Thorns of the Past

by Gun Brooke

  “Then…take me.” Sabrina’s eyes were huge as they looked up at Darcy. Never had she thought Sabrina would ever regard her with such trust. For someone as private and reclusive as Sabrina to hand over control to a lover and give her carte blanche, in a sense, was mind-blowing.

  Darcy kissed her way from Sabrina’s mouth, slid her tongue along a furiously pulsating artery on her neck, across a frail-looking collarbone, and down between her breasts. There, she paused briefly and pushed the blouse open, not sure when all the buttons had become undone. A pale-pink chemise covered a lace bra, which was all very pretty, but they had to go. Bunching them both up above Sabrina’s small breasts, Darcy then took in the view of the pale, dusty-rose nipples perfectly sized to fit the small mounds. Lowering her head, Darcy had to admit they were also the perfect size for her to suck into her mouth.

  “Ah!” Sabrina arched and spread her legs some, but not enough for Darcy to slip between them. The charcoal pencil skirt was too narrow. Pushing one hand down between them, Darcy shoved the fabric up until it reached Sabrina’s hips. Now Sabrina could part her legs more fully, but clearly it wasn’t enough. Sabrina raised her hips and pulled the skirt up until it circled only her waist. Glancing down, Darcy saw Sabrina was now shielded only by lace panties and thigh-high stockings. It was such a sexy, arousing sight, Darcy inched her hand between Sabrina’s legs, cupping her gently. The damp fabric under her fingertips spoke of Sabrina’s arousal and made more moisture flood Darcy’s own cotton panties.

  Sabrina’s hips moved erratically under Darcy’s hand. Understanding how much the gentle touch against such swollen and wet folds had to burn, she ran her fingertips up, barely touching Sabrina until she slipped in under the lace. Trimmed, coarse hair led the way back down to the engorged labia. As Sabrina had spread her legs wide to accommodate Darcy, she found her clit easily and then her opening.

  “Oh, God…oh, please…yes…” Sabrina flung her right arm over her eyes as she bucked against Darcy’s hand. “I need…I need to come. Please, your hand…”

  Darcy gently ran her fingertips up and down along the drenched folds. “So wet,” she murmured. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

  “Inside.” The word was as much a command as it was a plea.

  Darcy pushed two fingers into the tight opening, feeling it squeeze her as she probed for the slightly rougher patch farther in. She found it, hoping it would do to Sabrina what rubbing it did to herself. Darcy curled her fingers slightly, and the immediate whimper emanating from Sabrina told her what she needed to know. Now she could get lost in the sensations of making love to the woman she craved. Lowering her head to Sabrina’s breasts, she took one nipple in her mouth and flicked her tongue over it.

  Sabrina pushed her hands into Darcy’s hair and held her closer. “Yes. Yes, just like that. Darcy, oh God, Darcy…” Husky now, her voice sounded tearful, and Darcy glanced up, concerned. Tears streamed into Sabrina’s hair as she undulated against Darcy’s fingers buried deep inside her.

  “Shh…don’t cry. You’re fine.” Darcy slid farther up, kissing her way to Sabrina’s damp neck. Positioning her lips just below her ear, Darcy kept murmuring terms of endearment. “So stunning, so beautiful…and you smell divine, my queen. Just let it come. I have you.”

  “Darcy?” Sabrina wrapped her arms around Darcy’s neck. “Don’t let go. D-don’t.”

  “Never.” Darcy pressed her thumb against Sabrina’s clit and pushed its hood back. Barely touching the ridge directly, she teased it and felt more moisture coat her hand. “I can’t believe you let me have this, do this. You turn me on so much I ache. I’ve wanted you from day one.”

  “Ah!” Sabrina’s back arching, she convulsed against Darcy’s hand. Darcy could feel the orgasm tear through Sabrina as strong, pulsating inner muscles squeezed her fingers hard. Her own sex clenched in something between sympathy and envy. She was close to coming, but she wanted her orgasm to happen because Sabrina caressed her.

  Worming her free arm in under Sabrina’s neck where her strawberry-blond hair stuck to the dampness on her skin, Darcy held her lover—her lover—close and rocked her. The scent of perfume, sex, and sweet, clean sweat permeated the room, and Darcy couldn’t think of anywhere else she would rather be than in bed with Sabrina.

  “Oh, my God.” Sabrina shifted, and Darcy carefully removed her fingers. She wiggled them carefully, as they tingled some from being squeezed so hard.

  “Mmm.” Darcy held on to Sabrina and pushed a few tresses from the flustered face next to hers on the pillow. “You all right?”

  “Can’t you tell, darling?”

  Darcy held her breath. Had Sabrina just called her darling? She fought against the threatening tears. Was it just sort of an in-the-moment thing or entirely deliberate? She nuzzled Sabrina’s cheek, hiding her face. “Yes. Actually.”

  “You’re amazing.” Sabrina got up on her elbow and gazed down at Darcy with the softest expression she had ever seen. “You have no idea, do you?” Clearing her throat gently, Sabrina drew a finger along Darcy’s cheek and down her neck. “You’re just yourself and act as if you know me better than I know myself—and I’m starting to think you just might. That’s a bit frightening, to be blunt.” Sabrina pressed her lips to Darcy’s temple and kept kissing down the same path that her index finger had just taken—soft, lingering kisses, as if she relished Darcy’s taste and scent and was ready to take her time.

  Darcy groaned and shifted her hips, impatient and thrilled at the same time. If Sabrina intended to keep this pace it was going to kill her.

  * * *

  Sabrina moaned against the damp, satin skin of the woman next to her. The way Darcy moved, wantonly and desperate for Sabrina’s touch, made her want to ravage this beauty in her arms. Sabrina knew very well she wasn’t as intuitive as Darcy. She had no idea how Darcy wanted to be loved. Damn it, she would have to ask.

  “Like you told me, darling,” Sabrina said and nipped at Darcy’s nipple, which was so conveniently just below her lips. “Tell me what to do. How to do it. I’m at your beck and call.”

  “Shit. You can’t say things like that. You’ll make me come.” Darcy grew rigid. “I’m not kidding.”

  “I can promise you, neither am I. I take this very seriously.” Sabrina hid a smile against Darcy’s sternum. “That is why I need good directions. You know how I dislike failure.”

  “You’re killing me. You’re totally killing me, Sabrina. Just touch me any way you want. I’m too close for finesse or whatever.”

  Sabrina chuckled and kept kissing a trail down Darcy’s stomach until she reached a dark tuft of hair. Sparse, it barely covered the skin underneath, and as Sabrina shouldered herself in between Darcy’s thighs, she saw how the skin and sensitive tissues glistened from the wetness their lovemaking had produced. Licking her lips, Sabrina knew this wasn’t the best time to second-guess herself. Darcy had told her to do it any way she wanted—and this was what Sabrina wanted. She pulled down Darcy’s cotton panties and noticed absentmindedly when Darcy kicked them off entirely.

  As soon as she pressed her open mouth between Darcy’s legs, she knew she might just be intuitive when it came to this woman. Darcy pulled her legs up, held on to them, and gave Sabrina all the space she needed. Flattening her tongue, she licked along the wet labia, sucking it into her mouth over and over, gently pulling. Sabrina moved around the hard clitoris, not about to touch it just yet. She wanted more of this, more of how Darcy whimpered and began to thrash under her.

  “I can’t believe this,” Darcy said and groaned as Sabrina flickered her tongue barely inside her opening. “Never in a million…years…”

  “Believe it,” Sabrina said, nipping at the sensitive folds. “You made such hot love to me, and now it’s my turn, yes?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Chuckling again, Sabrina felt so young and free, able to take on the world in a way she never had before. She pressed her lips against Darcy’s clit, then sucked it gently in between her
lips and began a slow dance with it. Instinctively knowing that Darcy needed more though, she pushed first one, then two, fingers inside her, the copious moisture soaking her.

  “Sabrina…my queen…” Darcy stroked Sabrina’s hair over and over as she trembled against her. “Do you have any idea, any idea at all, how you make me feel?”

  “Tell me.” Not afraid right now, but feeling more secure than she had the last fifteen years, Sabrina reveled in the sensations of Darcy’s essence and taste on her tongue, of the sounds and the smells from them both mingling in her otherwise so austere bedroom. She would never look at this room like that again. Instead, she would know and remember how this was where she was allowed, and permitted herself, to make love with this amazing creature for the first time.

  “I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” Darcy said, speaking under her breath. “You have become so important to me—I think of you all the time.”

  So did she. Sabrina increased her movements, intensifying the pleasure for Darcy. “I think of you also.” Yes, all the time.

  “Sabrina. I need to…I need to come. I ache to belong…with you.”

  Sabrina’s heart yearned also. She wanted to tell Darcy there was a future for them, that she adored her, but right now it was impossible to promise anything like that. What she did want, and could give, was an orgasm that would at least tie them together in this moment. She mimicked what Darcy had just done to her and curled the two fingers she had buried inside her. Sucking more intensely on the swollen clit, she rubbed the spot inside Darcy that she hoped would send her over the edge.

  Darcy took fistfuls of Sabrina’s hair and merely held her in place. Trembling harder, she eventually cried out over and over as her orgasm washed over them both. Sabrina’s hand was still inside Darcy, and she could hardly fathom how the intensity of the physical release could transfer to her via her hand and by watching Darcy come undone.

  “Darcy…” Sabrina began to kiss her way up Darcy’s body, eager to feel her lips again.

  “My queen,” Darcy said and weakly pulled at her, seeming just as excited to hold Sabrina close.

  And kiss they did—long, lazy kisses, as they snuggled under the covers. Neither of them spoke much, and the silence was restful. Sabrina nuzzled Darcy’s hair and reveled in her scent, which made Darcy giggle softly.

  “I feel like a perfume bottle,” she said, snorting.

  “If you were a perfume bottle, you’d be unique and priceless.” Sabrina smiled and drew a light, intricate pattern on Darcy’s lower back, making her squirm.

  “Hey, that tickles.”

  “Mission accomplished.” Sabrina bit her lip and then kissed Darcy again. “It might not take very long until I want you again.”

  “Your wish is my command, my queen.” Darcy’s smile faded a little bit. “And likewise. I’m not sure if I can ever get enough of you. Does that make you feel weird?”

  Sabrina regarded Darcy and tried to get to the truth, the nucleus, of what she really felt. “No. No weirder than normal—in fact the opposite. I can’t remember when I was this calm and felt this safe. Which is a bit strange, given the circumstances.”

  “I’ll say.” Darcy rolled Sabrina onto her back and hovered over her, but Sabrina sensed nothing overpowering about the maneuver. “I can be such a moron sometimes. I see you, and you’re so damn perfect. You move with such confidence and grace. I feel…not up to par, as your country-club friends would phrase it.”

  “I don’t belong to any club, country or otherwise.” Sabrina shook her head but kept from smiling, as she didn’t want to deter Darcy from telling her how she felt.

  “That’s always something. I can’t picture you sipping cocktails, discussing how hard it is to get good help these days or who is going to be voted the new chairman, etc, etc.”

  “Heaven forbid.” Sabrina shuddered at the not-so-inaccurate description of the country club her parents belonged to. Did Darcy know this or was she merely guessing? Or were her parents so stereotypical?

  “Anyway, you are successful, stunning, with tons of ways to climb to the top of any career ladder you choose. I mean, moneywise, workwise, and with physical beauty on top of that…So when you choose to share yourself with me this way, it’s hard for me, almost impossible, not to look for the catch. An evil little spirit is hovering next to me, asking, “Why you, Darcy?” and “It won’t amount to anything real.” And I just want you to know, no matter how hard it is,” Darcy said, worrying her lower lip with her teeth, “I’m not listening to that spirit. I know you well enough to realize you’d never let me take you to bed if you didn’t want to. Nor would you do it just to get laid. I have to trust in this, because if I don’t…” Darcy swallowed.

  “If you don’t?” Sabrina cupped Darcy’s cheek and tried to induce more confidence, even if, in her opinion, Darcy had more confidence than Sabrina ever had.

  “If I don’t trust in that—” Darcy turned her face and kissed the palm of Sabrina’s left hand. “then you will already have broken my heart.”

  Sabrina hugged Darcy with all the passion that coursed through her veins. “Never. You can trust that I would never be that careless with your heart, darling. I don’t ever want to hurt you or make you feel you’re not wanted.” Or loved. For Sabrina, it was too early for the words, but not by much. How the armor had been ripped from her heart, she had no idea. She merely knew she was certain it had been to allow Darcy in. “You’re already far more important to me than anyone else.”

  Darcy pulled back and gazed into Sabrina’s eyes. “Same here, my queen. Same here.”

  Later, when they were almost asleep, Sabrina hoped the next day would show progress. She wanted to date Darcy and, for the first time, get on with her life on a personal level. Suddenly, she was in a rush to live her life and not just endure it.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sabrina exited the elevator and nodded at the young woman behind the security desk in the lobby. She couldn’t remember her name but recognized the girl as the trainee Darcy had supervised the day of the break-in. Walking toward the west entrance of the financial center with Emerson, her current bodyguard, Sabrina was on her way to the vehicle provided by Karimi, who also had insisted she needed two guards. Sabrina was beyond protesting at this point.

  Emerson walked one step behind her, while Logan was fetching the light-gray SUV in the parking lot, as they refused to let her walk that far.

  Pulling out her phone, she dialed Darcy, longing to hear her lover’s voice. Sabrina still couldn’t quite fathom that Darcy was just that—her lover. Sabrina’s previous encounters had mainly been about sex, or perhaps to reduce her loneliness, but this complex thing she had with Darcy was much more. It didn’t even compare. Their connection was so profound, it was startling. Apart from the mind-blowing lovemaking, Sabrina could easily come to crave sleeping and waking up in each other’s arms.

  “Hello, my queen,” Darcy greeted her at the other end. “You heading home? I’m just about to take Khan out.”

  Emerson swiped a card, pushed the door outward, and scanned the area. Nodding to Logan, he held the door open for Sabrina, who stepped outside.

  “Hello yourself, darling. Yes, just getting into the car—oh!” Sabrina stumbled sideways as Emerson plowed into her from the side. She tried to hold on to him, but his momentum sent her flying forward, landing on her hands and knees. Sabrina heard, more than felt, her stockings tear, and she gazed at her phone that was still in her hand. It was still on, as Darcy’s picture that she’d taken last evening was lit up. Trying to get up, she heard a thud next to her that made her look to the left, where Logan, the driver, suddenly lay motionless, boxing her in between him and Emerson.

  “Sabrina?” Darcy’s faint voice barely reached her from the cell she squeezed tightly in her hand. “Sabrina!”

  “Emerson. He fell…and Logan too. They’re down, and there’s blood. Emerson?” Sabrina pushed herself over on her side and stared in disbelief at Emerson, who lay so
still next to her, blood oozing from his left shoulder. “He’s shot,” she said, her tongue feeling swollen and her mind slow and uncooperative. “I think someone shot them both.” Her teeth began to clatter.

  “Sabrina! Get out of there. Run! Get to the car or back into the building!”

  “Ms. Hawk!” A female, younger voice called out from inside. Sabrina looked up as she tried to get on her feet. She had lost her pumps, and the cold, uneven asphalt hurt her knees.

  Sabrina raised her cell to her ear. “It’s the girl from the desk. The trainee? She’s inside the door…she can’t get it open…”

  “Lacey? That’s great, but listen, Sabrina. Listen! You need to get inside the building, or if that’s not possible, get inside the SUV. He gave you your own key, remember? Get inside the SUV and lock it.” Darcy enunciated every word distinctly and Sabrina understood, but her body just wouldn’t comply.

  “Ms. Hawk. I’ve dialed 911.” The trainee was closer now. “The police and paramedics are on their way. “I couldn’t believe what I saw on the screens…” Lacey was pushing at the door while frantically trying to swipe her card, but Logan was lying facedown just outside the door, and no matter how Lacey tried, she clearly was unable to move him. “I can’t open it! Get into the vehicle, Ms. Hawk. Hurry!”

  “I’m trying,” Sabrina said and finally started to gain some momentum. She pulled herself up alongside the SUV and, afraid of losing the phone, she tucked it into the pocket of her trench coat. Stepping over the two men, not daring to dwell on the horrifying possibility that they might be dead, Sabrina tried the door handle on the passenger side. It was locked. The key Karimi had given her was in her purse. Looking frantically for it, she realized it must be underneath Emerson, as its shoulder strap protruded from under his chest area. Glancing through the side window, Sabrina saw the driver’s door was open. It was her only chance to reach the relative safety of the SUV.