"Barely," she muttered.
Jamie stood on her wobbly legs while Ryan took one of the shot glasses and filled it half full of lemonade. "Okay, this one is a little tricky," she informed her. "You’ve got to hold this one with your legs. Here goes," she said, and pressed the glass into the smooth flesh at the very top of her lover’s thighs. "Perfect," she breathed. "Now just a little more lime." Oddly, she rubbed the lime onto her lover’s hips, just above and below the tiny ties that held up the strip of fabric that was masquerading as a swimsuit. Jamie gave her a puzzled glance, but Ryan just got to her knees and proceeded to worry the little ties with her tongue, licking and sucking all of the juice from her flesh at the same time her white teeth nipped at the tie and pulled the little bow.
"An ulterior motive," Jamie chided gently, running her hand through Ryan’s dark hair as the determined woman worked at the second tie. When both were loose, the fabric draped over the shot glass, and Jamie wondered how Ryan was going to drink from it. She found out seconds later as her partner crawled behind her and tugged at the single millimeter-wide strip of fabric that separated her cheeks. The dark woman yanked and pulled, her white teeth gaining purchase of more and more of the fabric as it slid across her partner’s vulva. With one final yank, the thong was in her mouth, her grin rivaling Duffy’s when he won a game of tug-of-war.
Crawling back to the front of Jamie’s body, she looked up at her with bright eyes, the fabric hanging from her mouth like the prize that it was. Her mouth opened and she dropped it into her hand, then extended it to her partner. "I believe you dropped this," she said, blinking up at her. "Now I need a little drink to cool my dry tongue."
Jamie’s mouth was dry, too, but that was just about the only part of her body she could make that claim about. Ryan scooted closer, her head just level with the glass that had managed to stay right where she had placed it. Bright blue eyes looked up at Jamie, giving her a heartbreakingly sexy smile as her hands trailed up her body to hold her hips. Her determined tongue peeked out of her mouth and started to push at the bottom of the glass, managing to eventually tip the contents right into her mouth, grinning up at Jamie the entire time. "Like that one?" she asked, the room redolent with the scent of their commingled arousal.
"Yeah," the smaller woman muttered, now monosyllabic. "Good."
"One to go," Ryan said, smiling at the wide-eyed response the information engendered. "You’ll like this one."
"I liked the other ones, too. A lot."
"Yeah, but you get to drive this time."
Ryan whipped off her top, leaving her pouty breasts exposed to her lover’s intent gaze. After pouring the shot glass full, she wedged it between her ample breasts, saying, "Any old place you want to put the lime is fine with me."
"I like this," Jamie said weakly, her mind reeling with possibilities.
"I know my girl," Ryan said, blowing her a kiss.
As expected, Jamie squeezed the lime onto Ryan’s erect nipples, watching them perk into even stiffer peaks. She grasped her partner by the waist and proceeded to lave the hard points, raking them with her teeth and sucking gently. Ryan’s hands were splayed across her breasts, holding the shot glass as still as possible against difficult odds.
When all of the lime had been thoroughly removed, Jamie dropped the wedge into the glass and leaned in close. She used Ryan’s technique of pulling the glass down with her tongue, and when it was tilted a few degrees in her direction she sucked the lime out, biting down with her even teeth before discarding it. Now she leaned in hard and nuzzled the perfect flesh with abandon, making quite a mess as the lemonade splashed out of the glass, and dribbled down the supple breasts. That was all in Jamie’s plan however, and she tilted her head to lap up every spilled drop, running her tongue frantically across nearly every inch of skin.
The rough nuzzling and voracious suckling quickly rendered the glass nearly empty, and she lightly grasped it with her teeth, tossing her head back to drain the final recalcitrant drop. She removed the shot glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I love lemonade," she growled, pulling her partner close for the first of many mind-altering kisses.
"Have a nice nap?" Ryan asked as she gently trailed her fingers through her partner’s hair. The smaller woman was sprawled across her body in exactly the same position in which she had fallen, after the last of a series of deeply satisfying climaxes.
"Uhm … that wasn’t a nap. I was unconscious." She blinked her eyes into focus and rolled onto her back, scrubbing at her face with her fists. "Goodness! My throat hurts from moaning." Clearing her throat, she flipped onto her side and caught the self-satisfied expression on her partner’s face. "You love making me beg for mercy, don’t you?"
"Mmm," Ryan said thoughtfully. "I’d have to answer in the affirmative. Every artist loves to hear feedback on her work." She shared a warm smile with her partner and tenderly brushed her mussed hair from her forehead. "I love you, Jamie." Dipping her head, she placed several gentle kisses on the coral-tinted lips.
"I love you too, Ryan," the smaller woman said. "I do so love being here with you. It’s wonderful to see the old Ryan back."
Stretching languidly, Ryan acknowledged the truth to the statement. "I feel better … lighter … freer, than I have since basketball season started. I feel like me."
Jamie started to play with her hair, and in seconds Ryan’s dark head was resting on her chest, turning slightly every few minutes so the head rub could reach every inch. "You surprised me a little by being so mischievous in front of Mia and Jordan," she said.
"Good surprise, or bad surprise?" the dark woman asked.
"Good. I like losing some of my inhibitions and being more light-hearted. I’m glad they left when they did, but up until that point it was just fun."
"Yeah," Ryan said. "It’s different for me, since I haven’t had many friends in the past that I felt comfortable letting my guard down with."
"Really?" Jamie asked. "That surprises me."
"I mean friends that I was never intimate with," Ryan said. "It’s funny. I feel sexual tension when we’re with them, but it isn’t directed at them. It’s more of a charged atmosphere … probably because we’re all newly in love. It’s very different for me, but I really enjoy it."
"I enjoy it too," Jamie said. "I don’t want to flaunt our sex life in front of them, but I feel comfortable being kinda frisky with you while they’re around."
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Ryan said. "I’m beginning to feel more comfortable just being ourselves. It’s nice." She looked up at the ceiling and said, "I really miss Jordan. I know that being on the Olympic team is her life goal, but it’s gonna be hard having her gone for so long."
"Being with her for a few days makes it that much harder to let her go again, doesn’t it."
"Yeah, it does. You know how I hate to be away from family."
"The ever-expanding O’Flaherty clan," Jamie said. "We’re gonna have to buy Bill Gates’ house to hold everyone."
"Small price to pay," Ryan said. "You can never have too many people that you love."
The next morning Jamie woke with the sun peeking in through the open sliding glass doors. The salt-laced breeze was warm and humid, and felt divine against her bare skin. Mmm, Ryan’s already up. She felt the bed, noting that it was cool to the touch. The little scamp’s been up for a while. I wonder what she’s up to?
She put on one of her partner’s T-shirts and went to look for her, finding a note on the coffee table. Went to explore a little. I guess two days is my maximum vegetation period. I’ll be back for breakfast. It was signed with a bold R and a series of small X’s. Bringing the paper to her lips, she fondly kissed the signature, feeling just a little silly as she did so. God, could you be any more in love?
There was nothing of interest in the refrigerator, so she went out onto the deck to wait for her partner. In just a few minutes she saw her in the distance, her unmistakable form eating up the space between them. Ryan had the abi
lity to look graceful and smooth even when walking through ankle deep sand, and Jamie watched her, absolutely mesmerized by her easy, rolling gait. As soon as the tall woman got close enough to make out shapes, she waved, as though she knew Jamie would be outside waiting for her.
Unable to wait the two minutes it would take her to cross the sand, Jamie dashed down the stairs and ran to greet her, her face beaming a grin as she did so. "Miss me?" Ryan asked, water still rolling off her bronzed skin. She was holding a mask, snorkel and flippers, and wore a satisfied, deeply contented smile.
"Of course. I couldn’t sleep without you."
"Uh-huh," Ryan said, knowing that wasn’t true. "How long have you been up, love?"
"About ten minutes," she said.
"I’ve been gone for two hours," Ryan said. "Something doesn’t compute here."
"Well, I was technically asleep, but I’m sure it was poor quality sleep since you weren’t there."
"Ahh, that makes sense," the dark woman said. "Wanna go out with me again? Honestly, Jamie, I just had one of the most amazing experiences of my whole life, and I’m dying to share it with you."
"Tell me," Jamie said, grasping her partner’s cool hand.
"I got in the water just before sunrise," Ryan said, her eyes sparkling. "I was over by a little grouping of rocks, and the sun started to stream through the water, lighting up more and more of the most amazing variety of sea creatures that you can imagine! I swear I would have stayed there all day, but I knew you’d be worried about me if I didn’t come back soon."
"I would have been very worried about you if I knew you were snorkeling alone," Jamie chided gently. "That’s not very smart, love."
Ryan just grinned widely. "I told you that I do lots of dumb stuff, too," she said.
"I guess you did, didn’t you?" she said, patting her chilled tummy as she smiled up at her. "I’d love to go with you. Let’s eat a little snack and head back out."
"Honey, I loved it so much it hasn’t crossed my mind to eat! Let’s go!"
Looking up at her, Jamie saw a hint of something in the cool, blue eyes. Instead of the calm, relaxed look of a moment before, now Ryan looked like she needed to get back into the water. "Ryan," she said softly, "why the rush?"
"Uhm …" Ryan moved from one foot to another, looking a little embarrassed. "I uhm … I felt free when I was there, Jamie. I didn’t have any upsetting thoughts get in … I was safe."
Putting her arms around her waist, Jamie held on tight. "You’re safe, honey; you’re safe here."
"I know," she said, "but I felt much better underwater. I don’t know why, but I need to go back out there. I keep thinking about leaving tomorrow and I … I …"
"Okay, love. We’ll go right now." She took Ryan’s hand and led her back to the cottage so she could put her suit on.
Tapping her foot anxiously, Ryan said, "Bring your new camera. This is something I’ll want to remember for the rest of our lives."
"I’ll remember this weekend without photos," Jamie said, smiling broadly. "But it’ll be nice to share the pictures with the rest of the family."
"Yeah," Ryan sighed. "Then maybe they’ll understand why I’m going to move here."
When Mia woke, she turned slightly to find two very bright blue eyes gazing at her. "Hi, gorgeous," she said, drawing a very faint blush from Jordan.
"Hi. Sleep well?"
"Oh, yeah." Mia purred throatily, rolling all around the big bed while she stretched. "I haven’t slept this well since you left for Colorado." She rolled over and enfolded Jordan in a warm embrace. "Everything’s better when you’re here," she sighed. "The food tastes better, the air’s fresher and cleaner, the sun’s even brighter."
"Honey, the food is better, the air is fresher and cleaner, and the sun is probably brighter too," Jordan said, smiling warmly.
"Okay, smarty-pants, then explain why I’m sleeping so much better. This bed isn’t as nice as the one I have at home."
"Well, that’s probably because of me," Jordan said, grinning widely. "You know," she said, "I’ve been thinking, and as hard as I wrack my brain, I can’t recall ever enjoying two days as much as I’ve enjoyed the two we’ve had here."
Mia tightened her embrace, and nuzzled her head into Jordan’s chest. "I feel the same way," she murmured. "I’ve enjoyed every minute with you." Nuzzling harder, unable to be close enough, Mia said, "I keep trying to focus on enjoying today, but I keep thinking about leaving you tomorrow, and it makes my stomach ache."
"Uhm … I don’t know what your plans are … but you could come with me to the tournament in Florida. That would give us a few extra days together."
Mia sat up, her eyes saucering a little. "Come with you?"
"Yeah. I’ll have to practice in the morning, and play in the evening, but we’d have a few hours together in the afternoon."
"Uhm … where would I stay?" Mia asked.
Jordan blinked at her, puzzled as to why Mia didn’t seem to understand her point. "With me, of course. We’ll probably have to rent our own room, but that shouldn’t be too expensive. I can swing it if you’re low on funds."
Staring at her partner in amazement, Mia asked again, "You’d stay with me? What if people see us together?"
Looking mildly frustrated, Jordan tried again. "Look, Mia, the whole point would be so that people will see us together. I want you to meet my teammates, and the women I’m going to share an apartment with. I want the coaching staff to meet you. Heck, you should get to know the traveling secretary – she might have some leads on how to get bargain hotel rooms in Australia."
Sitting up and staring, Mia asked, "What am I missing? You were adamant about making sure that no one knew you were gay! Now you want everyone to know?"
"Yes, yes," Jordan said. "I want everyone to know. I was being paranoid, Mia. Now that I know there isn’t a problem with the team, I’m ready to come out – to everyone."
"I … I had no idea," Mia said, still stunned.
Jordan pulled her back down, and cuddled her close. "Now the only issue is how you feel about it."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. I know you don’t claim the lesbian label, Mia, and having me introduce you as my lover kinda puts the tag on you. How do you feel about that?"
"Jordy, there are two people who I don’t want to know about our relationship. Those two are my mother and father." She paused for a second and said, "I’d better add my grandparents to that list, too. They’d have a stroke." Shivering roughly she took a breath and said, "I’ll tell them all, but I’m not ready just yet. Other than that, I don’t give a damn what people think about me. You’re the only person that matters to me, baby."
"So … you’ll come?"
"I’d like to meet the person who could stop me," she said.
The next morning, two anxious women scanned the beach, looking in vain for their friends. "If we don’t leave in ten minutes, we’ll never make the flight," Jordan said. "I don’t want to ditch them, but I can’t be late for practice!"
"If they’re not here soon, you go ahead. I’ll meet up with you in Ft. Lauderdale."
Taking another anxious look, Jordan asked, "Is that them?"
Mia looked where she pointed, and saw two figures who looked to be running across the sand. The taller one was clearly in the lead, and Mia sighed as she said, "Yep. That’s them. Jesus, could they cut it a little closer?"
Jordan went and grabbed their suitcases, getting everything into the waiting cab while their friends were running across the deck, stripping as they went. Mia threw them each a towel, and they ran naked into their room, throwing on the clothes they had left out. The curly-haired woman grabbed their wet, sandy suits and put them in a plastic bag and shoved them into her backpack. "Let’s go!"
"Okay, okay," Ryan said, hopping on one foot as she tried to wipe the sand off the other. They all flew down the front steps and got into the cab with a collective exhale. "Nice day for snorkeling," Ryan said when she caught her breath.
&nbs
p; "You two have been in that water so long I thought you’d get the bends!" Jordan said. "You were out there until it was nearly dark last night, and then you disappeared before we even got up today."
"I’m just glad she didn’t discover it until we’d been here two days," Jamie said, fondly patting her partner’s leg. "The fish would have seen more of her than we would have!"
"You know how I’ve been anxious to go to Ireland to see my family?" Ryan asked, her eyes twinkling.
"Yes."
"Scrap that," she said with a chuckle. "Every vacation from now on is gonna be somewhere that I can snorkel. The Irish Sea just doesn’t cut it!"
Once on the plane heading for home, Jamie snuggled up next to her partner and said, "I kinda envy Mia, getting to stay and watch Jordan compete in a tournament."
"Envy? Why?"
"Mmm, mainly because it feels so peaceful and calm down here. We don’t know anyone, and no one knows us. It feels like a little sanctuary."
"That’s a nice term," Ryan said, finding a comfortable position as she felt her body begin to relax. "We needed a sanctuary. Regrettably, it’s back to reality in about oh … four hours."
Jamie sighed and cuddled close, chuckling softly as she said, "You smell like the ocean."
"Hmm … snorkeling for three hours, not taking a shower … I wonder why?"
"That wasn’t a complaint," Jamie said. "I like it … reminds me of snorkeling. I’m going to dream about the pretty fish all the way home."
Part 6
"This is a pretty nice place," Mia said as they arrived at their hotel. The team was scheduled to play in the Pan-Am tournament starting the next day, and the hotel was located within walking distance of the arena where the games would be played.
"Yeah," Jordan said. "I sure lucked out. I thought we’d have to rent a separate room."
"It’s nice to have an odd number of players, isn’t it?" the curly-haired woman said. She walked over to Jordan and said, "I was really impressed that you told them you had your partner with you. Was that hard for you?"
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