The Arrangement

by Melissa Tereze

  Sam gripped Luciana’s thighs, spreading her legs a little more, and plunged two fingers inside her. Luciana groaned, meeting every movement, every thrust. Her walls squeezed Sam’s fingers as she curled them, hitting that spot she knew drove Luciana insane.

  “Fuck, I'm close,” Luciana whimpered as she dropped one hand from the window in front of her, taking her nipple between her finger and thumb. Tugging and pinching, she trembled as her impending release approached faster than it ever had. “Y-Yes,” she cried.

  As Sam pushed deeper, fresh arousal coated her hand, her thrusts not lessening. No, it only encouraged Sam to take her deeper and harder.

  “B-Babe.”

  “Fuck.” Sam sunk her teeth into Luciana’s backside. “I can't get enough of you.” She smoothed her hand over the bite mark, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. As her fingers slipped out of Luciana, she turned and pulled Sam up to her feet.

  “Bedroom, now!” Lifting Sam, her arms wrapped around Luciana’s neck, her legs around her waist. “God, I'm going to fuck you until the sun goes down.”

  “Mm, sounds like my kind of day.” Sam crushed her lips into Luciana’s. “You're not going anywhere…”

  “Never.” Luciana knew there was a hidden message in Sam’s words, but that message was irrelevant. Luciana had no intention of leaving this woman. Not now. Not ever.

  ***

  “Okay…this.” Luciana spun around, holding up some very revealing white lingerie. “God, you’d look amazing in this.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Sam blushed as her eyes darted around the shop. “Can you not wave it in the air!”

  “Why? My girlfriend is incredibly gorgeous and I want everyone to know she’s mine.” Luciana leaned in, kissing Sam softly. “Shoot me.”

  “Luciana, I uh… I’m not sure this is me.” Sam lowered her voice, feeling a lack of confidence suddenly hit her. She didn’t know why she was thinking about it, or why she was worried, but Luciana was beautiful and Sam was nearing forty. “It’s beautiful, it really is, but I could have worn this ten years ago.”

  “You’re not serious,” Luciana deadpanned. “This. It’s so you.”

  “Really?” Sam wrinkled her nose. “You don’t think I’d look ridiculous in it?”

  “Well, you won’t be in it for long…but no, you’ll look anything but ridiculous.” Luciana placed her hand on the small of Sam’s back. “My treat. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it. But please, give it a chance?”

  “Okay.” Sam smiled. “If you think it will look okay.”

  “Come here.” Luciana motioned for Sam to come closer, brushing her lips against her ear. “What’s going on with you? Where has that woman gone who fucked me against the window this morning?”

  “Baby, please…” Sam groaned.

  “Too much?”

  “You’re always too much.” Sam bit her bottom lip. “Always.”

  “We buy this and then I’m taking you for lunch.”

  “I’d like that,” Sam breathed out, her body gaining a slight respite from Luciana and her flirting. “I could use some food.”

  “Me too.” Luciana nodded as she headed for the till. “I worked up quite the appetite this morning.” She threw a wink over her shoulder as she sauntered away, stopping at the cashier.

  “Oh, this will look great on you.” The cashier smiled, a flirtatious nature which likely came with the job evident. “Really great.”

  “Oh, it’s not for me.” Luciana smiled. “It’s for my girlfriend.” Sam stopped beside her girlfriend. “Tell her it’ll look amazing on her.”

  “Hmm.” The cashier narrowed her eyes before they landed on Luciana again. “No, this would look amazing on you.”

  Great, Sam groaned inwardly. The twenty-year-old shop assistant thinks I’ll look ridiculous.

  “Thank you.” Sam smiled sarcastically. “I told you it wouldn’t work.” She lowered her voice. “Get it for yourse—”

  “The black one,” the cashier cut in. “This style, but the black.”

  “Oh.” Sam’s eyes widened. “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.” Sam noticed the name tag she wore.

  “Well, Gemma… I should go and get the black one. Wrap this one for her though.” Sam cocked her head towards Luciana. “Everything looks great on her.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  Luciana watched Sam weave through the store, heading towards the display they’d spent twenty minutes at earlier. “Thanks for that.” She turned her attention back to Gemma. “She was convinced it wouldn’t look good on her.”

  “Nonsense.” Gemma waved her hand between them. “She’s gorgeous.”

  “She is.” Luciana smiled softly. “Very gorgeous.” Sighing, she turned back to find Sam moving towards her, her own smile gracing her features.

  As Sam re-joined Luciana at the till, her phone started to ring in her hand. “I’ll just take this outside.” Luciana nodded as Sam hit the accept button. “Hi, Mum.”

  “Love, how are you?”

  “Great. You?” Sam reached the fresh air and moved towards the edge of the walkway, peering over the ledge. “Just out, shopping.”

  “You're not at the office?”

  “It’s Saturday, Mum.”

  “That doesn’t usually stop you from working incessantly.”

  “Well, things have changed. I’m taking the weekend off like I have been for the last few weeks.”

  “And why is that?” Sam’s mum asked, her tone accusing. “Is everything okay?”

  “Mum,” Sam warned. “Everything is perfectly fine.” She felt Luciana’s presence behind her, a hand resting on the small of her back. “I just have plans. Did you call for something in particular?”

  “Your dad was called away for the weekend. I thought I’d come into the city to visit you.”

  “Oh.” Sam’s eyes widened. “Well, I'm not home.”

  “I know that,” Susan said. “So, I’ll come and meet you.”

  “Mum, you can't just spring it on me. I don't know what my plans are for the rest of the afternoon.”

  “Lunch?”

  “I’m going to lunch now.” Sam sighed. “Look, can I call you later?”

  “I guess that would be okay.” Sam knew her mum was just trying to spend time with her, but Luciana was in her company today and she wished for it to remain that way. “Bye, love.”

  Sam glanced down at her screen as the call ended and sighed.

  “Everything okay, babe?”

  “Yes, it was just my mum.”

  “And is she okay?” Luciana asked. “It sounded like she wanted to meet up with you.”

  “She does.” Sam nodded. “But I'm here with you.”

  “So?”

  “So, I told her I'd rearrange.” Sam locked her phone and shrugged. “She can't expect me to just be available.”

  Luciana lowered her eyes, realising what her girlfriend was saying. “You know, I can go home and just see you tonight or tomorrow.”

  “What? No.” Sam laughed. “Why would I want you to do that?”

  “I get it, okay?” Luciana gripped the bag of lingerie tight in her hand. “I don't expect everyone to be okay with this. Us. I just… I’m not bothered about people’s opinions.”

  “Huh?”

  “You don't want me around when it comes to friends and family.” Luciana offered Sam a sad smile. “One day, I don't know…” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Maybe if you ever feel serious enough about us, I could meet them. For now though, I get it.”

  Sam’s heart broke hearing Luciana say these things.

  “I'm trying not to be completely in, I'm trying not to dive in head first…” Luciana leaned in and pressed a kiss to Sam’s cheek. “Because I know it’s not what you truly want, but I feel differently. I feel like I could spend my life doing this with you.” Luciana backed away. “Call your mum back. Have lunch with her. I’ll
always be here whenever you want to lock us away.”

  “Don't go.” Sam reached out and gripped her girlfriend’s wrist. “I’m not ashamed of us. Of you.”

  “I know…”

  A heat rushed through Sam’s body, a desperate need to be honest making itself known. “I’m falling for you, Luciana. I’m falling for you and I know I shouldn’t. I know I'm not lucky enough to have someone like you forever.”

  “Babe…”

  “I didn’t want to have lunch with my mum because she’s infuriating.” Sam sighed. “Don't ever think I don't want to introduce you to my friends and family because I do. I really do.”

  “I don't know where you get this idea of not having me forever from, because I see something completely different, but if it makes you feel better… I’m falling for you, too. I’m falling so hard and I don't care. I'm not pulling away from it anymore. I want you, Sam. I want you more than anything.”

  Sam blew out a deep breath, not expecting to hear those words from Luciana so soon, or at all. Just a few weeks ago, Sam was alone and committed to her company, but that one booking at the agency had changed her life. Whether this fizzled out or blossomed into something beautiful, she would always be thankful to herself for making the booking, and to Luciana for showing her that she still had the opportunity to be happy. To find love again.

  “I didn’t expect you to feel this way…”

  “Do I look like I want anyone else, Sam?”

  “Right now, no.” Why? Sam thought. Why do I insist on saying these things? “I’m sorry.”

  “About what?” Luciana side-glanced at her girlfriend.

  “Always doubting you…”

  “I don’t think that’s what you're doing.” Luciana pulled Sam away from the crowd to a quieter spot. “I think you're terrified about the future. The idea of giving yourself away completely scares you, but I understand.”

  “But in time, it will only push you away.”

  “I know you had another life before this. Before us. I know you had everything you could ever possibly need and you were happy.”

  Sam held back the tears forming in her eyes.

  “I cannot change that. I cannot do anything other than make you happy now,” Luciana said. “At least, in some way.”

  “You do make me happy.” Sam guided them both to a bench. “I know I say things I shouldn’t, and I know my words probably hurt you at times, but you have to know that you do make me happy. Happier than I've been in a long time.”

  “I spent time wondering if I could ever be enough for you.” Luciana’s intense blue eyes found Sam’s. “I wondered if this was just a thing and whether you’d one day call it quits.”

  “Never.” Sam shook her head, her voice barely audible.

  “But then I thought about how you smile around me. How you relax against me at the end of the day. I know your smile is like nothing you had for Lucia, and I know it never will be, but seeing the difference in your mood since the first night I met you…it’s good enough for me. Knowing I'm the one who has changed even just one tiny aspect of your life is more than good enough for me.”

  “You’ve changed more than one tiny aspect.” Sam squeezed Luciana’s hand. “Give yourself more credit.”

  “I don’t need to rush into a life with you, Sam. It appears to be happening naturally.”

  “Yes, it does.” Sam smiled as she stood up. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” They walked hand in hand towards the dock. “This is my weekend with you, and I'm not spending it worrying about something that is out of our control.”

  “Out of our control?”

  “Just…this is the last time I mention it.” Sam held up her hand. “But promise me one thing…”

  “Anything.” Luciana beamed. “Anything at all for you.”

  “If you do one day meet someone else…”

  “Sam—”

  “Here me out,” Sam interrupted. “If you do, promise you won't hurt me. I'm okay with you leaving me for someone younger or whatever else, but don’t hurt me. Don’t think you can't come to me and tell me you're unhappy. I don’t want to come home one night to find out you've been seeing someone else. Please, just be honest with me from the start.”

  “I’d never do that to you.” Luciana cupped Sam’s face. “I’m very much a one-woman kinda girl.”

  “I know.” Sam nodded as she leaned into her girlfriend’s touch. “I’d love to still be doing this with you in years to come.”

  “Me too, babe.”

  “But I’m also a realist.” Sam turned her head, pressing her lips to Luciana’s palm. “And I know it isn’t always that simple.”

  “I like simple.” Luciana shrugged, taking Sam’s hand once again. “Simple is beautiful.”

  Nineteen

  “You still haven’t told me what I need to pack for this trip.” Luciana stood at the foot of Sam’s bed, her work clothes still covering her body. “I mean, are we going out of the country, or…?”

  “No. I changed my plans,” Sam said, her back to her girlfriend. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Changed your plans? So, we’re not going away now?” Luciana would be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the opportunity to go away and relax, even if it was a business trip in Sam’s mind.

  “Not quite.” Sam turned around and faced Luciana fully. “I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Okay…” Luciana drawled out. Something about Sam’s eyes told her not to worry about this conversation, but until thirty seconds ago, they were supposed to be leaving for a trip. “Then you should probably spit it out before I go insane.”

  “For a firefighter, you're not very patient.”

  “And that still doesn’t make me feel any better.” Luciana dropped down onto the edge of the bed. “Babe, what’s going on?”

  “I wanted to ask if you’d come somewhere with me?”

  “Until a minute ago, I was going somewhere with you.” Luciana’s brows drew together. “I thought you had to meet with a contractor?”

  “I did, but I sent someone else to deal with it.” Sam shrugged. “I’ve had such a pleasant week with you, even if you have worked most of it, and I don’t think I'm ready for it to end with a business trip.”

  “Right, okay.” Luciana nodded. “So, where are we going?”

  “Will you come home with me?” Sam’s heart beat hard in her chest. The idea of going home, to her actual home, had been weighing on her mind since last weekend, but she wasn’t sure she could do it alone. When she drove up the long path to her house out of the city, she wasn’t sure what her reaction would be.

  “Babe, are you feeling okay?” Luciana asked. “This is your home.”

  “It’s not.” Sam offered a small smile as she lowered her eyes to her lap. “I bought this place when Lucia died. My home…the real me, is out of the city.”

  “You didn’t buy this to make work life easier?” Luciana asked, remembering their original conversation. “To make the commute easier?”

  “No.” Sam cleared her throat. “I bought this place when I couldn’t face going home alone anymore.”

  “And now you want me to come with you?” Luciana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sam, the woman she was falling head over heels in love with, wanted to show her a past life. A past home. “W-Why?”

  “Because I feel like I'm ready to walk through the door again,” Sam said. “But I can't do it alone.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” Sam’s head shot up. “You’ll come?”

  “You trust me enough to be the one you do this with, so yes. Of course.”

  “It’s been two years since I walked out of there.” Sam wrung her hands together. “Everything is still as it was when I left it.”

  “I don’t think this is going to be
very easy for you.” Luciana wanted Sam to do what she thought was best, but she wasn’t sure she could face seeing her girlfriend heartbroken. “Why do you want to do this now? Two years on, why are you planning to go back?”

  “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “Oh.” Luciana’s forehead creased. “Right, uh…”

  “I don’t mean it like that.” Sam lifted her girlfriend’s hand, pressing a kiss to her skin. “I hate the city. I hate this apartment, I always have.”

  “Really? I love it.” Luciana glanced around. “It’s gorgeous.”

  “So move your stuff into it.” Sam shrugged. “But I won't be here.”

  “You’re moving out of the city.” Luciana nodded slowly. “And what will that involve? I mean, will I still see you often?”

  “This doesn’t change anything for us, Luciana. Nothing at all.” Sam shifted closer. “What I'm saying is, having you in my life makes me want to go home. To show you the woman I am. This, the clinical walls and the chrome…it’s not me. It never has been.”

  “When do you want to leave?”

  “Tomorrow morning as planned.” Sam smiled fully. “I want to spend my evenings with you in the house I built myself. Not here in some open-plan generic space.”

  “Yeah?” A tear slid down Luciana’s face.

  “I want to drink wine and talk about life out on the terrace…”

  “Okay, you're going to have to stop that.” Luciana wiped her face. “I’m really not a wine on the terrace person, Sam.”

  “Okay. A beer by the fire pit.” Sam stood, gathering the clothes she’d folded on the bed. “Whatever works for you. I don’t care.”

  “A beer by the fire pit.” Luciana sighed. “Sounds perfect.”

  “Thank you for doing this with me.” Sam stopped what she was doing and glanced up at her girlfriend. “I’m not taking you back home to show you the person I was. I mean, in a way… I am. But I'm taking you home to show you the real me and where I’ll be. Where we will be one day.”