In Every Port

by Karin Kallmaker

  Cat stared at her for a few moments. "Yes. I'm okay." She suddenly flashed a dazzling smile at Jessica. "I'm very okay. See you tonight."

  Jessica woke a few hours later, feeling wonderful. She felt sexy and alive, desirable and horny.

  She went shopping and tried on a pair of very tight jeans. As she pulled them on she imagined Cat pulling them off. She bought two pair.

  While in the lingerie department she saw some body suits, like dancers wore. She tried one on. The fabric did not quite hide the darker color of her nipples. Without a bra, the body suits were extremely provocative and downright naughty. She bought four.

  At home she put the turquoise one on and wiggled into the tight jeans. She looked at her reflection. With her new hair style calling attention to her eyes and strong shoulders, she was, in her own humble opinion, very sexy. She had to compromise and put a sweater on — after all it was winter. She still thought she looked pretty sexy.

  She pretended to work. At 5:25 she heard the elevator and rapid footsteps hurrying across the foyer.

  Cat didn't even go to her place first. She knocked on Jessica's door rapidly.

  "You'll never guess," Cat said, grinning. "I could float. This afternoon I called a woman I met at a party the local hotels had for meeting planners and asked if she had some free lunch time this week to talk." She hardly paused for breath. "She not only said yes, she said she hoped I was calling because I was interested in changing jobs."

  Cat peeled off her jacket and kicked off her shoes, dropping her briefcase and purse in a pile next to the door. "She wants me to be the corporate account sales manager for their new project, it's going up on the Embarcadero. She said she'd match whatever salary the Regency was paying me with a negotiable bonus package. Since it's a new project we'll have a small staff to begin working on advance bookings, but it will grow to a three or four million dollar budget with a staff of at least ten over the next three years. She said she liked my style and my old boss had said good things about me. She doesn't care that I don't have an MBA! I could fly! I accepted of course."

  Jessica smiled broadly. "Congratulations! Talk about cats always landing on their feet! That's terrific. We should celebrate!"

  "I'll give my written notice tomorrow after I see Marsha to confirm everything. I am so excited. And it's all thanks to you!"

  "To me? I didn't get you a new job," Jessica protested, her heart pounding. Cat was pulsing like a magnet, and Jessica was unable to resist the attraction. She moved slightly closer and her palms started to sweat.

  "I went to work this morning feeling like a new person. Free to do whatever I wanted. I called Marsha up, thinking about what I would say if I were you, and look what happened. She said she could tell I had a lot of enthusiasm. If I'd called her yesterday I'd have sounded flat, desperate. Oh, Jessica, you're wonderful." Cat threw her arms around Jessica, hugging her tightly.

  After a long moment, Cat leaned away, her arms still around Jessica and Jessica felt the world stop revolving.

  Cat hardly seemed to breathe. Her eyes were glittering with emotion. With a tiny sigh, a breath of confusion, Cat leaned forward and pressed her lips to Jessica's and then buried her face in Jessica's hair.

  Without thinking, without breathing, Jessica pressed her lips to Cat's neck, to her ear, to her hair. NOW, Herself said. NOW. Energy pounded in her ears. Hormones exploded. She saw flashing lights. NOW. Do it NOW. Her hands caressed Cat's back eloquently. Cat tensed.

  "Jessica?" Cat exhaled breathily. "What are you doing to me?"

  "What do you think I'm doing?" Jessica asked in a daze, her lips feathering over the line of Cat's jaw. She felt Cat shudder.

  "I don't know... I, Jessica," Cat said incoherently. "Oh," she murmured as Jessica kissed her lips.

  Jessica gently touched her lips to Cat's, then kissed the corners of her mouth. She was going too fast. Warning bells were ringing in her mind. But Cat's mouth opened and with a gasp she invited Jessica's tongue to explore her, their mouths sharing wetness. Tipping Cat's head back, Jessica explored her thoroughly and then retreated, inviting Cat to follow.

  Cat followed. Murmuring between their pressed lips, Cat tasted the recesses of Jessica's mouth. Her hands slid under Jessica's sweater, caressing Jessica's skin through the thin body suit. Slowly, hesitatingly, Cat's fingers crept up Jessica's side, to the soft swell where her breast merged with her ribs, then her hand closed on Jessica's swollen and erect nipple.

  They both gasped and Cat broke the kiss, pushing away from Jessica violently.

  "I'm sorry, I don't know what made me do that," Cat said, as if she were choking for breath, covering her face with her hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

  "There's nothing wrong with you," Jessica murmured. She moved slowly toward Cat. "You did what you wanted to do."

  "No, Jessica, really, I didn't mean to…" Cat said, flushing bright red. She looked at Jessica, aghast.

  "Why did you touch me that way?"

  "I don't know," Cat said, backing away. "I think I should go."

  "Why did you touch me that way?" Jessica asked again, her voice soft with desire, her body burning with love and fever. "You can't shock me, Cat. Tell me."

  "I — you kissed me and ... I — it felt right."

  "It felt right to me, too," Jessica whispered. "Every part of me thought it felt right." She stood between Cat and the door, so close to Cat that her breasts almost brushed Cat's folded arms.

  Cat swayed slightly. "I don't know what to do, Jessica."

  Jessica decided to risk everything. "Do whatever you feel is right. If you leave I won't follow you. I'll wait for you to come back. If you stay…" She swallowed and couldn't go on. Her mouth was dry with want and fear, her throat tight with the words of love she longed to say.

  Cat dropped her arms. "Tell me what to do," she whispered, her eyes glazed.

  "No. You decide what you want to do," Jessica said in a low, intense voice. "It's your life. Your choice. Never let us misunderstand that."

  Cat closed her eyes and her hands went gently to Jessica's face, then her throat. Jessica controlled her gasp of happiness as Cat's hands slid under her sweater, over her shoulders, pushing it back until it slid to the floor.

  Cat seemed mesmerized by Jessica's shoulders. Her hands caressed them, from the line of Jessica's collarbone, to her upper arms where Cat brushed against the sides of Jessica's breasts. Opening her eyes, Cat stepped forward. Her lips parted and she brushed them over Jessica's, then they descended.

  Her lips pushed away the fabric covering Jessica's shoulders. And Cat's lips went further, kissing Jessica through the thin nylon of the body suit. Without hesitation Jessica pulled it off her shoulders, sliding her arms free. The top peeled slowly down Jessica's body, and the tops of her breasts became available to Cat's seeking lips.

  I'm going to come when she takes my breasts in her mouth, I can feel it, Jessica murmured in her mind. I think I may faint. She leaned back against the door, her knees wobbling.

  The lips she'd wanted to touch her for so long slowly kissed the sides of her breast, then poised over the bare nipples. Jessica held her breath and then groaned as Cat's warm mouth covered her, pulling her into her mouth, teasing her nipple between her teeth. Jessica shook with the force of a fierce, lightninged orgasm.

  "Did I hurt you?" Cat whispered in concern. "I don't know what to do."

  "No, no, you're making me crazy, don't stop," Jessica moaned and Cat seemed to explode into fire. She began pulling her clothes off, stopping between buttons and zippers to caress Jessica.

  Jessica couldn't move. Her vision went hazy as Cat stood naked before her. She wanted to reach out, to touch, fondle, caress, taste, but her body wouldn't obey her.

  Cat pulled her to the floor amid her discarded clothing. She leaned over Jessica, kissing her lips, her nose, her forehead, then tantalizing her breasts with teasing nibbles and warm kisses. "Tell me what to do to you," Cat whispered. "I'll do it. Anything you want." Her ton
gue trailed over Jessica's lips.

  "Undress me, please," Jessica said, trembling. "I want to feel you against me."

  Cat slowly peeled Jessica's jeans away, and then the body suit, inch by inch, her hips moving against Jessica's thigh as she gorged herself on Jessica's breasts.

  Jessica was moving back against Cat, quivering, shuddering. She felt fire in her fingertips. Electricity prickled across her shoulder blades, then surged down her legs.

  "I want to touch you there," Cat groaned.

  "Please," she said, in a tight voice. "Please."

  Cat parted her and groaned. Her body went rigid and then shook as Jessica opened her legs so that Cat could touch her more completely. Cat's fingers burned through Jessica's flesh, touching, stroking. Jessica held her breath, feeling she would explode from the beating of her heart.

  "A little higher… Oh." Jessica gasped and everything went purple, blue, then black for a dozen heartbeats. As she became aware of the world again, she realized Cat was sobbing, her hand still cupping Jessica's center.

  "What's wrong?" Jessica pulled Cat's head against her breasts. "That was wonderful."

  "How can you be so beautiful to me?" Cat sobbed. "Why are you being so kind?"

  Jessica lay there for a moment, in a sort of shock. She finally rolled over onto her side, putting Cat's arms around her, pressing the length of her body to the length of Cat's.

  "Do you honestly think I opened myself, lying here on the cold floor, gasping in orgasmic pleasure, to be kind to you?"

  "Then why are you doing it? I've never done this before, but I think I've always wanted to. Who are you that you can be so good to me?" The brown eyes glowed with feeling.

  "I am who I've always been. I'm Jessica. And I love you." She kissed Cat's wet eyes. "I love everything about you. I've been aware of you, thinking about you, mooning over you ever since we went out to dinner the very first time." She smiled in sudden sureness. "What do you have to say to that?"

  "I don't believe you," Cat said softly, with a slow smile of wonder. "Convince me. Convince me this isn't just a figment of my overwrought imagination."

  "I feel every beat of your heart in my own heart. I feel the tears in your eyes in my own eyes. When you look at me, touch me, talk to me, I see you, feel you, hear you deep within myself, as if you were the very center of me."

  "Oh," Cat breathed with a shy smile. She sat up suddenly, and pulled her knees to her chest. Jessica sat up too. "I don't mean to sound like a silly schoolgirl. I just can't believe that you love me — you. I admire you so much, but I never thought you cared much for me in anything but a kind of professional capacity," Cat said seriously.

  "I can't believe I was so good at hiding my feelings."

  "It never occurred to me. I knew I felt more for you than any friend I'd ever had. I felt as if you were my sister, except I couldn't take you for granted." Her gaze, direct and honest, burned into Jessica. "I found myself admiring your body, but I told myself it was just aesthetics." She smiled beautifully. Jessica felt as if the sun had come out. "This feels so right. I want to make love with you passionately. It's never been this strong before. I'm not afraid."

  "Afraid of what?"

  "Of anything, not with you. I don't care what anybody or anything thinks. I want to make love with you."

  "Well, I'm getting cold," Jessica said. "Let's go to bed, shall we?"

  "Yes," Cat breathed. "Let's."

  Jessica lay back on her pillows while Cat rested her head on Jessica's shoulder, one hand lazily caressing her breasts.

  "In one afternoon, in one second, you made my world come together. I've always felt like a tourist in my own life," Cat said with a gentle laugh.

  Jessica let Cat's warmth flow over her. "Why is that?" Jessica asked softly.

  "There was no you." Cat's voice broke and she burst into tears again.

  Cat stopped crying almost immediately and relaxed into the circle of Jessica's arm. Jessica waited for Cat to talk, knowing she would when she was ready.

  Instead of the soft voice Jessica expected, she heard a quiet snore and realized that Cat had fallen asleep. She guessed it was a kind of compliment. At least Cat felt comfortable and safe. Jessica was warm and comfortable and safe, too, so she joined Cat in sleep.

  TWELVE

  Victory

  The light had completely gone when Jessica surfaced out of a deep, completely still sleep. She was aware of Cat's body, and one hand that was following the contours of her breasts, pausing to circle her nipples. As she stretched and shifted her position, her nipples tightened and Cat's hand came to a halt.

  "Don't stop," Jessica whispered. The hand resumed its teasing and after what seemed hours, Cat began stroking her, lower, lower, until her fingers tangled teasingly in Jessica's pubic hair. She shifted her position and playfully pushed Cat's hand away.

  She lay on her side and stared into Cat's eyes for a long while, stroking her face, pushing her hair back. Cat's mouth invited a kiss and Jessica obliged, slowly, carefully, thoroughly.

  At last her mouth caressed Cat's velvet and satin shoulders, at last her lips circled the pink swells that graced Cat's full breasts. At last, she was making Cat moan with pleasure and expectation. She made soft sounds of passion as she kissed the swell of Cat's abdomen, descending until she felt Cat open to her.

  She heard Cat cry out through the muffling of thighs over her ears. Jessica savored the first taste of her, knowing Cat would come quickly. Thrusting deeply, Jessica clasped Cat's hips to her, wanting to make this first time memorable.

  Cat arched and collapsed, her body going limp and Jessica raised her head briefly, then returned, this time exploring each fold and ripple, journeying through Cat, over and over. The pleasure of it, listening to Cat's groans and encouragements, made Jessica break out in a cold sweat.

  Higher and higher she took Cat, until they seemed to be floating above the world, vitally locked to each other. Cat quivered, then spasmed and went limp, and Jessica clambered over her to take Cat in her arms.

  "I love you, I love you," Jessica whispered. "I've never loved anyone like this. You must believe me."

  "I do. I do believe you, Jessica. Let me catch my breath," Cat whispered back. She shivered and hugged Jessica, then lay still.

  There was a long comfortable silence and Jessica wondered what Cat was thinking.

  "Have there been very many?"

  Jessica blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected Cat to ask her that question so soon.

  "Yes," she said honestly. "Until I met you my idea of a great relationship was to have a woman in every city I went to. But at about the same time I met you, I began to wonder about it all. Then there was you. And nothing but you would satisfy. I haven't been with anyone since I went to San Antonio and that was a long, long time ago."

  "What's her name?"

  "Who?"

  "The one in San Antonio."

  "Marilyn. We're still in touch."

  "Oh."

  "We agreed that last time to be friends, not lovers. And after that I burned my little black book."

  "You really did play the field, didn't you?" Cat observed.

  Jessica heard a little bitterness in her voice. Holding Cat in her arms made Jessica fearless. She wanted to tell her everything.

  "Yes, I did. But that's not the worst part. Not only was I loving them and leaving them, like some wayward sailor, I even pretended that the fact that they were all women was because it was easier that way, not because I was a lesbian."

  "You're not a — a lesbian?" Cat raised her face, a look of startled confusion in her brown eyes.

  "I wasn't officially, in my own mind, that is, until this summer, until I realized I was falling in love with you. I had to admit it to myself. But I've always been a lesbian. There have never been any men. I've never wanted men."

  "I don't think I've ever wanted a woman, not that I've ever realized. I don't know," Cat said slowly. "The last thing I remembered from when I went to sleep was you f
ramed in the doorway of my bedroom. And ever since this morning when I woke up, my life has seemed real. Everything I do seems real," Cat said, settling into Jessica's arms again. "I've never felt this close to anybody before. And — and sex has never been that good —" Jessica saw a delicate blush creep into Cat's cheeks. "— or that intimate."

  "I didn't dare hope for this," Jessica said with a gentle laugh. She was overwhelmed with joy. A loud rumble went through her stomach. "Are you hungry?"

  "Am I hungry," Cat said suggestively, her eyes full of dangerous laughter and shy determination.

  Jessica went limp, all over. "What are you suggesting?" she breathed out finally.

  "I don't know what to do," Cat said slowly, just above a whisper, "but I want to do what you did to me, I want to learn to make you feel as good as you made me feel. Tell me what to do," she said earnestly.

  Jessica quivered. "I've never been anyone's teacher in this way before," she said. "I'll try."

  "Please, Jessica, I want to," Cat said seriously, sensuously. "Do you like this?" she asked, one finger softly stroking Jessica.

  "Yes. Imagine what you would like me to do to you and just do that to me. I'm sure, oh —" Jessica gasped as Cat slid into her.

  "Sure what?"

  "Sure you'll do just fine," Jessica managed to say. She was beyond words. Cat trailed her hair over Jessica's body, still slowly stroking her as she knelt slowly between Jessica's thighs. Jessica held her breath as Cat slowly bent, stroking Jessica's pubic hair, her eyes glowing.

  "You're beautiful," Cat whispered as her lips kissed Jessica softly. Her groan mixed with Jessica's and Jessica felt tears in her eyes. She burned with elation. She wound her fingers into the curls of blonde hair which brushed the softness of her inner thighs. There would be no one else after this, no way.

  "Thank you," Jessica finally said, much later. She felt as if her bones had turned to jelly. There was no strength left in her. Cat kissed the trickle of tears down the side of Jessica's face.

  "I made you cry," she said. "No one has ever cried for me before. I could get used to this."

  They made tuna fish sandwiches and sat cross-legged on the couch.