Bandages

by S. L. Kassidy

  Dane shivered and rolled over onto her back. Nicole followed her, settling on top of Dane. Her nerves danced as Nicole pressed against her. They kissed again, slowly and thoroughly. It was as if Dane was leisurely trying to get every drop of chocolate out of Nicole’s mouth. Nicole returned the favor by trying to take back whatever Dane’s tongue removed.

  Dane’s hands groped for soft skin, finding plenty of it and loving every second. She could not be more thankful that they had both forgone pajamas. She wanted to feel Nicole as close as possible, and she wanted to feel as much of Nicole as possible. Her hands roamed, grabbing, caressing, and kneading heated, heavenly flesh. Nicole trembled against her, which only made her want more.

  She purred while Nicole moaned into her mouth. She swallowed each noise, feeling like they made her melt into the bed. Eventually, they had to break apart for air, but that didn’t stop their hands.

  “Wanted to do this all weekend,” Dane breathed, one hand massaging Nicole’s breast and the other on her hip posed to move her.

  Nicole groaned and panted from the attention. She had trouble answering at first, pressing herself into Dane being a much higher priority than speaking. “I know. Sorry, I was too tired.”

  “I understand. Now, let’s not waste any more time before we have to check out.”

  The redhead nodded and they went back to exploring each other’s mouths and bodies. Dane pulled Nicole closer, wanting to feel her grinding against her thigh. Nicole obliged, drawing out a long, strained moan from Dane. Nicole purred as she moved against her.

  “Goddamn, Chem, you feel so good against me. So hot, so molten. You make me melt,” Dane growled, her hand pulling Nicole closer, harder, faster.

  “You make me feel so good, baby. I wanna make you feel good, too,” Nicole panted loudly. Leaning down, she peppered Dane’s heaving chest with kisses. Her hands wandered down Dane’s sides briefly before going to keep her breasts occupied. Nicole’s hands adored Dane’s breasts with caresses.

  “Feels so good. You feel so good,” Dane mewed. “Nothing better on Earth than you against me.” She gently squeezed Nicole’s heavy, heaving breasts.

  Nicole’s response was to flick Dane’s nipple with her tongue. Dane inhaled sharply, and her mouth dropped open from the jolts of pleasure. Nicole obviously heard the noise and wrapped her lips around the area, sucking gently. Dane tried to return the favor, rubbing the pebbled apex at the center of Nicole’s breast just the way the attorney liked it. Nicole cried out loudly and jerked against her girlfriend.

  Dane pulled the redhead closer, needing to experience more of her. Her hand on Nicole’s hip moved her faster. Throwing her head back briefly, Dane shivered as Nicole’s passion spread all over her leg. She needed more. Now. The hand that had occupied a plump, jiggling breast moved in between Nicole’s legs, as a shrill, high-pitched noise pierced the mood.

  “What the fuck!” they both screamed, and Nicole flew off Dane, who frantically searched for the source of the accursed noise. Her heart felt like it was about to pound out her chest.

  “It’s my phone, baby.” Nicole crawled over to the nightstand to the cell.

  As Dane relaxed, she recognized the ring tone for Kathleen. Nicole answered and quickly began getting dressed. She had once expressed that she felt awkward being naked while on the phone with her mother. Kathleen had interrupted them many times. Even if Nicole ignored the call, Kathleen would just keep calling until she got an answer. It’s like she knows she’s ruining our playtime.

  Dane heard Nicole start talking business and knew the moment was gone. She began getting dressed herself. She also made sure everything was packed away since she suspected Nicole would be on the phone until they had to check out. She was right.

  “Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think she’d talk for damn near an hour,” Nicole sighed, hanging her head in defeat.

  “Of course, she would. She probably knew we were doing it and wanted to stop us.” Dane laughed.

  “God, I hope not. The last thing I want to think about when I’m about to have an orgasm is my mother knowing it’s happening.” Nicole shuddered.

  Dane laughed even more. “Sorry, love. I have all day to make it up to you.”

  “I honestly feel like the chocolate festival was the best place you could ever physically take me. You’re covered for the rest of your life as far as trips go.”

  “I figured as much, which is why today I thought we’d just wander the strip. Go in some stores, explore the casinos, maybe ride the roller coaster at New York, New York. I think there’s an M&M store, which I’m sure you’d love, even though we just went to a chocolate festival.”

  Nicole smiled and they walked off, hand in hand, to enjoy their last few hours in Las Vegas. When they got on the plane, they had pictures and chocolate to occupy them. Raymond picked them up at the airport and was kind enough to give Nicole Monday off since it was so late and the business meetings went well.

  “Thanks, Daddy. We got chocolate and cakes for you and Mommy. I’m leaving them on the backseat.” Nicole walked around to the driver’s side of the car and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Thanks for that, Nikki. Danny.” Raymond nodded to both ladies.

  “No problem,” Danny replied.

  Once they were in the house, they tried to pick up where they left off in the hotel room. Kathleen called while Nicole was on her way in between Dane’s legs. Kathleen claimed she was checking to make sure Nicole got in all right, but Dane was certain the woman’s “Mommy senses” were tingling and she was purposely being, for lack of a better term, a cunt-blocker. Too bad it didn’t work. Nicole feigned tiredness to get off the phone and went back to the task at hand. She turned the phone off; the voicemail could answer anything else for the rest of the night.

  “Best business trip ever,” Nicole whispered before her mouth was too busy to talk.

  Honey

  NICOLE DECIDED IT WAS her turn to plan a date. She had been slacking and letting Danny handle that aspect of their relationship for a while. She supposed it was because she was surprised when Danny wanted to go out. She was flattered whenever Danny planned an outing for them and she wanted to give Danny that feeling.

  Checking the weather, she found a good day for a picnic. She doubted Danny had ever had a proper picnic. The first thing on the menu was her potato salad that Danny loved so much. She’d eaten the entire bowl on her own on more than one occasion.

  Nicole spent her morning in the kitchen. She didn’t tell Danny about the picnic, but had informed her they’d be going on a date later that day. Danny seemed agreeable to the idea.

  “Hey, Chem, taking Haydn for a walk before it starts raining,” Danny called from the den.

  “Okay,” Nicole replied, and then she realized what her girlfriend said. “Raining?”

  She rushed to the window and frowned at the dark, grey clouds in the sky. Mentally, she let out every curse word that she knew. She had been too busy with their lunch and snacks to bother looking outside, instead trusting in a weather report that was days old.

  “Stupid! I’d never do some dumb shit like this at work,” she huffed.

  She had to think of something quickly, while Danny was out, to salvage the rest of their date. Okay, if this happened to Danny, what would she do? As soon as that question left her brain, she knew what to do. She just needed to finish up before her lover returned.

  “I hope this works just as well as it would in the park,” Nicole prayed.

  ***

  Thunder boomed through the air as Dane ran back inside with a whining Haydn. He was apparently more pissed off with being caught in the rain than she was. She took him straight to the downstairs bathroom and toweled him off, knowing he would shake the first chance he got and she didn’t want him to make a mess. When she was done, he shook himself dry just because he was a dog and trotted off to play with his toys.

  Dane grabbed another towel and dried herself off as best she could. She threw the towels in the b
asement, where the laundry awaited her. She realized how quiet the house was.

  “Nick! You home? Hope she didn’t try to go out in that monsoon,” Dane muttered, as she scanned the first floor. Nicole was nowhere to be found. “Nick? Nick, you here?” There was always a chance there was some emergency at work, like someone couldn’t find a paperclip and swore Nicole was the only person who could find it.

  Dane made her way upstairs to be met by her partner coming out of their bedroom. They greeted each other with small pecks on the lips, but Dane kept Nicole at an arm’s length to make sure she didn’t dampen the redhead. Nicole gave her a little, amused smile.

  “Go take a nice, hot shower. I have a surprise for you after,” Nicole said in a gentle tone.

  “Yeah, lemme do that.” Dane moved to go into the bedroom to use that bathroom, as they generally did.

  Nicole quickly stepped into her path. “Uh…baby, can you use the other bathroom, please?”

  Dane’s brow furrowed briefly, but she figured Nicole’s surprise was probably in the bedroom. Nodding, she did a complete one eighty and marched off to the other bathroom. Taking a nice, long, hot shower, she felt better. She smiled when she exited the shower to see clothes waiting for her.

  “My sweet, sweet seraph.”

  She dressed in her house clothes, a black camisole and cream sweat shorts. Is she trying to tell me something with the clothes or is she just trying to get me to wear a camisole? Instead of thinking on it, she went to go see the surprise Nicole had planned. She knocked on the bedroom door, which felt odd. Before she could contemplate the weird sensation, the door opened and revealed Nicole’s beautiful smiling face.

  “You look good in a camisole.” Nicole blatantly looked Dane up and down.

  “I feel ridiculous. Why didn’t you just bring me a wife-beater?” Dane tugged at the top with two fingers.

  “Because I wanted to see you in something different.”

  Dane leered, even though Nicole hid behind the door. “Are you in something different?” She purred at the thought.

  “Sorry, baby, I am not.” Nicole opened the door to show that she was wearing navy yoga pants and a matching t-shirt that used to belong to Dane.

  Dane couldn’t help her pout. Nicole laughed and removed the pout with a gentle kiss to Dane’s lips, which instantly lifted the musician’s spirits. The redhead took her by the hand and tugged her into the room. A surprise yelp escaped Dane, but they both pretended like it didn’t happen.

  “Welcome to our rainy-day picnic,” Nicole grinned, motioning to the setup on the floor.

  “Picnic?” Her eyes fell to the blanket on the floor and a nearby basket. There were candles lit and placed around the room. Nicole dimmed the lights in the room to let the candles do their work.

  “Please, sit.” Nicole tilted her hand toward the blanket.

  Dane mutely nodded and followed instructions. Nicole sat down and opened the basket. She pulled out plates and silverware, setting some in front of her lover. The Tupperware containers of food came next.

  “This is what you’ve been up to all morning.” Dane smiled.

  “Well, yes. I was hoping we’d get to have it in the park, so Haydn could enjoy it, too. I didn’t know it was going to rain today, though. Sorry.” Nicole began opening the containers.

  “It’s all right. This is amazing in its own right.”

  A light blush stained Nicole’s cheeks and she smiled. “So, what do you want for lunch?”

  Dane studied the layout. “Can I just eat the whole thing of potato salad?”

  “What? No! You’ll get some, but you have to eat more than that. Come on, I made fried chicken, rice and peas, salad, shrimp, meat balls, apple slices, and peaches.”

  “All this in one morning?” I know I stayed out of her way, but how the hell did she make all of this and I didn’t notice?

  A soft, amused smile graced Nicole’s features. “Haydn distracts you very well and some of it I made last night while you were lost under your headphones. I fried the chicken when you took a nap, so you wouldn’t smell it.”

  Dane could only laugh. While she no longer had a band, she found herself composing songs and writing lyrics as if she did. It didn’t help that Nicole indulged her. First, Nicole had set her up a music room in the den. She also listened intently to Dane whenever she prattled about equipment, so Nicole knew what to furnish the room with. She often asked Dane to play things for her. Dane had never had someone in her life so interested in the process of creating her music and it was just one of the many things that made her love Nicole with all of her heart.

  “Here, you’ll have a little of everything, but the apple slices are all yours.” Nicole handed over the large plate of food.

  “Like I’m stupid enough to argue with that!” Dane laughed. Apple slices were one of her favorite snacks and everything else looked simply delicious.

  Nicole smiled while making her own plate. She poured Dane some apple juice in a wine goblet. Dane couldn’t help laughing again as they silently enjoyed each other’s presence while the rain pounded against the house and the wind howled.

  “Don’t freak out over this, sweetheart, but I’d very much like to do this again,” Nicole said.

  “Me, too,” Dane jumped in with a smile. This was really nice. It’d be great to relax on another rainy day with a picnic. Maybe she could arrange one. Or, they could do Nicole’s idea of a picnic outside when the weather cleared.

  Nicole smiled kindly. “With a child.”

  Dane’s thoughts didn’t slow down. “We could take Luke and Thomas.”

  Nicole’s smile was now patient and she patted Dane’s knee. “Our own child.”

  Dane’s brain ground to a halt and she blinked so hard she thought she could hear it. After that, though, she couldn’t blink again if she consciously tried. Dane was sure she looked like an owl, because her eyes wouldn’t go back to normal. Okay, that certainly caught her off guard. She shoved some food in her mouth to have an excuse not to respond quickly and tried to sort her feelings out on the matter.

  A child. Nicole mentioned it a couple of times, but I’ve never really put any thought into a kid. What the hell would I do with a kid? I am practically a kid myself. Stop thinking about it. She felt like she’d just freak out if she thought on it. Wait, isn’t that what she told me not to do? Well, how the hell do I not do that?

  Nicole laughed and patted Dane’s knee a second time. “I told you not to freak out. I’m making a simple desire known. I told you, children aren’t on my list until after marriage and since we’re not about to be married, I know we’re not about to have a child.”

  Dane could only nod for a moment before remembering she had the ability to speak. Of course, she wasn’t totally sure she could trust her voice. “Should we talk about this a little? Whenever the subject comes up, we dismiss it almost as soon as it does. Never have a chance to think about it.” Okay, maybe I dismiss it because I don’t want to think about it.

  Nicole nodded. “What do you want to talk about? Just the idea of having a child?”

  “Yeah, I mean, even that’s a lot. You trust me with a kid? I mean, I don’t know a damn thing about being a parent.”

  The smile that graced Nicole’s face was so sincere and lovely that Dane’s heart thumped in her chest. “Of course, I trust you with a child. I trust you with my heart, so that means I trust you with all the hopes and dreams that come with it. Have you seriously never thought about a child of your own, like ever?”

  Dane’s eyes narrowed, fixed on her plate, as she thought on it. “In fleeting moments with the boys, I sometimes think I’d like to spend time like this with my own kid, but nothing beyond that. I mean, I don’t know anything about taking care of a kid. I don’t have anything to go on beyond fleeting moments with the boys.”

  “You’ve never thought about it in passing before them?”

  “No, never.” She’d probably given more thought to walking on the moon than having kids in her
life.

  Nicole’s smile vanished and was replaced with a slight frown and big eyes as she rubbed Dane’s knee again. “Baby, do you think you’d be like your parents and that’s why you don’t think about having a child?”

  Dane’s hand automatically went through her hair. “It’s possible. I mean, I didn’t have great parenting experiences. Will I hit our child the first time I have a bad day or the first time the kid makes a mistake? Will I try to push our kid on someone else because I don’t want to deal with the kid? Will I resent the kid for taking up your time? Will I…hate our kid?” After all, my own mother hated me, resented me because he hated me.

  Nicole moved closer, her hand on Dane’s now. “Of course not, baby. You’re not like that. Sometimes, things will be hard and you won’t know what to do, but as long as you love this child, as long as you want this child, and claim this child, I know you’d never purposely hurt the child in a fit of anger or frustration. You’ll do your best, like you do with the boys. You’ll love the kid with your whole heart, just like you love the boys and just like you love me. There will be times when we won’t know what to do, but we’ll help each other through it, or we can ask my parents for help. Neither of us will be perfect. We’re human and babies don’t come with instructions.”

  “I know,” Danny whispered. Her voice was hollow to her own ears and yet still full of despair. “It scares me,” she admitted in a tone even lower than the whisper.

  The very thought of a tiny life depending on her frightened Dane more than anything else, even more than the idea of never regaining the full use of her hand. So many things could go wrong and then she would have screwed up a human being. The responsibility of it all. Worse, she might see what others saw, she might come to understand why someone would abandon a child.

  “What if…” Dane swallowed hard. “What if…what if I see it.”

  “See what?”