Symphony in Blue

by M. J. Duncan

  Gwen arched a brow and wiggled her fingers against Dana’s hip. “Please?”

  Dana bit her lip and groaned as she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “I really should get going.”

  “I’ll be quick,” Gwen promised as she rolled her hips back into the bed hard enough to gain the half-inch she needed to work her hand between them far enough that the very tip of her middle finger was able to dip into warm, soft folds.

  “God,” Dana groaned as she shifted enough to allow Gwen’s hand to reach its goal.

  Dana was so wet that Gwen doubted it’d take her long at all to come, and she smiled as she rolled them over so she was hovering above her. She kissed her softly as she began lightly circling her clit with her middle finger, loving the feeling of the sensitive bud swelling beneath her touch and the taste of Dana moaning breathily into her mouth. The sound of Dana’s breath catching when she added her index finger on her next slow circuit made her smile, and she knew that if she pressed just a little bit harder she could coax a strangled whimper from Dana’s lips. She had spent hours the day before learning how to play Dana’s body like the incredible instrument it was, composing erotic symphonies of whimpers and cries and long, rumbling moans as she brought her to the edge of ecstasy again and again and again, and she sighed as the glowing numbers on her alarm clock insisted that they really didn’t have that kind of time right now.

  Gwen flicked her tongue over Dana’s parted lips as she pulled back far enough to ask, “What do you need, sweetie?”

  “This is perfect,” Dana sighed, hooking her right leg over Gwen’s hip as her eyes fluttered shut. She pulled Gwen’s mouth back to her own and claimed it in a deep, passionate kiss.

  Gwen hummed into the kiss as she focused on giving Dana exactly what she needed, letting her fingers fly in light, quick circles of Dana’s clit. When Dana’s breath began to come harder and faster, she increased the pressure of her touch, and the low, keening mewl the touch drew from Dana’s lips was almost enough to make her come all on its own. She actually had come just from the sound of Dana’s pleasure twice the day before, and she closed her eyes as a warm shiver tumbled down her spine at the memory of it. “Just like that, baby.”

  “God, Gwen,” Dana whimpered, her breaths shallow and fast with more than a hint of a whine as she sought her release, her hips rocking demandingly against Gwen’s hand.

  Gwen bit her lip as the sound of Dana’s pleasure rolled over her like a caress, and pressed just that little bit harder to send Dana flying. She captured Dana’s lips in a slow, deep kiss as she worked her through the length of her release, and smiled when she finally pulled away.

  “Wow.”

  “Indeed,” Gwen agreed as she nuzzled Dana’s cheek. She sighed as her gaze landed on the alarm clock. “You’re gonna be late.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Dana shrugged and wrapped her arms around Gwen’s waist to pull her down on top of her. “I don’t care,” she added with a smile as she captured Gwen’s lips in a lingering kiss. “Somebody will be there to let them onto deck and the kids know what their warm up is. Besides”—she nuzzled Gwen’s cheek—“how am I supposed to leave you here all warm and beautiful and naked to go stand on a chilly pool deck when all I want to do is stay right here and make love to you again?”

  Gwen groaned. That was exactly what she wanted too, but she also knew it wasn’t going to happen. “You’re mean.”

  Dana grinned and twisted her hips and switched their position so she was staring down at Gwen, her eyes glowing with affection as she touched her forehead to Gwen’s. “I’m sorry.”

  “No you’re not,” Gwen murmured. She sighed and smoothed her hands through Dana’s hair. “But we’ll have time for that later.”

  “Yes, we will,” Dana agreed, sealing the promise with a tender kiss. “Are you going to be able to go back to sleep after I leave?”

  “No.” Gwen smiled and shook her head.

  “I’m sorry I woke you up, then,” Dana apologized, looking contrite. “I just didn’t want you to think that I’d run out on you.”

  “Don’t be.” Gwen slid her hands down Dana’s sides to grab her ass and give it a playful squeeze. “You can wake me up like this whenever you want.”

  Dana chuckled and nodded. “I’ll remember that.”

  “Good.” Gwen sighed and rubbed her hands over Dana’s ass a few times before giving her hips a light pat. “Come on, Ryan. You have work.”

  Dana groaned and pushed herself up to sit back on her knees between Gwen’s legs. She bit her lip as she smoothed her hands over Gwen’s thighs, her thumbs just barely brushing damp curls. “Will you come meet me for lunch after your rehearsal?”

  “Of course,” Gwen murmured.

  “Good.” Dana smiled and ran a hand through her hair. “Will I get to see you tonight?”

  Gwen arched a playful brow and countered, “Do you want to?”

  “Oh, Gwen,” Dana sighed as she fell forward, her hands pushing down on the mattress above Gwen’s shoulders as she kissed her softly. “I want to spend every night with you.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Gwen smiled, her heart skipping a beat at Dana’s confession. “We’ll figure out a plan at lunch,” she promised as she cupped Dana’s cheek in her hand and guided their lips together again.

  “Okay,” Dana murmured when she finally pulled away.

  “Okay,” Gwen echoed.

  Dana nodded as she pushed herself back to her knees. “Okay.” She blew out a soft breath and tipped her head at her clothes that were folded on Gwen’s dresser. “You wouldn’t happen to have a T-shirt I could borrow, do you?”

  Gwen grinned, quite liking the idea of sending Dana out into the world in her clothes. “Top full drawer. Pick whatever you want.”

  “Thanks.” Dana gave Gwen’s leg a squeeze and sighed as she turned to sit on the edge of the bed.

  Gwen pulled the sheets up to her waist as she laid back against the pillows piled against the headboard to watch Dana pull on her leg so she could go dig through her dresser. She smiled to herself as she let her eyes roam over Dana’s naked body, enjoying the way the muscles in her back and ass flexed as she moved, swill awed by the fact that, after everything, they had found their way to this point.

  “Can I borrow this one?” Dana asked, grinning as she turned and held up Luke’s Wonder Woman tee.

  “Go for it. I’m sure you’ll look better in it than Luke does.”

  Dana made a face and tossed it back into the drawer. “Never mind.” She rifled through the other shirts and nodded to herself as she pulled a blue tee over her head without asking. The soft cotton slid easily over her body, ending with a flutter at the top of her thighs and leaving a delicious expanse of her toned backside on display, and Gwen licked her lips as she enjoyed the view. “How do I look?” Dana asked as she turned around, her arms out wide as she offered herself up for inspection.

  Gwen groaned and nodded. “Juilliard looks damn good on you.” She sighed and shook her head. “You better go finished getting dressed before I rip that shirt off you and take you right there against the dresser, though.”

  Dana groaned and pointed a playfully accusing finger at Gwen. “Mean.”

  “I’ll make it up to you later,” Gwen promised. She winked at Dana as she slid out of bed, and kissed her softly as she grabbed the button-down shirt Dana had worn Saturday night from the stack of clothes on the dresser and pulled it on. She smiled as she left it hanging open, and couldn’t resist leaning in to drop one more chaste kiss to Dana’s lips. “I’ll go make you some coffee,” she whispered as she pulled away.

  Dana groaned. “Fucking work.”

  Gwen laughed as she sauntered out of the bedroom, putting an extra sway into step because she could feel the heat of Dana’s stare on her ass as she left. She buttoned the bottom three buttons of Dana’s shirt as she made her way into the living room and smiled at the sight of Storm curled up in the little tube at the bottom of her condo in front of the wind
ow. She hummed softly to herself as she turned on the coffee maker and pulled a pod and travel mug from the cupboard above it, and sighed as she stared out the window above the sink as she listened to the machine warm up.

  She was just finishing putting the lid on the travel mug after it’d been filled when Dana wandered into the kitchen, and she smiled as she handed her the cup. “Here you go, beautiful.”

  “Thanks.” Dana kissed her sweetly as she took the mug. “Call me when you’re leaving rehearsal?”

  “Of course,” Gwen agreed as she slid her hand into Dana’s to walk her to the door. She sighed when they stopped in the foyer, and shook her head as she turned to look at Dana. “Drive safely.”

  “I will.” Dana smiled and tucked Gwen’s hair behind her ear as she leaned in to kiss her softly. “I love you,” she whispered as she pulled away.

  “Love you, too,” Gwen murmured as she rocked up onto her toes to steal one last kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Promise?” Dana replied playfully as she unlocked the front door.

  Gwen nodded and, even though she knew they didn’t have time for it, pushed Dana back against the door as she claimed her lips in a kiss that was slow and deep and left them both completely breathless when they finally broke apart. “I promise,” she whispered, a small smile curling her lips at the way Dana whimpered and swayed toward her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to take a step back so Dana could actually leave for work. “Go.”

  Dana shook her head and cupped Gwen’s cheek in her hand to guide their lips together one last time, her tongue stroking lazily along Gwen’s as she drew this moment out a few heartbeats longer. “Okay, now I’ll go.”

  Gwen smiled and crossed her arms over her stomach so she wouldn’t reach for her. “Okay.”

  “For the record, though,” Dana said as she pulled the door open and hovered on the threshold, “I’m totally going to come up with the most insane main set ever to torture my swimmers for taking me away from you.”

  Gwen laughed and nodded. “Good.”

  Dana smiled and ducked back inside to steal one last kiss. “See you soon, beautiful,” she murmured as she stepped out the door.

  Gwen held onto the edge of the door as she watched Dana make her way to the stairs that led down to the street, and offered her a small smile and a wave when she paused at the top step to look back at her one last time before, with a little laugh and a shake of her head, she gave up delaying the inevitable and headed off to work.

  FORTY-THREE

  While Gwen doubted that waking up before five in the morning was something she’d be able to continue long-term, she had to admit that there was something to be said for having finished her personal three-hour practice routine before she had even left for morning rehearsal. Although, she thought as she made her way through the gleaming chasm of steel to the upper garden at Walt Disney Hall, if waking up so early meant more mornings like today, maybe she’d just start sneaking a nap in the afternoon to top-off her sleep reserves once the season begun and she wasn’t getting home from work until after midnight.

  Her phone buzzed with an incoming text as she sat down at a table near the edge of the third-floor garden, and she couldn’t help but smile as she pulled it from her purse. Dana had been texting her off-and-on all morning, and she wondered what, exactly, had caught her attention enough to share.

  This message, however, was from Luke. Mal’s back?!?!!! Tucker said he heard that she stopped by about an hour ago to talk to Rhode and the board, and she’s leaving for London tomorrow. Where are you?

  His surprise wasn’t terribly unexpected given that she hadn’t spoken to him since he and Jay had left her house Saturday night, and she chuckled softly to herself as she imagined him freaking out somewhere backstage at that very moment. It was nice, though, to know that she had such a good friend on her side, and she shook her head as she typed out a quick reply before setting her phone on the table. She slumped in her seat and crossed her ankles in front of herself as she relaxed in the dappled shadows that fell over the area, providing just enough respite from the heat that was already in the low-nineties, and closed her eyes. Luke was undoubtedly already on his way up to where she sat, and she figured she may as well enjoy the relaxing sound of the breeze rustling the leaves overhead and the pleasant warmth of the sun on her skin that would become unbearable in a few hours’ time while she could.

  “Have you seen her?” Luke asked, his voice mildly panicked as the feet of the chair to Gwen’s left scraped across the concrete patio.

  Gwen smiled as she blinked her eyes open behind the reflective lenses of her sunglasses to look at him. “I have,” she confirmed with a small nod. “She came by my house late Saturday night after you all left.” She lifted her right shoulder in a small shrug and added, “Well, Dana was still there when she stopped by.”

  “Oh shit.” Luke leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “How’d that go?”

  “It was…” Gwen sighed and shook her head, unable to keep from smiling as her thoughts sped through the events of that night and focused on what was most important—how it ended. “Interesting.”

  Luke’s forehead wrinkled with confusion and he frowned. “What happened?”

  “You want the whole story?” Gwen laughed when he nodded exasperatedly and threw his hands in the air, motioning for her to stop stalling. “Well, I guess you could say that ‘interesting’ started when I kissed Dana. Or she kissed me. Actually, thinking about it, I’m not sure which of us really started it, but there was kissing and it was amazing.”

  Luke squealed and clapped his hands excitedly. “Fucking finally. That’s awesome.”

  “It was,” Gwen agreed with a grin. “Or, it was, anyway, until Mallory rang my doorbell.”

  “Oh shit. I’m starting to think I need popcorn for this one,” Luke muttered, circling his hand in the air to try and get Gwen to keep going with the story.

  Gwen chuckled and filled him in on how Dana had acted when she was face-to-face with Mallory to Mallory’s proposal and the rest of their conversation. Luke was, as always, the perfect audience, his shifting expressions and the little comments he interjected the perfect anecdotes to her story, and she ran a hand through her hair as she moved past the drama to the end of the whole evening. “So, yeah, eventually Dana came back and we talked about the whole thing and we’re good now.”

  “What? You can’t leave it like that!” Luke threw his arms in the air. “What does ‘we’re good now’ mean?”

  Gwen smiled and shrugged. “It means we’re good.”

  “God, that’s such a bullshit answer,” Luke grumbled. “Are you good-good, or more like the awkward-friends-who-stare-at-each-other-with-massive-fucking-heart-eyes you were before all this good, or what?”

  “We did not stare at each other with massive fucking heart eyes.”

  “Bull. Shit. You so did.”

  “Maybe we did,” Gwen allowed with a small smile. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, deciding to give up the game so she could properly celebrate the change in her life with her best friend. “We’re good in the we-spent-all-day-yesterday-naked-and-made-love-again-this-morning-before-she-left-for-work kind of way.”

  Luke whooped and slapped his hands on the table. “Yes!”

  Gwen laughed as he launched himself from his chair to pull her into a celebratory bear hug.

  “I’m so happy for you guys,” Luke murmured as he rocked them from side to side.

  “Me too,” Gwen murmured, holding onto his shoulders to keep her balance as she grinned and just enjoyed how incredible it felt to be so truly happy. “Hey!” She winced when he smacked her arm as he pulled away. “What was that for?”

  He laughed and smacked her again. “I told you you’d get a happily ever after!”

  “Watch it!” Gwen warned as she hit him back. “Dana will kick your ass if I show up to meet her for lunch today all bruised and shit.”

  He stuck out his tongue and
rolled his eyes.

  “So mature,” Gwen chuckled, shaking her head.

  “You know it,” he sassed. “God, Gwen,” he sighed, smiling and shaking his head as he pulled her into a gentle hug. “I’m just so happy for you, sweetie.”

  “Thank you.” Gwen leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “You’re happy?”

  “Yes.” Gwen beamed as she nodded.

  “Good,” Luke murmured, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead. He huffed a laugh and shook his head as he pulled away. “Does Regan know?”

  “Probably?” Gwen shrugged. “I mean, they did send her back to my place Sunday morning and everything, but I don’t know if Dana’s actually talked to her today or not. Why?”

  He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Because she owes me a hundred bucks.”

  “What? Why?” Gwen pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and stared at him. “You guys bet on when me and Dana would hook up?”

  “Please, like you’re really surprised by this information.”

  Gwen sighed and shook her head. Really, she wasn’t at all surprised that the two of them had done something like that. “Tell me again why we’re friends with you two?”

  “Because we’re amazing and supportive and we love you guys and only want to see you happy.”

  “Yeah, that could be it,” Gwen muttered.

  “And I’m totally gonna be your maid of honor when you two get married, right?”

  Gwen laughed and nodded. “Yeah. Sure. If we ever get there, you get to be my maid of honor.”

  “If…” Luke scoffed. “You two will be engaged in the next year. Regan set the over-under on you two U-Hauling at Halloween. I took the under on that, by the way, so if you could speed things up…”

  “Jesus, Luke.” Gwen arched a disbelieving brow at him. “How many bets did you two make about us?”

  “A few,” he hedged with a wicked smile. “And, you know, if you could propose before next July, that’d be great.”

  Gwen rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t even want to know,” she muttered as she picked up her cello case and slung it onto her back.