Sam bent to kiss her. Her tongue was insistent, betraying her need. Olivia positioned her face down on the bed. Sam tried to roll over on her back, but Olivia held her in place.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She wanted Sam to trust her, but trust couldn’t be asked for. It had to be earned. The next few minutes would tell if she had proven herself worthy of Sam’s trust.
Moving slowly and deliberately, she placed one knee on either side of Sam’s hips. Before her, the dramatic tattoo on Sam’s back was displayed in all its glory.
Olivia sank her fingers into the dimples of Venus, the symmetrical indentations in Sam’s lower back. She touched the tattoo, passing through the leaping flames, over the brightly colored tail and taloned feet, up the feathered body, and past the open mouth. When she came to the outstretched wings, she lowered her body, dragged her nipples across Sam’s back, and arched away.
Sam sucked in her breath, caught between wanting to give pleasure and receive it. Olivia’s tongue traveled up her spine, moving from the cleft of her hips to the nape of her neck. Then Olivia blew on the thin trail of moisture she’d left behind. The warm tongue followed by the cool air fanned the flames of Sam’s arousal. If Olivia was trying to make her feel like there was no one else in the world, she was doing a damn fine job of it. Olivia made her feel sexy. Desirable. Moreover, she made her feel loved.
Her eyes filled with tears. Olivia must have seen them. She kissed her cheek and smoothed her hair.
“Okay?”
Sam nodded. Olivia rolled her over. She kissed her as if she meant to steady her nerves, but Sam’s nerves were gone. Any doubts she might have been harboring disappeared as soon as Olivia covered her body with her own. Sam wanted this. She wanted Olivia. Tonight. Tomorrow. Every day for the rest of their lives.
Olivia moved lower. She parted Sam with her tongue. Sam was so wet she was surprised Olivia didn’t drown. She squeezed her eyelids shut but quickly opened them again. When she came, she wanted to be gazing into the eyes of the woman she loved. The woman she loved. The words no longer frightened her. Could no longer be denied.
When Bailey died, she’d thought she would never find love again. She’d thought she would never be able to let anyone else into her heart. Almost without her being aware of it, Olivia had taken up residence there. When had she moved in? She had knocked on the door the day they met. Then she’d spent the next six weeks leaving pieces of herself behind.
Sam knew Olivia’s heart. She knew her soul. Now she knew her body as well. Sam had provided most of the same introductions. Now it was time to make the final one.
She offered herself to Olivia. Opened herself fully and completely. She looked down at Olivia. With her eyes, she asked an unspoken question. Will you take me as I am? Olivia’s tongue provided an unequivocal yes.
When it was over, Sam held Olivia in her arms. She said the words she never thought she’d say again.
“I love you.”
Olivia lifted her head. Her smile was a beacon leading Sam out of her self-imposed darkness once and for all. “I love you, too.”
Epilogue
Olivia followed Sam up the trail, a beautiful but rugged stretch of earth in Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories. They had been hiking for hours, but Sam promised the view from the top would be worth the effort.
“Are you going to be able to make it to Pasang’s wedding?” Olivia asked. The temperature was in the mid-forties, almost cold enough for her to be able to see her breath.
Sam looked back at her and grinned. “Jimmy would kill me—kill us—if we missed it. Pasang and Peter would, too.” Sam laughed. “There’s no telling what Rae and Marie-Eve might do.”
“I don’t think we want to find out.”
Though she maintained a heavy work schedule, Rae was a constant fixture at Marie-Eve’s hockey games and often flew in to visit Olivia and Sam in their home in Colorado. She conveniently went missing, however, whenever the time came to babysit Chance and Gigi’s infant twins. Olivia and Sam, on the other hand, were never able to say no. Beatriz and C.J. had both of them wrapped around their chubby little fingers.
“Nothing’s going to stop me from watching the boys get hitched,” Sam said. “After I finish the expedition to Mt. Fuji, I’ll swing by Everest.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Don’t forget to bring my tux.”
“As long as you don’t forget to pick up the Gorkha.”
For the past year, they had shared a home and a life. Both had drastically reduced their schedules but hadn’t been able to eliminate all of their commitments. Whenever possible, they synchronized their calendars to limit their time apart. Each reunion was like meeting for the first time. Olivia looked forward to going to work, but she looked forward to coming home even more. Because now she had someone to come home to.
The trip to Everest for Pasang and Peter’s wedding would be Sam’s second trip to Nepal this year and Olivia’s first since Annapurna I. Olivia couldn’t wait to return to the country where she had met the love of her life. But first things first.
“Here we are,” Sam said when they reached the summit.
She spread a thick wool blanket on the lush grass and placed a picnic basket on one corner to weight it down. Kneeling on the blanket, she offered Olivia her hand.
Olivia lay on her back and stared up at the night sky. Sam lay next to her. A rainbow of light danced overhead. Colorful bands of red, yellow, blue, and green outshone the manmade lights twinkling faintly in the valley below.
“Welcome to our own private light show,” Sam said.
Olivia indicated the group of tourists slowly making their way up an adjacent ridge. “Not so private.”
Sam pulled a thermos out of the picnic basket, unscrewed the top, and poured two cups of hot chocolate. “I can’t give you the world, babe. I can only show it to you one mountain at a time.”
“One down and how many to go?”
Sam laughed, once a rarity but now a common occurrence. “I hope you packed your traveling shoes, Doc. This could take a while.”
Olivia took a sip of her hot chocolate. “Fine by me. I’ve got nothing but time.”
About the Author
Yolanda Wallace is not a professional writer, but she plays one in her spare time. She has written four previous novels, In Medias Res, Rum Spring, Lucky Loser, and Month of Sundays. Her short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies including Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets and Women of the Dark Streets. She and her partner live in beautiful coastal Georgia—about as far from the mountains of Nepal as you can get. They are parents to four children of the four-legged variety—a boxer and three cats. Yolanda can be reached at [email protected].
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