by Advocate
"What?" RJ whispered.
Leigh shook her head, unable to answer. She looked away.
RJ frowned a little and drew a single finger up between Leigh’s breasts, along the side of her throat, and behind her earlobe where she paused and gave it a gentle tug. "Do you want me to stop?" she asked raggedly, consciously tamping down the excitement that was making her body hum and her heart thunder. "Because I will, lass." A tiny but serious smile worked its way across her face. "But I’d rather you let me have you completely."
There was a white flash of teeth as a smile edged with affection, desire and a raw want made Leigh gasp with fear and need. She felt the low-husked words rumble right through her, and she managed her own tiny smile in return, wondering if the soul-deep fear she felt shone clearly in her eyes. She swallowed and let herself fall a little further and impossibly deeper.
RJ’s warm palm cupped the side of her face and her thumb slid lightly over her cheekbone in a gentle, affectionate move that stole Leigh’s very heart.
The blonde woman abandoned herself to the touch and to RJ, offering herself up completely in every way she had to give. It was time. "I don’t want you to stop. I don’t want to stop," she said heavily as her blue eyes slid shut and she surged upward to capture RJ’s lips in a wet, hungry kiss.
RJ growled deep in her chest, reacting unconsciously to Leigh’s surrendering of her heart and body. Their kisses went from fiery to frantic as their excitement reached a fever pitch and the blanket fell away from RJ’s back. They surged together, groping and needy. This time when RJ dropped to her knees she didn’t stop her progression down Leigh’s body until her nose, then tongue were brushing through damp, fragrant curls. She groaned loudly and her hands convulsively clenched Leigh’s hips, roughly pulling her closer.
"Jesus!" Leigh threw her head back and wide eyes gazed unseeing into a million bright stars. Her thighs began to tremble and the blanket fell away from both their bodies, though it remained clenched in one fist. Cool air swept across hot skin, heightening every sensation. Leigh was truly surprised when steam didn’t rise from their bodies. Another surge of RJ’s tongue and her knees nearly gave out.
RJ lifted one of Leigh’s legs over her shoulder and pushed her back harder against the balcony railing as she supported most of her weight. She gave in to her every impulse to possess and consume and love completely as she feasted on Leigh. She had been wrong before.
This was heaven.
"God," Leigh hissed as her painfully coiled body released with so much force she was completely swept away. Her drawn out, rapturous climax was howled into the cool spring night.
RJ carefully lowered Leigh’s leg from her shoulder, making sure her arms were still wrapped tightly around the blonde, who was already swaying.
Leigh had just enough presence of mind to weakly swing the blanket around RJ’s shoulders. She still felt like she was on fire and didn’t even spare a thought for covering herself.
The auburn-haired woman rested her cheek against Leigh’s heaving chest. She tilted her head upward when she thought she heard Leigh say her name.
Leigh’s jaw worked, but she couldn’t make the words come. They had time. Later, her mind whispered. There’ll be time later. She let out a shuddering breath. "Never mind."
* * *
The clerk at the front desk of the Piedmont Suites Hotel hung up the phone and scratched his jaw, a puzzled look putting a deep crease in his forehead.
The night manager poked his head out of his office and, yawning, addressed the young man. "Another phone call?" They’d never had so many calls in the middle of the night.
"Yeah, it’s weird. Half the rooms on the eighth floor, but only on the side with balconies facing the Puget Sound, just extended their stay for the rest of the week. One man started crying when I told him we’d already booked his room to someone else for tomorrow night."
* * *
"Waaaahh!"
"It’ll grow back," she muttered half-heartedly for at least the hundredth time.
"When?" His lower lip poked out. "Can you tell me when?" The male squirrel burst into body-wracking sobs again. "Wahhh. Wahahahahaha!"
"Not soon enough for me. I’m never walking behind you," she grimaced, "or in front of you again." She plopped down next to her bald mate, wondering if female humans understood that Nair was simply antifreeze in disguise. She cringed when her beady black gaze drifted upward toward his head. As white human males had discovered, you really had to have a good head to be completely bald. Otherwise you just look stupid.
He buried his face in his arms and continued to wail. "Eternity! I’m going to spend eternity looking like a naked mole rat." Oh, the humiliation!
"It could be worse," the female offered helpfully, kicking her feet out in front of her as she leaned back against their bed. They were safely hidden away from Flea in their nest.
"How? How could it be worse?" He sniffed pathetically.
"I dunno." She shrugged and smiled toothily. "I was lying to try and make you feel better."
Whoever said that females were the more nurturing sex was clearly a whipped male squirrel trying to get laid. There could be no other explanation. "Waahahahahaahaha!"
"Oh, stop. At least you’re sort of alive. I thought you were a goner when you tipped over face first into the antifreeze. Your bottle cap chest plate made you sink right to the bottom."
He wiped his tears away on a leaf. "You saved me?" His eyes were round with wonderment. "You? You’re nothing but a fat lazy sloth! You wouldn’t save me!"
True, she conceded mentally, surprised by her mate’s moment of insight. She had just let the antifreeze puddle soak into the ground before poking him awake with a stick.
"I’m the master of this couple from now on. All the future plans will be mine," he declared boldly.
The female just smiled placidly. She would tell him later that the leaf he’d just used to wipe his cheeks wasn’t their normal toweling, but a poison oak leaf she’d collected for their war against Flea. Much later. Okay, never.
Just then the male grabbed the leaf and vigorously rubbed it against his butt. "Dang, being bald is itchy!"
"I’m sure it is." She nodded gleefully. Call me fat … "In fact, I’d imagine that when the wind brushes against delicate body parts that have never really seen the light of day, it makes them tingle."
"Tingle?" Nothing was really tingling now that he’d relieved his itch, but he liked the idea of tingling. Unconsciously, he crossed his legs.
"Oh, yes." She nodded. "I’ll bet delicate places not usually exposed to the elements would tingle as the cool air brushed over them, caressing them."
The male squirmed a little. "Del– " He paused and gulped, his mouth going a little dry. "Delicate places?" Caressing?
The female nodded again, her voice taking on that sensual squirrel quality that called to her mate on a subconscious, primal level. "Very delicate, highly sensitive places." She glanced around casually. "Can’t you just feel the light breeze whistling through this place?"
The male instantly rubbed the leaf between his legs using quick, furious motions to relieve the insidious itch that came out of nowhere. "You’re right! I can feel it!"
"No. But you will later."
"What?" Something was vaguely unsettling about seeing that sweet cherub-like smile on his wife’s face.
"Oh, nothing important."
* * *
Leigh laughed, trying to hang onto all the little stuffed bears that threatened to tumble from her arms. "Good God, RJ, I can’t hold them all!" And true to her word, one of the bears plopped onto the cement beneath her sneakers.
The air was filled with the sound of laughing children, obnoxious teenagers, and game barkers. Better still was the delicious aroma of sugar, salt and grease that could only be found at a carnival. RJ was hard-pressed to think of a better way to spend an afternoon.
"Hey, watch it." RJ shot a little boy a grumpy look as she bent to retrieve the bear he’d almos
t stepped on. "Well then, lass, let me see …" she looked around at the various booths and stands to see if any of the vendors might have a bag for the twenty or so small, bedraggled-looking brown teddy bears she’d won for Leigh while playing games on the fairway. One stand had neon pink bags covered with pictures of some boy band hanging from its canvas roof. RJ cringed; she had planned on offering to carry the bears for the rest of the day, but there was no way in hell she’d be caught dead carrying around one of those big, ugly, hot pink tote bags. I have my pride, she thought a little indignantly. She was about to give up when she spied exactly what they needed. "C’mon, and we’ll get a knapsack for all your furry little friends."
"Not all of them," Leigh chuckled softly, moving away from RJ’s prodding hands. She placed a quick kiss on RJ’s chin and allowed her gaze to slowly draw a line down the center of RJ’s body. "My favorite furry friend is in your –"
"Leigh Matthews!"
"Hand," the blonde finished sweetly, snatching the lone black bear away. She winked at her companion.
"Watch your mouth, young lady," RJ warned playfully, "or I’ll be forced to watch it for you."
Leigh looked to the bundle in her arms. "Can't we just pass them out to the people who were too pathetic to win them on their own?" Except for the black one, he’s all mine. She made sure her voice was just loud enough for all the people standing around the game, where RJ had just cleaned house, to hear. Leigh smirked at several young men’s petulant grumbles and curses.
"Wimps," she added for good measure.
"You’re evil." RJ smiled, her grassy-green eyes shining in the afternoon sun. "You should be ashamed."
"Ashamed, that’s me. I’m known far and wide for my hypersensitive conscience and over-developed sense of guilt."
"Uh huh. Sure." RJ maneuvered them alongside a platform with a padded metal block sitting squarely in its center. It was attached to a metal pole with a large silver bell on top.
"One swing, one ring, you get a prize! Only to-eeeew dollars," the barker sang out rhythmically as he swung the large wooden hammer.
RJ stripped off her jacket and after a second’s consideration, her short-sleeved denim shirt, leaving her clad in her usual undershirt.
Leigh blinked. "Uh … You are going to leave at least something on, aren’t you? Not that I mind, but I didn’t bring enough cash to bail you out of jail."
The barker gave a low, appreciative whistle at the sight of RJ’s underdressed body.
Leigh’s head swung around and she practically snarled at the man, causing him to take a giant step backwards.
RJ rolled her eyes. "I’m gonna win a bag. And I need to be able to swing to do it." She scoffed at the puny hammer the man held out for her and marched behind him to a selection of slightly larger ones. She chose the biggest hammer they had.
Leigh laughed and gathered RJ’s wrinkled clothes in her hands, still wrestling to keep the bears in her arms. "This is too butch, RJ, even for you." She quirked an eyebrow. "Is the spitting contest next?" But even as she continued to tease, her head was cocked slightly to the side as she openly admired RJ's broad shoulders and lean, muscular arms.
"I couldn’t very well just let you fumble around with all those little beggers." RJ gestured to the stuffed animals, then rubbed her palms on her jeans as she prepared to heft the hammer for the first blow.
"We could just find a garbage sack," Leigh offered. She knew good and well RJ had already set her mind on another prize, but was enjoying needling her lover.
"Nah." RJ stood up straight and put one hand on her hip. She pinned Leigh with a glare more playful than withering. "Are you trying to spoil my fun?"
"Would I do that?"
RJ only snorted.
"Have at it then. But you promise you’re going to pick the bag and not that enormous snake when you win, right?" It didn’t even occur to the trucker to think that RJ wouldn’t ring the bell.
"I think you’ll look better toting around the knapsack." RJ lifted the hammer. She took two practice swings, exhaling slowly as she readied herself for the blow.
A small crowd had gathered. This game was strictly for the big boys and no one believed the woman would be able to move the weight even halfway up the scale. Catcalls rang out, along with a few, mostly good-natured, taunts.
"Ten bucks says the dyke can’t do it," grumbled a scrawny young man, who looked like he needed a break from his job at the state roadside sanitation department. Leigh wondered who was scraping up all the dead raccoons today.
"Make it twenty and you’re on." His buddy spit in his hand and stuck it out for roadkill boy to shake, which he did after spitting in his own hand.
Leigh grimaced, not understanding why every woman on the planet wasn’t a lesbian.
RJ rolled her shoulders one more time. Then, with a look of solid concentration, she swung the hammer, bringing it down with vicious force. The weight exploded up the pole as though a charge of gunpowder had gone off beneath it, causing a deafening ring of the bell before plunging back to the base.
Most of the crowd laughed and applauded when the pilot put the hammer down, gesturing to the bagthat hung on the hook. The carny pulled down the large navy canvas bag and tossed it to the tall woman. RJ unzipped the bag and presented it to Leigh with flourish, holding it open so she could deposit her booty inside.
Once Leigh had stuffed the bears in the bag, RJ zipped it up and handed it to the blonde.
"There you go. One bag of bears." She wiggled her eyebrows, quite proud of herself.
"You are disgustingly happy with yourself right now, aren’t you?" Leigh smiled back; she couldn’t help it. RJ’s relaxed demeanor made this kind of thing more fun than she ever thought it could be.
"Pretty much." RJ smirked.
Leigh was actually feeling like a woman who might be able to enjoy having a serious relationship. It still scared her, but the smile on RJ’s face was helplessly leading her places she’d never gone. At least successfully. "I think you deserve a kiss."
Without allowing her the chance to answer, Leigh dropped the bag on the ground at her feet and grabbed the front of RJ’s undershirt in one hand to pull her down for a passionate kiss that left roadkill boy and his friend staring wide-eyed. God, Leigh enjoyed torturing the straight people.
"Mmm." RJ licked her lips as they separated. "How about something to eat?"
Leigh bit her tongue to keep from saying the first thing that popped into her mind. "I dunno." She grinned wickedly. "What are you hungry for?"
After a lifetime of being the aggressor, RJ still was still thrown off balance by Leigh’s forwardness. She blushed, despite herself, easily reading the sudden fire in that had erupted in those clear blue eyes. "I’m thinking maybe a steak sandwich or something. With a nice cold beer." A really cold beer. And maybe a bucket of ice to dunk my head in too. She leaned in, whispering her lover’s ear, "But I’ll have you for dessert later."
"Life is short, RJ." Leigh held up the soft denim shirt for her to slip into. "We could always start with dessert and end with the beef?" She produced her best wishing look as she draped RJ’s jacket over her arm and retrieved the bag.
RJ growled inwardly. "We could at that, lass." She looked around for a moment, then eyed the perfect spot. "How about the Ferris wheel? I’ll pay the fella extra to leave us at the top for a few extra minutes," she tempted, mostly to see what would happen.
Leigh’s gaze swung toward the big wheel; she didn’t especially appreciate heights. On the other hand, she did appreciate the idea of getting a few moments in the sun in semi-privacy with RJ. "Okay. You’re on."
The pilot lifted her brows, realizing it was a little late in the relationship to be surprised by something as tame as this. Not after the balcony at the hotel … Lord have mercy. She grasped Leigh’s hand and led her through the crowd. The line moved pretty quickly, and soon they were standing at the gate to the ride entrance. RJ dug into her pocket, then slapped a bill in the attendant’s hand while whispering
in his ear.
He looked down at Leigh and grinned broadly. Shaking his head, he opened the gate and lifted the bar positioned over the seat for them.
Leigh gestured to the duffel bag full of stuffed toys. "Should we take these too?"
"Sure. You might need something soft to hold onto. Or maybe even to bite down on."
"Promises, promises." Leigh sat down and tucked the large bag securely under her feet. "Have I mentioned that I really don't care for heights?"
"Then just close your eyes." RJ settled down next to the trucker. She put her arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
Leigh smiled and snuggled closer, already feeling more comfortable with RJ’s arm around her. "This is nice." She felt the ride start, taking them upward and had just started to relax when she felt RJ’s thumb graze her nipple. "Behave!"
RJ moved to pull her hand away, looking surprised.
Leigh grabbed it and winked. "Just until we get to the top."
Both women began to laugh.
* * *
Leigh flipped the lid open on the pizza box, humming to herself as the smell of pepperoni and extra cheese wafted upward. She began to salivate. "Oooo, this is going to be so good." She absently passed RJ a plate and a napkin with one hand while she fixed hers with her other.
RJ scooted forward on the couch and eagerly took the plate. She glanced over at the trucker, who was tearing apart a gooey piece of pizza. "Did you have a good time today?"
"Absolutely," Leigh affirmed, closing her eyes and sinking her teeth into the pizza. She instantly burned the roof of her mouth. "Aww … shit!" The blonde spit her bite out into her napkin.
RJ tried not to laugh too hard as she passed Leigh a bottle of cold beer. "Don’t you hate it when that happens?" Green eyes twinkled. "You’d think that civilized man would have learned by now not to bite into hot cheese."
Leigh narrowed her watering eyes and took a deep swallow before saying, "No one, civilized or not, can resist the call of pizza." The air of authority in her voice made it clear that this was not mere opinion. This was fact. "It’s positively primal." She took another bite and winced. "And far too good to wait for."
