynter’s cheek. Their eyes met and they both smiled, both of them still breathing somewhat heavily.

  “When are you supposed to leave to head home?” Wynter asked.

  Remington glanced at the clock. “In about an hour,” she said, with a grin. Then her look grew serious. “I want you to come with me.”

  Wynter’s eyes searched Remington. “You want me to come home with you?”

  “Wi tanpri,” Remington said, smiling. “Yes, please.”

  Wynter smiled. “How do you say, ‘I’ll go anywhere with you’?”

  Remington chuckled softly. “Mwen pral ale nenpòt kote avèk ou,” she said, her eyes sparkling.