Regan’s face burned. She wouldn’t. “You wouldn’t.” Her parents dissolved into evil chuckles, confirming her worst fears. They would.
“Come on, Mel.” Regan’s father scooted out of the booth, and reached out to help her mother to stand. “We’ve got a lot to show you.”
*
Mel stood under the hot spray of the shower, eyes closed, thinking again of tousled red hair, wild smatterings of freckles, and pale, chubby cheeks. She was reasonably certain that Regan had been the cutest little girl in the world.
She groaned at the sensation of the water hitting her skin and washing the long day from her body. Facing the spray, she bent forward at the waist in an effort to keep her lower back relatively dry. The tattooed skin wasn’t as sore as it had been that morning, but she was still being careful with it. She had been aware of the spot all day, alive with sensation.
And it was hot. It was goddamn erotic to feel, for all the good it would do her tonight. At that sobering thought, she straightened up and turned off the shower, studying the brightly colored fish that decorated the translucent curtain. Well, it may have started out a little rocky, but meeting Regan’s mom and dad wasn’t so bad at all.
Toweling her hair, she stepped out of the shower, shivering a little in the chill of the basement air. Regan’s bedroom and the attached bathroom were about ten degrees cooler than the rest of the house, so Mel rushed through tugging on a clean T-shirt and a pair of soft cotton boxer shorts.
When she exited the bathroom, she was confronted by the sight of her naked lover reclining on the bed. Regan’s auburn hair was still wet from the shower she had taken upstairs and her black wire-rimmed glasses were the only thing she wore. She held a book in her hands and stared at the pages in thoughtful silence.
Mel shut the bathroom door behind her with a weak hand. No fair. She’s not allowed to look that beautiful at her parents’ house. She took a step forward, running her eyes down the length of Regan’s body. To hell with propriety, all she wanted to do was ravish her.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” Regan’s eyes left the worn book in her hand and lifted to meet her gaze. “My parents love you, you know. You’ve totally won them over. I think they may ask you to Thanksgiving before they ask me this year.”
“Yeah? I thought it went pretty well, too.” Raising an eyebrow at Regan, she said, “And they love you, too. I could see it in everything they did and said tonight.”
Regan’s green eyes grew bright with sudden emotion. “You think so?”
Mel nodded. “But I can also see that you’re right. They only know a little of the wonderful woman you are.” She approached the bed to sit down at the foot of it, stroking Regan’s big toe with her fingertip. “Did it feel good to show them more?”
“It did.”
“I’m glad.”
Regan rolled her eyes. “They went a little overboard with showing you all those pictures, though. I’m sorry if you were bored to death.” She raised a leg and planted her foot on the bed, gracing Mel with a most tantalizing view of her body.
Baseball. Think about baseball…or my bike. Just think about anything but that. Not here, not now.
Mel struggled to answer. “Not at all. I loved looking at them. You were the cutest little kid in the world.” She exhaled and stared at the wall. She had to keep her eyes off Regan, because the only thing she could think about was touching her bare skin.
We’re going home tomorrow. She gazed at a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman that was taped up near Regan’s ancient computer. We’re going home and I’m scared and all I want to do is be close to her. I’m ready to crawl inside her goddamn skin, I need to be near her so badly right now.
Instead, she kept talking. “I didn’t see animals in any of those pictures. Didn’t you ever have any pets growing up?”
Regan shook her head and lay her book on the bedside table. “No. No pets, no siblings. It explains a lot, really.”
“Did you want pets?”
“Sometimes. My dad really can’t stand animals, though, and he was always against the idea. Eventually I think I realized that I didn’t even feel comfortable around other people’s animals, so how could I deal with one of my own?”
“So that was one battle you never really fought with him?”
“Nope.” Regan rested her back against the headboard. “I told him I’d stop asking for a puppy if he’d buy me a computer.” She adjusted her glasses with a lazy hand. “The rest, as they say, is history.”
Mel laughed and grinned down at her hands in an effort not to stare at pale skin.
“How about you?” Regan asked after a moment. “Did you have pets?”
“One. A cat, Spike.”
Regan interrupted her by bursting into giggles. “Spike? A cat named Spike?”
Mel shot her a scolding look. “I named her when I was seven years old. She was a beautiful cat.”
Regan’s laughter rose in volume and her shoulders shook with her mirth. Tears leaked from shining green eyes, and Regan wiped a desperate hand across her cheek to dry them. “She?”
Mel poked at the bottom of Regan’s foot, eliciting a startled squeak amidst the laughter. “My mom brought her home for us, oh, eight months or so before she died. That cat loved Mom.”
Regan’s laughter faded away at the note of sadness in Mel’s voice and she sat up, resting her forearms on her legs, her hands held in loose fists. “What happened to Spike?” she whispered, as if afraid of the answer.
Mel gave Regan a reassuring pat on the knee. “She died when she was about ten years old. Natural causes, I think. She didn’t really like people very much. I mean, she did before Mom died, but after… Well, I think she became really timid with all of the yelling, you know, and the commotion in the house.”
Regan stared at Mel with gentle eyes. “That’s not a good environment to foster trust.”
“No.” Mel stared down at her hands. “I was the only one she trusted, after a while. She spent so much time hiding under furniture or running when you approached her—” With a disgusted shake of the head, she said, “I think my dad probably took out his frustration on her sometimes, too. Sometimes if I could get in a room alone with her, when it was quiet, and calm, if I just sat on the floor for a while, looking at her, talking to her—” she trailed off.
“You could bring her out?”
Mel smiled at Regan. “Yeah. Those were some of the best evenings of my childhood, I think. When she’d actually crawl in my lap and look at me. Stare at me, really. I just felt like I had something real, a connection, outside of all the bullshit.” She shook her head, snorting in self-derision, and tore her eyes away from Regan’s again. “Christ, I sound cheesy.”
“No,” Regan murmured, and touched Mel’s arm. “You don’t.” She leaned back against her pillows and waving Mel closer. “Come here, baby.”
Mel could read the intent in dark green eyes and she gave her beautiful, naked lover a sheepish shrug. “I’m not sure. I know it’s silly, but I’m a little superstitious about the whole sex-around-parents thing—”
“I have locks on my bedroom door,” Regan said. “We’re two floors away from my parents, who are probably sleeping anyway.” She fixed Mel with imploring eyes. “Please, baby. I need to feel you tonight.”
Mel exhaled and tossed a look at their packed bags sitting near the door, ready for their return home tomorrow. She needed it, too. Tonight, it felt like the most important thing in the world.
“You’re lying here naked on purpose to convince me, aren’t you?” Mel accused, giving Regan a lazy sidelong smile. “That’s pure, evil genius, you know.”
“I know.” Regan beckoned to her with a seductive smile. “Did it work?”
Mel took a few moments to look at Regan. Really look. At her shape, her curves, and the color of her skin. Mel had seen so many female bodies in her life—some almost physically perfect, each appealing in their own way—but she had never seen anyone as beaut
iful as Regan. The unselfconscious way that Regan presented herself set her heart pounding and her head spinning with raw arousal.
“Of course it did.” Mel’s eyes strayed to the bedroom door, then back to Regan’s face. “You’re sure the door is locked?”
“They know I’m in here with my lover. They’re not coming down any time soon.” Regan gave her a slow smile. “Take off your clothes, baby. I want to see you.”
Without a word, Mel stood up and tugged her T-shirt over her head. Skin tingling beneath Regan’s intense gaze, she tossed her shirt down on top of her duffel bag.
“Now the boxers,” Regan murmured.
Grinning crookedly, Mel hooked her thumbs in the elastic waistband of her shorts and eased them down over her hips. She watched Regan’s eyes darken with desire as her body was bared, and her smoky desire stoked Mel’s own need. Shifting her weight, she let out a soft moan when she felt slick arousal covering her thighs. A light kick of one foot and her boxers went flying toward her duffel bag.
Regan made her stand for another few moments before speaking again. “Turn around. I want to see your tattoo.” When Mel started to turn, smiling hard, Regan stopped her with another command. “Come here first.”
Mel obeyed, walking within Regan’s reach before turning around to face away from her. She listened to Regan’s murmured approval, then felt soft fingers trace light patterns around her tattooed flesh.
“Does it still hurt?” Regan’s fingertips just barely grazed the slightly upraised skin, sending a jolt of sensation skittering throughout Mel’s body.
“No.” Mel spoke in a hushed voice and kept her eyes forward. “It’s a little sensitive, but it doesn’t hurt.”
“It’s incredibly sexy,” Regan whispered. The hand that was stroking her lower back moved farther down, and Mel exhaled when she felt blunt fingernails scrape against her buttocks. “Everything about you is so incredibly sexy. I get wet just looking at you.”
“Are you wet right now?” Mel asked.
“Would you like to see for yourself?”
Mel grinned at Regan’s voice, quiet and teasing, and at the confident game they fell into so easily. She got onto the bed. “Yes.”
“I’d like that, too,” Regan said, naked and smiling and gorgeous. She rolled onto her side so that they could face one another.
For long moments Mel stared into green eyes so close to her own; looking into their depths, she reached out and laid her hand on Regan’s bare hip. “I love touching your body,” she whispered. “I love your skin. So pale, and soft, and smooth.” She slid her hand over the curve of Regan’s hip, around to the silky skin of her ass. “I love your curves, your shape.” Mel leaned forward to nibble on Regan’s collarbone, and suck on the pulse point that jumped beneath her roaming lips. “I’ve never found anyone as beautiful as you are to me.”
Regan closed the distance between their mouths. Mel could feel the heat of Regan’s face on hers, and she groaned and parted her lips in anticipation. Her groan rose in volume when Regan’s tongue filled her mouth. She tightened her hand on Regan’s ass, pulling her lover into her so their bodies touched along their lengths. A small hand tangled in Mel’s hair and scratched at her scalp, and she nearly came right then from the sheer pleasure of it all.
Christ, not yet!
Gasping for air, Mel drew back and raised a stern eyebrow at Regan. “Not so fast,” she breathed. “I want to take my time with this. I want to show you exactly how much I love you.”
“I was just saying hello.” Regan’s wide, innocent smile was in direct contradiction to the flush of her skin and the desire in her eyes.
Mel pinched her lightly on the bottom. “Is that how you say hello to everyone?”
“Just you.” Regan’s voice was serious, and her words grabbed hold of Mel’s heart and gave it a painful squeeze. “Only you.”
Mel blinked back sudden tears. Goddamn, she’d done it again. She could feel the love pouring from Regan, raw and boundless and unconditional, and she could only stare at her lover in awe. Lifting a hand to trace the lines of Regan’s face in reverence, Mel smiled when she closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.
“Look at me,” Mel slid her fingertips across Regan’s chin, then down onto her throat. “Please.”
Green eyes blinked open and captured hers in a silent exchange of feeling and affection. At first the naked adoration she saw in Regan’s gaze took her breath away; when she remembered how to breathe again, she resumed her gentle exploration of warm skin. She took a lazy tour of Regan’s body with her hand; she touched her throat, her collarbones, the slope of her breast. She circled a stiff pink nipple, then moved lower still to trail her fingers over Regan’s stomach.
Mel watched her lover’s eyes as she attempted to memorize every inch of creamy skin. Regan’s pupils narrowed and contracted when she hit a particularly sensitive area, and the color of the iris shifted and changed to reflect her rising emotion. Fascinated, Mel stopped her gentle worship only when she realized that Regan was panting, skin flushed, and that she herself felt wet and ready for more. She lifted her hand from Regan’s hip, and pressed a kiss against a delicate earlobe. “Can you be quiet?” she whispered. “We need to be quiet.”
“I promise.”
Mel rolled over and climbed on top of Regan, holding her body above her lover’s so that their skin didn’t connect, and it looked almost as if she were ready to do push-ups.
“I want to feel you,” Regan whispered, sliding her hands up Mel’s biceps and around to her back, attempting to force her down.
Mel held her body above Regan with ease, and tried not to laugh at the desperation in her eyes or the whimpers of frustration. “I love you so much, Regan,” she said.
“Yeah?” Regan returned her grin, and the look on her face was so genuine and happy that Mel once again fought back tears.
“Yeah.”
“Well, good. ’Cause I love you, too. More than I know how to tell you.” Regan rubbed the backs of her fingers across Mel’s cheek. “I’m gonna spend every day trying, though.”
The strain of holding her body above Regan’s finally registered just as Mel decided that she absolutely needed to feel Regan, too. She lowered herself slowly, and sighed when she felt Regan’s warm skin touch her own. Her breasts pressed against Regan’s, their hard nipples meeting and sending shockwaves straight to Mel’s center.
Their sighs mingled at the feeling of being connected once again.
“Your skin feels perfect against mine,” Mel murmured in a solemn voice, and eased a firm thigh between Regan’s legs.
“It looks perfect, too,” Regan breathed. She held her arm up next to Mel’s so they could both admire the contrast of pale skin with tan.
Her green eyes and dreamy smile made Mel blink in wonder, and she pressed her thigh to Regan’s center, coating her skin with Regan’s arousal. “You’re wet,” she said. Her throat felt tight, the words emerging only with difficulty.
“I told you so.” Regan moaned and moved against the thigh that pressed into her wetness. “It’s your fault.”
Mel kissed her, then, with her lips, trailed a whole series of feather-light caresses on her face and neck.
“Please,” Regan murmured when Mel kissed her way down her throat and lingered at her upper chest. “Please.”
Mel licked down the slope of a pale breast, pausing to suck the nipple into her mouth. Eyes slipping shut, she savored the taste of Regan’s skin, the softness of her breast. As Regan whimpered and squirmed beneath her body, Mel could feel her own wetness grow. Ignoring whispered pleas, she worked her way over to the other breast with another trail of lingering kisses. Again she wasted no time claiming a hard nipple between her lips and stroking the erect nub with a firm tongue, drawing out a series of hushed whimpers and pleas from her writhing lover.
She loved getting Regan to make those noises. Knowing that she was making Regan feel good took her breath away. Impatient for more noises, Mel released the nipp
le she held between her teeth and slid her lips from breast to stomach to abdomen. She could smell Regan’s arousal; it was a heady scent, and it struck her hungry with need.
“You smell so good,” she whispered, running her tongue across Regan’s hip and down over her inner thigh. “And I love how you taste.”
Regan’s body was in almost constant motion beneath Mel’s mouth, forcing her to press a hand on each of her lover’s hips to hold her in place against the mattress. She traced her tongue to the juncture of hip and thigh. She kept her mouth moving and groaned at the wetness she found with ease.
“No fair.” Regan was gasping and trembling; whether it was from the pressure of Mel’s tongue against her or the effort of staying quiet, Mel wasn’t sure. She swiped the flat of her tongue up the length of Regan, then down again to press the tip just inside of her, where she tasted sweetest. Desperate fingers tangled in her hair and blunt nails scraped across her scalp, and Mel hummed her pleasure into Regan’s center. “No fair,” Regan whimpered again, and pulled at Mel’s head weakly.
Mel looked up from her task. “What’s not fair?” She grinned and bent again to Regan. “This isn’t fair?” She lapped at her with a teasing tongue.
Regan moaned low and deep in her chest. The sound sent a jolt through Mel, delivered right between her legs. Without a doubt, that was a very good noise. She squeezed her thighs together and closed her eyes to concentrate on licking Regan.
Fingers tugged at Mel’s hair, and she allowed her face to be lifted from between Regan’s legs. Mel looked up at Regan with imploring eyes.
“I know, baby,” Regan answered the silent plea, breathless. “But I want to touch you, too.”
Mel brought her finger up to swirl through the wetness at Regan’s entrance. She lifted her eyes to capture Regan’s before pushing inside of her lover with a soft groan. “Touch me like this?” Mel asked, delighting in the snug fit.
“Stop teasing me,” Regan whimpered. “And come up with a solution, okay?” She wiggled her body on Mel’s finger and Mel obliged with some counter-movement of her own. “Please, Mel.”
Infinite Loop Page 32
