by Robbi McCoy
“Yeah, I should,” said Stef. “But if you don’t have anything else going on, I wouldn’t mind a little company.” She grinned, her eyes suggesting all sorts of mischief before she slipped on her sunglasses. Then she strode off through the parking lot toward her bike.
Jackie smiled to herself. Even when Stef was talkative, she thought, she wasn’t exactly talkative.
Though Stef seemed very mellow and less guarded than usual, perhaps even willing to talk about herself, Jackie had resolved not to push her anymore, to take Gail’s advice. When she was ready to ask for help, Jackie would be happy to give it. Until then, she’d try to respect her need for privacy and be content with getting to know her better. Apparently, the door was now wide open for that.
She realized she’d somehow won Stef over, somewhere along the way. She didn’t seem to be resisting anymore.
Once they quit fighting, there’s nothing left but to reel them in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Stef and Jackie stood close together in the main cabin of the houseboat, kissing one another slowly and ardently. Deuce lay nearby on a throw rug, half asleep. Stef’s mouth was incredible. Jackie didn’t want to stop kissing her. Her lips were full and soft and expressive. Jackie’s back was up against the wall as Stef’s hands moved over her bare skin under her shirt. Her mouth grazed her ear, sending stimulating shivers through her.
Ten minutes before, Jackie had arrived to Stef’s eager embrace. There had been no preliminaries and no conversation. They were both way past ready for this.
Stef kissed the exposed skin above her bra, while her fingers tantalized her through the cloth until her nipples were hard and sensitive. Jackie clenched the back of Stef’s neck and closed her eyes. Stef slipped a hand under her bra, touching skin to skin, then lifted the bra to free Jackie’s breasts and make them available to her mouth. Stef’s breath came rapidly as she sucked hungrily, her arms holding Jackie tightly against her.
One of her hands moved up the back of her thigh, up inside the loose leg of her shorts, sliding over her thin underwear and gripping her firmly. Jackie pushed hard against the wall, her body tightening with expectancy as Stef tugged her shorts over her hips and let them sink to the floor around her ankles. Stef’s fingers moved over the silken material of her panties, playing along the edges of the elastic, brushing her skin as lightly as a feather while her tongue and mouth continued to tease her elsewhere. Jackie threaded her fingers through Stef’s thick hair, stiffening involuntarily as Stef’s fingers brushed lightly over her most sensitive and anxious center, sending a charge of pleasure through her.
***
Jackie lay naked under Stef’s unabashed gaze. She stood at the foot of the bed, smiling that crooked smile of hers for several seconds before she removed her clothes, piece by piece, unhurriedly, while Jackie watched from the bed. Stef’s body was muscular, which she had already known, but it was a beautiful thing to see in all its glory, the smooth, powerful thighs, the long, graceful arms, the lean stomach under shameless, opalescent breasts with ruddy areolae, drawn up tight around a pair of hard centers. The last thing, the panties, fell away to reveal a taut rear end that made Jackie’s fingertips ache.
Stef crawled on top of her, letting her stomach rest against Jackie’s as she kissed her mouth deeply and breathlessly. Jackie locked her legs around Stef’s back and moved against her, interleaving both pairs of lips together so they kissed one another in every way possible.
Stef made her way down across Jackie’s body, kissing as she went until she lay between her legs, breathing hotly on her thigh, then kissing her there, circling the area provocatively.
Take me, Jackie thought, filled with yearning. Take me now!
Stef nuzzled her way in deeper and opened her mouth to offer her tongue. Her tongue, her tongue, her tongue! It was everywhere, warm, wet and uninhibited, snaking its way up, down and in.
“Oh! Oh!” Jackie cried out.
Stef answered with a soft, approving murmur.
So much potential for power and pleasure were gathering there, gathering on the tip of Stef’s tongue, flowing like a flash flood in a canyon, surging wildly against its confines, desperate for a way out. Then, suddenly, when the exquisite agony seemed impossible to bear any longer, it burst free with an explosive force.
“Wow!” Jackie breathed in the benign aftermath. “That was fantastic.”
Stef lifted her head to look across Jackie’s stomach, an uncompromised smile on her face. “Yes, you were.”
Jackie reached her arms toward Stef, who crawled up to fill them. They held one another quietly while Jackie let the warmth of this woman’s love wash over her.
***
Stef knelt above Jackie, taking Jackie’s fingers as deep as she could, hard thrusts that sent waves of pleasure shuddering through her body. She tossed her head back, neck muscles tight, emptying her mind, letting her body take over. All she could hear was the sound of her own labored breaths and the creaking frame of the bed. Jackie pressed the palm of her hand hard against her, creating friction as they moved up and down together, a harmonic duo.
Right there, right there! she breathed, her eyes shut tight, biting her bottom lip almost painfully hard.
As she came, silently, she became perfectly still, letting the wave roll deliciously over her.
***
Stef could see a half moon through the open window. It cast a cool, romantic light through the bedroom. She realized she’d fallen asleep, but didn’t know for how long. Jackie was curled around her back, a hand on her hip, surrounding her like a warm cocoon. Stef wondered if she was awake. She could hear nothing but the sound of crickets outside.
This wasn’t such a bad place, she thought, this peaceful Delta backwater. Jackie seemed to have a good life here and was eager to share it. As eager as she was to share herself. She was a beautiful, generous, loving woman. Like the town itself, she was a sheltering harbor, a place to take refuge in.
“Are you awake?” Jackie whispered.
“Yes.”
Jackie kissed the back of her neck. “Are you hungry?”
“Ravenous.” Stef turned over to face her. “Let me see what I can find.”
***
Stef had thrown on a long T-shirt to run to the kitchen to make snacks. She returned with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Jackie took one and immediately took a huge bite.
“Oh, thank you!” she mumbled with her mouth full. “I was so hungry.” She took another bite.
“You’ve been burning a lot of calories,” Stef said, pushing a strand of hair away from Jackie’s face.
Jackie nodded, reaching the halfway mark on the sandwich.
“Look what I found while I was in the kitchen,” Stef said nonchalantly, waving a medium-sized zucchini.
Jackie nearly choked. She swallowed what was in her mouth, then burst out laughing. Stef grinned and raised her eyebrows suggestively, her fist wrapped around one end of the vegetable.
***
Jackie moved slowly across Stef’s body, stroking her, kissing her, tasting her stomach, caressing her thighs. She moved closer, feeling the taut excitement of the woman’s body as it lay in uneasy anticipation of her next move, wanting her with a throbbing eagerness.
She opened the woman’s secret world with her hands, hearing Stef’s sharp, inhaled breath of expectation, and took as much of her into her mouth as she could, tasting her, smelling her, immersing herself into the rich wet beckoning center of her.
***
“Oh, my God!” Stef cried, her body lurching with a spasmodic jerk. “What are you doing?”
“This,” Jackie cooed, her mouth next to Stef’s ear. “I thought you might like it.”
“Oh,” Stef said more calmly, relaxing. “Oh, yes, I—”
“Did I hurt you?”
“No. It was just a surprise.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Uh, I…I…oh.” Stef uttered a low moan, letting her head rest against Jackie
’s shoulder.
“Stop?” Jackie asked again, rubbing her cheek lightly against Stef’s.
“No!”
***
Jackie rolled on top of Stef, pinning her arms to the bed by the wrists and grinning down at her. Stef tried to buck her off, but Jackie held her position, her sweet, bashful breasts glowing like two round moons above Stef’s face in the gray light of dawn, so close she could nearly touch them with her tongue.
“It’s no use,” said Jackie, “you can’t escape.”
“Alas,” Stef said in a tragic, feminine voice, “I fear it’s true. What will you do with me, you brute?”
“I’m going to make you do unspeakable things.”
“Oh!” cried Stef in mock despair. “What things?”
“I said they were unspeakable.”
Stef burst out laughing and Jackie followed suit. Deuce ran into the bedroom and jumped up between them, licking Stef’s face, causing her to laugh even more.
***
Jackie sat at the swing-up table at the edge of Stef’s kitchen, eating her scrambled eggs absentmindedly, staring across the narrow space between them at Stef’s multicolored eyes and wide, nearly apologetic smile. As if she’s afraid to show how happy she is, Jackie thought. She wore an oversized shirt over bare legs, her hair a mess. She’s so cute.
“Thanks for breakfast,” Jackie said, then took a long swallow of coffee. “I need to get going, though. I have to run home before work and change clothes.”
“You can’t wear the same thing two days in a row?” Stef sipped from the mug she held in both hands. “After all, you wear a smock over your clothes. And who are you worried about? It’s just Niko, right?”
“Right. But you’ve forgotten I have a houseful of pets.”
“I had forgotten,” Stef said. The smile on her face was sleepy and dreamy. There was no sign of the tragic demons in her eyes this morning, and Jackie felt proudly responsible for that.
She reached over and took one of Stef’s hands away from her mug. “It’s going to be a hard day to get through.”
“You’re tired?”
“Yep. And I just know as soon as I’m out of sight, you’re going to crawl back in bed and enjoy a long, leisurely morning of dozing.”
Stef looked suddenly alert. She put her coffee down. “I completely forgot Marcus is coming today. He found a carburetor kit.”
“That’s great! Maybe by tonight you’ll have a working engine.”
“Wouldn’t that be something! That’s the last thing. When the engine’s running, I’ll be ready to launch.” Stef’s eyes shone with the thrill of that possibility.
“But you won’t be taking off right away,” Jackie said hopefully. “You don’t have to leave until the end of July.”
“That’s the latest.” Stef squeezed her fingers. “Don’t worry. I won’t be leaving tomorrow.”
Jackie managed a short laugh, but she wasn’t sure what Stef was promising. When it came down to it, she wasn’t sure about anything. They’d had an incredible night together, but whether that implied anything further…
“When can I see you again?” Jackie asked.
“If you’re not busy, come by after work today. I have a feeling I’m going to be celebrating. I wouldn’t mind having somebody to celebrate with.”
Jackie jumped out of her chair and threw her arms around Stef’s neck, kissing her gratefully.
CHAPTER THIRTY
When Jackie drove up, she saw Stef filling the big bucket with a hose under the boat motor. Marcus’s truck was parked in the driveway, but he was nowhere to be seen. She walked up to Stef, wanting to throw her arms around her, but unsure whether they had an audience.
“Where’s Marcus?” she asked.
“Underneath. I asked him to check out the new pontoon, to make sure it’s on right.”
Just then Marcus walked out on all fours from under the boat. Seeing Jackie, he hollered, “You’re just in time for the big moment!” He leapt up, slapped his hands together to dust them off, and walked over. “The pontoon is in there solid,” he announced. “Good job. Both of ’em’s sound. She’ll float just fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure?” Stef asked.
“Sure as eggs is eggs. You could have a big old hole in the cabin floor and not sink. A little water would splash in, but as long as your pontoons aren’t leaking, you’re floating.”
Stef looked relieved.
“Is the engine running?” Jackie asked.
“We’re about to find out,” Stef said.
“No reason she won’t start now,” Marcus said with assurance. “Electrical’s good. Fuel system’s good. All systems go. Just gotta put a little gas in here to wet her whistle.” He poured a shot of gasoline from a plastic cup into the top of each carburetor, then lowered the prop into the bucket of water. “Go ahead and turn the key.”
Stef held up both hands with fingers crossed, her teeth clenched in excitement, then ran inside to the helm. Deuce barked and ran after her. Jackie and Marcus stood back a few feet, waiting in silent tension.
The engine seemed to cough once before it roared to life and kept running, robust and smooth. The propeller whirled around furiously and splashed water out of the bucket. Stef bounded off the deck of the boat, yelling, “Woo hoo!” and ran over to watch the prop spin, beaming with happiness. She threw her arms around Marcus, giving him a powerful hug, then did the same to Jackie.
Marcus shut off the engine and lowered the cover into place. “There you go!” he said with finality.
“Thank you so much!” Stef gushed. “I want to pay you for your time. You spent the whole afternoon out here.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, waving a hand. “You already gave me the twenty-six dollars for the kit. That’ll do.”
Marcus gathered his tools together while Stef and Jackie stood staring at the engine, feeling as if a feat of magic had occurred.
“I feel I practically owe that man my life,” Stef said at last.
“Don’t worry about it. He had a great time.”
“He seemed to.” She sighed deeply. “I can really picture it now, you know? Being on the water.”
“There are still things to do, though, right?”
“Plenty of things to do,” Stef confirmed. “New carpet, new curtains. I want to refinish some of the wood surfaces inside and…yeah, there are projects to keep me busy for a while. But the most important thing is done, getting her seaworthy.”
Marcus waved from his truck, indicating he was leaving. They both waved back and Stef hollered, “Thank you!”
“Wow,” Stef said. “I can hardly believe it. And there’s one other bit of good news. I’ve settled on a name.”
“What is it?”
“Mudbug.”
Jackie hesitated, completely surprised. “I like it!” she finally said.
“Good. I thought you would.”
Marcus’s truck was just clearing the end of the driveway. Jackie wasted no time putting her arms around Stef and drawing her into a long, passionate kiss.
“I missed you all day long,” Jackie said. “I kept thinking, what am I doing neutering cats when I could be kissing Stef?”
Stef laughed. “Marcus was here all afternoon, so it was just as well you were neutering cats. And don’t get any ideas about calling in sick tomorrow because I won’t be here.”
“Oh? Where are you going?”
“Visiting a friend,” Stef answered vaguely.
Jackie warned herself to suppress the urge to push for more information, but Stef’s continuing reticence put her on edge. Maybe I’m more like my mother than I thought, she decided. People whose secrets I don’t know drive me nuts. But, no, that wasn’t true. It was just Stef’s secrets that drove her nuts.
“I’ve got band practice tomorrow night,” Jackie said. “So I guess I won’t see you tomorrow at all.”
“Then we should make the most of tonight, shouldn’t we?”
“Uh-huh,” Jackie murmured, moving in for another kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Looking good, Stef,” said Roberto as he sat across the table from her and immediately slouched down in his chair.
“Thanks for adding me to your visitor list,” she said.
He jerked his chin up in acknowledgment, then glanced around the room at the other visiting groups. There were five other occupied tables, all with women who were most likely wives or girlfriends. At one table, a little girl sat on her mother’s lap across from a young man who smiled at her with adoration. Some of these women, Stef knew, were here every weekend. Visiting the prison was as much a part of their routine as grocery shopping.
Roberto’s orange jumpsuit fit his muscular body snugly. His hair was shaved, and he had a crude spiderweb tattoo on his neck that hadn’t been there when he had started his prison term three years ago. His mouth was set in an attitude of world-weariness, and his eyes settled into a dull gaze that seemed to look right past her. There was a deep scar across the left side of his face that started above his eyebrow, cut through it, hopped his eye, and dug in deeper on his cheek. A memento of the fight that had left another man dead. Just to the left of that scar, under his eye, was a tattooed tear, a symbol of his having taken a life. Stef was familiar with the symbol, ironically an icon of grief, but often worn as an emblem of pride among gang members: I killed a dude. I’m in here for a real crime. I’m somebody. Respect me.
Roberto’s eyes were the same as his brother’s, dark brown with thick eyelashes, but the laughter Stef had often seen in his brother’s eyes was absent in Roberto’s. This man’s eyes were lazy and vacant.
