Rescued Heart

by Georgia Beers

  “Oh,” Lisa whispered, drawing the word out as her eyes took in Ashley’s gorgeous body. Her breasts were not big and not small; they were perfect. Freckles peppered her shoulders, and Lisa’s gaze skimmed over them, across her chest, down to her stomach then back up. Reaching a hand out, she pulled the band holding the French braid together and dug her fingers in to loosen it. A cascade of golden hair fell across those mouth-watering shoulders and Lisa took a moment to simply feast her eyes. Moving her hand down, she touched that perfect skin, found it just as smooth as she’d expected, velvety and soft. She ran her fingertips along a collarbone, took a step closer. With both hands on Ashley’s torso, Lisa pulled her in until they stood breast to breast, skin to skin, face to face. Lisa’s nose was only an inch higher than Ashley’s, and she couldn’t wait any longer. She dipped her head down and captured Ashley’s mouth with her own.

  There was no more preamble.

  The kiss was hard and demanding, almost bruising in its intensity. Lisa grabbed Ashley’s face with both hands and pushed herself as far into Ashley’s mouth as she could, still feeling like it wasn’t enough. Her body took over then, completely shutting her brain out of the situation. Her hands grabbed at Ashley’s jeans, unfastened them and pushed them down her legs, revealing a pair of black lace bikinis. She felt Ashley’s hands on her shoulders briefly, for balance, as she stepped out of the pants. Lisa was interrupted by the creamy white legs and stopped what she was doing long enough to put her mouth on that skin, trail her tongue along those thighs. A small gasp sounded from above and she looked up at Ashley’s face, at her dark eyes and her parted, swollen lips, and swallowed hard.

  “Do you have any idea how beautiful I think you are?” she whispered.

  Ashley’s expression softened as she looked down. “I…don’t know,” she said with uncertainty.

  In one quick movement, Lisa stood, grasped Ashley by the shoulders, and spun her toward the bed. One gentle push later and Ashley was on her back, Lisa sliding her bikinis down her legs and baring her completely.

  Lisa wanted so badly to stand still and just look, just let her eyes roam over the tantalizing body laid out only for her, but the desire to touch was much stronger. She needed her hands on that flesh, on Ashley, right now. She couldn’t wait another second. Lisa crawled onto the bed and lowered herself onto Ashley, tandem moans escaping each woman at the contact. They kissed hungrily and Lisa could feel Ashley’s hands on her back, then lower, cupping her ass inside her bikinis. A finger dipped down and between her legs from the back, forcing a gasp from her.

  “Off,” Ashley demanded, tugging at the offending garment. Without waiting for a response, she pushed them down and over Lisa’s ass, dragging her finger again through the hot wetness and causing a second gasp. Ashley made a sound then, one Lisa hadn’t heard before. A cross between a moan and a growl, and it was sexy as hell and unquestionably hot, and every muscle in Lisa’s lower body tightened at it. With a push, Ashley flipped their positions, and Lisa found herself looking at the ceiling in surprise. Before she could form a coherent thought, Ashley had her bikinis completely off, her thighs spread apart, and was lowering her head. Without a wasted second, she covered the entirety of Lisa’s hot center with her mouth, pushing her tongue immediately inside.

  A cry tore from Lisa’s throat as her hips raised up off the bed at the deliciousness of the contact. Her hands found Ashley’s head, Ashley’s hair, and she dug her fingers in, holding on for dear life as Ashley’s mouth did unspeakably erotic things to her. Again, sensations blurred and melded until they became only one: pleasure. She couldn’t tell exactly where Ashley’s tongue was touching her, where her lips were, what pressure may have been from teeth. It was all one big, joyous feeling of sexual bliss. Lisa’s thighs dropped open as far as they would go, of their own accord, as if they had minds of their own and wanted to offer up as much access to Ashley as possible. Ashley’s hands grasped Lisa’s sides, pulled at her, forcing more pressure from Ashley’s mouth. And when those hands then slid upward to Lisa’s breasts, captured both nipples, and rolled them between thumbs and forefingers, Lisa’s body could take no more.

  The orgasm ripped through her like an electric shock, tensing every muscle in her body, setting every nerve ending to dancing, tearing a rather unladylike cry from deep in her throat. Her fingers clenched and she was vaguely aware that she tightly gripped a handful of Ashley’s hair, but she could do nothing to stop it, nothing to ease her grip. Colors exploded behind her eyelids and she rode out her climax while half-thinking she was going to simply die of heart failure right then.

  But what a way to go…

  Just when she started to think a heart attack was imminent, the pulsing began to ease up. Her fingers relaxed slightly and Ashley’s tongue, pressed against Lisa’s hot, wet flesh, stilled. She could hear Ashley’s breathing, rapid. She could feel the heat of it on her bare skin. They stayed in that position for a long moment before Ashley slowly eased her mouth away, causing a ripple of leftover pleasure that made Lisa’s legs spasm. Lisa groaned as Ashley softly touched her tongue to the same spot and got the same result.

  “Stop that,” Lisa whispered with a chuckle as Ashley did it a third time and Lisa’s legs twitched. “Come up here.” She couldn’t open her eyes or lift her head, so she simply crooked a finger in Ashley’s direction. “Please.”

  With a reverent kiss on Lisa’s center, Ashley whispered, “I’ll be back,” and then made her way up so they were face to face. Her mouth tasted musky and hot as she kissed Lisa softly and said, “Holy shit.”

  Lisa’s shoulders shook with gentle laughter. “I think that’s supposed to be my line.”

  “No. It’s definitely mine. ’Cause, I mean, God, that was amazing, Lisa. Seriously amazing. And I have to apologize because I like to take my time.” She kissed Lisa again, this time slowly. Pulling back, she looked into Lisa’s eyes and said seriously, “I don’t usually just dive in like that but…” Her words trailed off as she looked out into the room and ran a shaky hand through her own hair. “I don’t know what it is about you.” Her gaze returned to Lisa’s. “I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t stop. I just…had to have you.”

  “Hey, you’re going to get no argument from me,” Lisa said with a smile. “That was…” Her shoulders moved in a shrug. “I have no words.”

  It was the truth. Lisa was usually the one with the upper hand in bed. She tended to be the one to run the show; it was safer that way. Tonight…what the hell had happened? Not only had Ashley taken over, but Lisa had let her. Super out-of-character. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with that yet, so she set it aside for the moment, not ready to examine it further.

  Instead, she turned her focus to the gloriously naked woman lying on top of her, all flushed cheeks and hot skin, and decided better late than never. Lisa reached up a hand and touched her fingers to Ashley’s swollen lips, felt the silkiness of them, and gently brought their mouths together in a soft and tender kiss. It was only a matter of moments before things began to heat up, and Lisa was momentarily stunned by how aroused she was…again. That was also unusual. She was a one-and-done kind of girl, but…that was not going to be the case tonight from what she could tell. With a light shove, she pushed Ashley off her and onto her back, whispered, “My turn,” then closed her mouth over a nipple.

  Ashley’s sharp intake of breath only caused Lisa’s arousal to surge higher and she gently used her teeth. Ashley’s fingers tightened in her hair, holding her in place, so Lisa did it again, felt Ashley squirm beneath her, heard her whispered, “God…”

  That one quiet word, spoken on nothing more than a breath of air, pushed Lisa’s arousal even higher, and she suddenly found herself on the very edge of frantic. She couldn’t touch enough of Ashley’s skin, but she tried, trailing her fingers, her palms, her mouth, her tongue over every inch of soft, hot female flesh within her reach, and when Ashley bent her knee and her thigh hit Lisa’s sensitive core, she couldn’t help herself; she began to ro
ck against it. Details blurred until everything seemed melded together: sight, sound, scent. She kissed Ashley, hard and deep, as she slid her fingers into the overheated wetness waiting for her between Ashley’s thighs.

  Ashley wrenched her mouth away long enough to sputter out Lisa’s name, but then grabbed her head and crushed their mouths back together.

  Kissing Ashley was both completely new and as comfortable as if Lisa had been doing it forever. She seriously couldn’t believe she’d gone thirty-two years without ever doing so, and it was also hard to believe this was only the first time they’d had sex. She felt like she knew this body underneath her, knew everything about it, every sensitive spot, every nerve ending that might cause a gasp when touched, the exact taste of each expanse of skin. How was it possible she’d never touched Ashley this way before, when it was so inexplicably perfect right now?

  Pushing her tongue into Ashley’s mouth at the same time she plunged her fingers into her center was more than Ashley could stand, and she arched her head back, a long, sensual moan humming up from her throat as her hips rose slightly and she came against Lisa’s hand. Lisa watched with rapt fascination, changing the movement of her fingers, matching her speed and pressure to the expression on Ashley’s face, the tightening of her grip on Lisa’s shoulder, until everything began to gently come back down.

  Ashley surprised her then by pressing her hand to the small of Lisa’s back, forcing her up against her thigh more firmly. Looking Lisa in the eye, she pushed her leg against Lisa’s slick center, and Lisa realized Ashley had been paying more attention than she’d realized. Quickly finding a rhythm, it was only a matter of seconds before Lisa’s second climax hit her, stealing her breath from her lungs and all sound from her throat. She could feel Ashley’s eyes on her even as she heard her whisper, “There it is.”

  Lisa collapsed, half on the bed, half on Ashley, breathless. She laid her head on Ashley’s shoulder and willed her heart rate to return to normal.

  Long moments went by before Ashley finally spoke. “Am I dead?” she asked quietly. “I think you may have killed me.”

  Lisa chuckled. “Oh, no. Trust me, you are alive and well. I can hear your heartbeat.”

  “Well. I suppose that’s a good thing.”

  “It is. And if anybody killed anybody, you killed me. Oh, my God.”

  Ashley raised her arm and wrapped it around Lisa’s shoulder, squeezed gently. “I will happily kill you again any time. That was…you were amazing.” Her warm lips pressed against Lisa’s forehead.

  “Back atcha,” Lisa said, tightening her arm around Ashley’s middle. She was suddenly so tired, her body heavy in that sapped-of-energy, just-had-amazing-sex kind of way, her limbs leaden. Her eyes drifted closed just as she heard a gentle whining coming from the floor. She groaned, took a deep breath, and pushed herself up.

  “What’s the matter?” Ashley asked.

  “I have to take care of the animals before I fall asleep.” Lisa extricated herself from the tangle of limbs—regretfully—and pulled on a pair of striped pajama bottoms and a tank top. Then she grabbed the sheet and pulled it up, covering Ashley. “I’ll be right back,” she said quietly as she kissed her on the mouth. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  “I couldn’t move if I wanted to,” Ashley said drowsily. “Good thing I don’t. I’ll be right here. Promise.”

  Lisa softly called to Keeler and they headed downstairs. She stood in a daze as the dog did his business, her fingertips against her lips, Ashley’s scent still apparent on her hand. She inhaled deeply, couldn’t keep the smile from her face.

  In the kitchen, the cats got treats, as did the dog. She picked each feline up, snuggled it to her chest, and kissed its furry head, as she did every night. Then she got on her knees on the kitchen floor and wrapped her arms around Keeler’s thick, black neck, hugged him tight, told him she loved him more than any dog in the whole world, and kissed him between his kind brown eyes. The cats went off to do whatever they did at night. Keeler followed her back upstairs to the bedroom.

  She was unsurprised to find Ashley breathing the deep and even rhythm of slumber, and she stood still in the doorway, just looking. Ashley was turned slightly on her side, one leg out from under the covers, and Lisa noticed for the first time that her toenails were polished a bright blue. The sheet was draped over her behind, but the wide expanse of her back was completely exposed and Lisa feasted her eyes on it, noting that she’d have to explore that beautiful back next time. Her blond hair was draped on the pillow, tousled and sexy, and suddenly Lisa couldn’t wait for one more second to be back in bed with her. She pulled her pajamas back off, then carefully slid under the covers until she was spooned up behind Ashley, who grasped her hand, lazily kissed the knuckles, and tucked it up against her chest, never opening her eyes or saying a word.

  Lisa snuggled in, feeling an unfamiliar warmth and contentment settle over her. Keeler jumped up on the bed and curled up in the crook of her knees, and it occurred to Lisa in that moment that things could not be any more perfect if she’d painted the picture herself.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Delicious.

  That was the word that came to mind for Ashley as she gently floated up from sleep into the conscious world. She kept her eyes closed, hoping to take a few extra minutes to savor the pleasant soreness in her thighs and nipples, the slightly chapped feel of her lips, the dreamy signs that she’d had some damn good sex the night before. Her mind projected instant replays onto the screen inside her skull, flashes of the highlights: Lisa coming under Ashley’s mouth, the blast of pleasure from Lisa’s fingers pushing into her, the zero-to-sixty revving up of her arousal when they’d found each other again in the wee hours of the morning. She relished every memory for as long as she could before she felt a gentle tapping on her nose, and she opened one eye to see Tiny peering at her with his little cat eyes.

  Arms reaching over her head, Ashley stretched, loosening muscles that had been overworked, then stiffened up as she slept, and was disappointed to find the bed empty next to her. She’d hoped to find Lisa sleeping peacefully—and then she wanted to wake her up. Pleasantly. Softly. Sexily.

  Her morning plans disrupted, she lay quietly in the bed and listened, but heard nothing. No shower running in the bathroom. No dishes clanging in the kitchen. She smelled no coffee brewing. A glance at the clock told her it was after nine. With a furrowed brow, she got out of bed and stretched again. Groucho slinked into the room, gave her a once-over, then turned to leave, obviously unimpressed with her nakedness. She grinned, then went into scavenger hunt mode, searching the floor for her clothes.

  Once dressed, she made a detour to the bathroom, where she found a tube of toothpaste and squirted a bead onto her finger, then did a makeshift brush job. Finished with that, she headed downstairs to find Lisa and give her a proper good morning.

  She didn’t find Lisa.

  She found a note from Lisa.

  Took Keeler to the park, then we’re headed to my friend’s. Thanks for a great night. Please lock the door on your way out.

  Ashley stood in the middle of the kitchen, note in hand, and simply blinked. Just blinked. That was it? Thanks for a great night, lock the door when you leave? Seriously?

  “Wow,” Ashley said to the empty house. “That’s cold.”

  And hurtful, if she was going to be honest. Not to mention, embarrassing. As if she was being observed, Ashley quickly found her things and left the house—obeying the note and locking the door behind her. Once in her car, she allowed herself to look up, back at Lisa’s place, and humiliation flooded her like water in her veins, flushing her skin hotly, making her feel like a fool.

  Glancing at her cell, she saw a couple of missed texts from Jenna, who knew where she would be the previous night. There was a text this morning from her.

  Assuming your failure to answer me last night to mean you scored. I want to hear all about it!

  Ashley quickly texted her back, then keyed the ignition and ba
cked out of the driveway.

  ***

  “So wait. Let me get this straight.” Grace filled Lisa’s mug with rich-smelling coffee, then got the cream from the fridge. She sat down at the table across from Lisa, wrapped both hands around her own mug, and stared at her friend. “You just left her there?”

  “I just—” Lisa stopped at Grace’s upraised hand, halting her speech.

  “She told you that you made her brave. She said those exact words to you.”

  “Yes.” Lisa had the good sense to look a little chagrined at the statement.

  “The sex was good?”

  Lisa’s eyes went wide. “The sex was outstanding. The sex was…” Her voice trailed off, speaking volumes.

  “And you left her there. Alone. In your house. With a note.”

  Lisa swallowed, the coffee suddenly feeling as if it was burning a hole in her stomach. “Yeah.”

  Grace’s head tilted to one side as she looked at her friend in what could only be described as disbelief. “You suck. You know that, right? You suck in a big, big way.”

  Lisa dropped her head down between her shoulders with a groan. “I know!”

  Grace blew out a breath and Lisa knew she’d frustrated her. They sat quietly for a long moment before Grace said, gently now, “What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that I didn’t want to have to make breakfast and small talk and plans for the day and—”

  “Why not? I got the impression you liked this girl. Don’t you?”

  The sound Lisa made was unfamiliar to her, sort of a cross between a groan and a whimper. “I do,” she whispered, mortified to feel her eyes well up.

  “Lisa.” Grace reached across the table, closed a warm hand over Lisa’s arm. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

  Lisa shook her head, her mind a jumble. This morning had been a bizarre combination of amazingly wonderful and frighteningly awful. She’d woken up to a delightfully relaxed body, pleasantly sore muscles that hadn’t had that kind of a workout in ages. She’d glanced over at Ashley’s sleeping form, so peaceful and gorgeous, and she’d simply…panicked. Even as she was leaving that ridiculous note for Ashley, even as she was leashing Keeler and loading him into the car, she wasn’t sure what she was doing, what was driving her, why she felt such a surge of apprehension. She still didn’t. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked quietly.