by Kim Baldwin
Their rocking against each other grew more frenzied, and Gable pinched Erin’s nipples hard.
Erin groaned again, louder. Her breathing was ragged. “Oh God, Gable. Please. I need your hands on me.”
Gable pinched the sensitive nipples again before sliding her hands down Erin’s flat stomach and into the vee between her thighs. Her thumbs rubbed lightly against Erin’s clit, and Erin let out a long, throaty growl that Gable felt to her core.
The fire in her belly flared white hot, and she could feel the moisture build between her legs. She’d never been so wet.
Neither had Erin.
Gable slipped two long fingers of her right hand into Erin as her left thumb circled her clit.
Erin gave a startled cry, and then her hips began rocking furiously against Gable’s hand. “Oh! Oh, Gable!”
Gable could tell Erin was very close. So was she.
“Erin,” she moaned in a ragged plea, her hands pleasuring Erin in ever faster, longer strokes.
“Yes! Oh, yes, Gable!” Erin arched her back and her hand found Gable’s clit and rubbed it hard, sending them over the precipice together.
They collapsed against each other, their bodies trembling, both struggling to breathe.
Once their heartbeats had returned to normal, Erin shifted her weight and snuggled against Gable’s side, her head in the crook of her shoulder and an arm and a leg thrown over her body. “How can it get better every time?” she whispered, her hand playing lazily with Gable’s sensitive nipple.
“We’re very fortunate,” Gable said, kissing the top of Erin’s head.
“Yes, we are. I’m lucky to have you, Gable. You’re sweet, and kind, and generous.”
Gable warmed at the reassuring words and hugged her lover closer.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to tell you how I feel about you,” Erin continued in a low voice. She pushed herself up on one elbow so she could look down at Gable. “I’ve been working on that.” She resumed her gentle caresses of Gable’s breasts and stomach with her free hand.
“You have?”
Erin nodded. “And I’m making progress.”
“You are?” Gable held her breath.
“Mmm-hmm.” Erin looked away and cleared her throat. “Karen’s really helping me to understand a lot of why I am the way I am. Why I have such a problem telling you the way I feel about you. I haven’t gotten it all figured out yet, but…” Her eyes rose to meet Gable’s. They were bright with emotion. She took a deep breath. “I love you, Gable. With all my heart.”
Gable let out a whoosh of air. Relief flooded through her and warmed her from within. “You love me?”
Erin nodded. “Of course I do.” A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and fell on Gable’s shoulder. “Did you doubt it?”
“No…” Gable pulled her into a close embrace. “No, I…I can feel how much you do, when we’re like this.” She sighed. “I was afraid that the therapist might…might convince you that it was just a phase you were going through or something.”
Erin barked out a laugh. “A phase? You think this is a phase I’m going through?”
“No, of course not. I know it’s not. I mean…I thought that you might be going to a therapist because you weren’t sure you were gay. That your mom suggested it because she wanted you to be straight.”
“Gable.” Erin’s tone was reproachful as she rose up again so she could look into Gable’s eyes. “I told you my mother was okay with it. She is. She wants to meet you.”
“Okay.” Gable nodded uncertainly.
“I told her how much you mean to me.” She caressed Gable’s face with her hand. “I never, ever have doubted that. Or questioned whether we are supposed to be together.”
Gable’s heart swelled in her chest until she felt it would burst.
“I told my mother how frustrated I was that I couldn’t bring myself to tell you how much I love you. I’d get close…but then, something would stop me. I was afraid you might…” Her voice drifted off.
“Might what?” Gable asked.
“Oh, that you might get tired of it…not hearing the words. That you might find someone else who would tell you.”
“Erin, there is no one else for me. Ever.”
Erin sighed and rested her cheek against Gable’s chest. “I hope not,” she whispered.
“I was terrified that you were going to break it off tonight,” Gable confessed.
“What?” Erin exclaimed. “You’re not serious!”
“I was afraid of losing you. Every time you went to see your therapist, I worried you’d come back and tell me you were straight. When you told me tonight you wanted to talk to me—here—about your session, I figured the time had come.”
Erin shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes held Gable’s. “I wanted it to be here because I wanted to fix you a nice dinner, have some champagne. Make it a real romantic evening. And Karen thought it might be easier for me to make my ‘big declaration’ here, where I feel the safest.” She grinned crookedly as a soft blush infused her cheeks. “Of course, as six o’clock got nearer and nearer I decided I wanted to skip right to this part and do dinner later, and thankfully I was able to convince you.” The smile faded. She blew out a sigh of regret. “I’m sorry, Gable. Sorry that you doubted me. I hoped you knew, even if I couldn’t tell you.”
She looked away, staring off into space as if she was gathering her thoughts. Her jaw set with determination and her eyes grew cold. “My…my husband”—she spat the word as if it were a curse—“he wasn’t very nice to me, Gable.”
Gable felt a sudden overwhelming anger toward a man she couldn’t put a face to.“He…He really messed up how I function in relationships.” Erin paused and took a shaky breath. “I didn’t want to screw this up, Gable. Us, I mean. That’s why I’m seeing a counselor. So that you and I can really have a future together.”
“I can’t imagine my future without you.” Gable ran her fingertip along Erin’s jaw.
Erin turned her head and kissed Gable’s hand. “I’m glad to hear that.” She lay back down against Gable’s side, and they hugged each other in quiet contentment for a long while.
“So, tell me…” Gable abruptly changed position, moving atop Erin. She grinned mischievously down at her lover before lowering her head to put her mouth between Erin’s breasts. Her tongue ran along Erin’s cleavage. “What did you cook us for dinner?”
“Uh…Uh…” Erin shuddered, and her body rose to press against Gable’s. “We’re having baked potatoes, which are being kept warm in the oven. And, uh…oh, yeah…uh, salad. Which is in the fridge.”
Her eyes glazed over as Gable’s mouth closed around a nipple and sucked lightly, rhythmically. “Oh, God. And…ugnh…pie. Cherry pie for dessert. Oh, Jesus, Gable.”
Gable nipped the sensitive bud lightly as she trailed her hand up the inside of Erin’s thigh. Teasing.
“Steaks,” Erin was panting now, her body writhing beneath Gable’s touch. “They’re fast. Everything can wait.”
“Not everything.” Gable slid down to taste her lover, to soothe the raging inferno that enveloped them both. “I can’t wait. And neither can you.”
Chapter Seventeen
It started out as one of the best Christmas holidays Gable had had since she was a child and her parents had both been alive. She could remember the thrill of running downstairs and opening presents with her brothers, turning the living room into a disaster area of wrapping paper and ribbons, new toys and board games and sporting equipment and clothes.
In the thirty years since, she’d spent a Christmas now and then with one or another of her brothers, but most of the time she’d been alone. And she hadn’t really minded it at all. She’d put up a tree, build a fire, fix herself a nice dinner, and open the presents her brothers had mailed to her while yuletide carols played in the background. No, she really hadn’t minded it.
But everything was different now. Sharing the experience with Erin more than doubl
ed the joy of Christmas. It made Gable feel like a kid again, excited and happy and more filled with the holiday spirit than she could remember.
Erin helped her decorate her tree, and she returned the favor. They played Christmas carols and drank eggnog and swapped stories of where their more treasured ornaments had come from. When Christmas Eve arrived, they ate snow crab at Gable’s house and opened stocking stuffers, then adjourned to Erin’s to spend the night.
“Can’t we open just one of our presents tonight? Pretty please?” Gable looked longingly at the smattering of presents waiting under Erin’s tree as they hung up their coats.
Erin chuckled. “I thought we agreed to wait until tomorrow.”
“We did.” Gable sighed dramatically.
Erin put her arms around Gable and squeezed her tight. “I’ll tell you what, my darling Camp Fire Girl. Light us a one-matcher in the fireplace and I’ll let you open one tonight and the rest tomorrow.”
“Deal!”
Once they had a cheery fire going, they changed—Gable into men’s flannel pajamas and Erin into light fleece loungewear—and curled up on the couch together under a lap robe.
“This is perfect,” Gable said, draping an arm along the back of the couch so she could run her fingers lazily through Erin’s hair while they stared at the fire.
“I’ll second that.” Erin closed her eyes and groaned contentedly. “Although if you keep doing that, you’ll put me right to sleep.”
Gable’s hand froze. “Well, I don’t want to do that, or I won’t get to open any presents!” She leaned over to nuzzle Erin. “Not to mention some other plans I have for you later that I really would rather you be awake for.”
Erin smiled. “You’re incorrigible. All right. You can open one.”
“So…which one?” Gable asked, eyeing the four packages with her name on them.
Erin sat up a little and pushed her hair back from her face, blinking drowsily. “You can open that.” She pointed to the largest one.
Gable hustled over to the tree and picked up the gift. It was lighter than she expected. She held it up and shook it gently as she carried it back to the couch. It made an odd sound she couldn’t identify. Tearing open the green and gold paper, her hands came to a large cardboard box. She opened it and found a sea of Styrofoam peanuts. Digging through it, she found a familiar-looking black case, shaped like a hatbox.
“A drum!” she exclaimed with enthusiasm. “You got me a snare drum!” She took the case out of the box and sprang the latches on the lid.
“I knew you had to have one that day in the band room,” Erin gave a satisfied smile. “It was you, as I recall, who told me it’s never too late.”
“Oh, this is so cool!” Gable shook her head in disbelief. Then realization struck. “You wrapped the drumsticks separately, didn’t you…so I won’t get them until tomorrow! Oh, you’re a cruel woman, Erin Richards.”
Erin laughed. “There’s other drum-related goodies among your gifts, that’s all I’ll say. I will let you open another present if you like, but I get one first.”
“You’re so accommodating,” Gable pecked her on the cheek. She jumped up and returned with one of her presents for Erin. “I hope you like it.”
Erin pulled off the ribbon and bow and carefully undid the gold metallic paper beneath.
“Oh, Gable. It’s lovely.” It was a music box made of fragrant sassafras wood, and it had Erin’s initials carved in the top. When she opened it to reveal velvet-lined compartments for earrings and bracelets, it played “It Had To Be You,” the old standard that Erin had been playing the night she told Gable she loved her.
“How? Where did you get this?” Erin ran her fingers over the smooth polished surface of the box, lingering on the delicate carved initials. “The workmanship is wonderful.”
Gable blushed. “I’m glad you like it. I made it for you.”
“You made this?” Erin gazed at her with her mouth gaping open. “Really? Oh, Gable, it’s just amazing. You never told me you could do this.”
“Well, as I recall, I think I did tell you that my brother Mason taught me a thing or two about whittling and carpentry.”
“Yes, but you never told me you could do this.” She planted a kiss on Gable's cheek. “How did you ever find the song?”
“Google. I found a company that sells the mechanisms. They had hundreds of tunes.”
“Well, it is an unbelievably cool present. Thanks so much. That took a lot of work.”
“Glad you like it. So…do I get another present? Hmm?”
Erin laughed. “Oh, all right. You sure you don’t want to wait?”
“Erin!”
“Okay, okay. You have a present up in the guest room you can open tonight.” Erin had a devilish grin on her face.
“The guest room?” Gable’s curiosity was piqued. She thought all of her presents were under the tree. “Why is it in the guest room? Is it too big? Does its shape give it away?”
Erin shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to go up and see.”
As soon as Gable started toward the guest room, she jumped up and followed at her heels.
Gable turned the knob and pushed open the door. Curled into a ball against the pillow on the bed lay a sleeping kitten: black except for his four white socks and the stark white triangle on his chest.
“Oh, my,” she exclaimed in a low voice.
The kitten raised his head and looked at her and mewled a sleepy greeting. When she started toward the bed, he got up and stretched. Gable gently picked him up and held him against her chest, looking down into pale green eyes as she scratched him beneath the chin in the way that Earl Grey favored. The kitten leaned into her touch, closed his eyes, and started to purr, a raspy loud buzzing that seemed to vibrate his sleek body.
“He’s so adorable!” Gable gushed. “What splendid markings—he looks like he’s wearing a tuxedo and spats!”
“I got him from the shelter in Charlevoix,” Erin said, looking on approvingly. “Can you believe someone could abandon this little guy in the snow?”
“No way. He’s so tiny!”
“I had him checked out with a vet, and he’s had all his shots. So I take it I chose well?”
Gable crossed to Erin with the kitten in her arms and kissed her soundly. “More than okay. Does he have a name?”
“Thought I’d leave that to you.”
“Hmm. I’ll have to think about that a while. Hey! Has he met Earl Grey yet?”
Erin shook her head. “I didn’t want to hit him with too much at once. I’ve kept him in here since I got him a couple days ago. Thought we could introduce them after he’s had time to get used to both of us. I know they’ll become great buddies.”
“How long do you think it will take Earl to teach this one how to get up in the rafters?”
“Two minutes, I’m sure!” Erin laughed.
Earl Grey used the rafters that spanned Erin’s ceiling as his own private playground, racing up and down the logs at all hours of the day and night. He had first gained access to the rafters through a dramatic leap from a high bookcase. Erin had then facilitated his way up and down by covering one of the support posts with rough sisal rope, effectively turning it into a ten-foot-high scratching post.
“I have to admit, he’ll sure make it less lonely around my house when you’re not there," Gable said. "I’ve gotten to where I almost can’t sleep in my big old empty bed anymore without you in it.”
The kitten yawned and slumped in her arms. “Back to sleep, baby boy,” she said, returning him to his spot against the pillow. “I’ll check on you soon.”
He curled into a ball and was soon fast asleep again. She and Erin retreated into the living room and resumed their places snuggled up to each other on the couch.
“I know it’s not always a good idea to get a pet for someone,” Erin said “But I was pretty sure you’d take to him, after watching you with Earl. And I love to see a precious little thing like that one in there get a good home.
”
“He's a wonderful present,” Gable assured her. “All the presents are great.”
They remained wrapped up in each other’s arms for several minutes, enjoying the Christmas tree, the fire, and each other. Earl Grey turned up from wherever he’d been hiding all night and settled into Erin’s lap.
“Well there you are,” Erin said. “Where were you this time, eh? Are you going to teach your new little friend where all your hiding places are?”
Although it was a relatively small cabin, Earl Grey sure knew how to disappear—curling into the corner of a closet, or hiding under the bed, or in a pile of laundry. Gable smiled, imagining how it would be with the two felines. Quite a family. It was such a serene and loving moment, there in front of the fire, that she decided the time had come to give the gift she most wanted Erin to have. As soon as she made the decision, she could feel the pounding of her heart in her chest.
“I’ve got something else I’d like you to open tonight.” The quaver in her voice betrayed her nervousness. Her palms felt suddenly clammy. She wiped her right hand on the lap robe that covered their legs before she withdrew a velvet-covered ring box from a pocket in her pajamas.
When she heard a sharp intake of breath, she knew immediately she’d made a mistake. Erin stared at the ring box with wide eyes, her face ashen. Gable never got a chance to say a word.
“Don’t, Gable. Oh, please don’t.” Erin whispered. “Can’t we keep things as they are?” She lifted fearful eyes to her, close to tears.
Gable put the box back in her pocket without a word, and drew Erin into a cautious embrace. They didn’t move for a very long moment.
“All right,” she said finally, her voice choked with emotion. “We’ll leave things as they are. I won’t bring it up again.”
*
As the days passed, she tried to be grateful for what she had and as content with their arrangement as Erin seemed to be, and most of the time she was. Erin was everything she’d ever dreamed of in a partner. Kind. Giving. Honest. Funny. Passionate. When they were together, Gable was blissfully happy. And Erin seemed every bit as devoted to Gable as Gable was to her.
