Only One Bed: A Steamy Romance Anthology Vol 1 (Romancing The Trope)

by Lucy Eden

  So gross.

  “It was the last straw. I realised that Brian said a lot of things that just slid under my radar, things I could excuse as a one-off, except they were regular occurrences.” She’d left them both that day; immediately asked Brian for a divorce and had never seen Nadia again. Their flirtation had been the catalyst for the end of her marriage. She was too ashamed to continue.

  “Come here.” Shazza stood up and held out her arms. Anvita scrambled off the back of the ute, landing with a jar through her ankles. Before she could react to the awkward dismount, Shazza had bundled her into a comforting hug. Her body fitted perfectly against hers, soft and welcoming, and Shazza’s hands stroked gently up and down her spine. They stood there, locked together, with Anvita resting her head on Shazza’s strong shoulder, just soaking up the care Shazza gifted her.

  “Fuck.” Shazza’s curse broke the connection between them, and Anvita lifted her head. The smell of burnt lamb wafted past. “Sorry, I’ll just rescue the dinner.”

  “And then more hugs?” Anvita wished she didn’t sound so desperate, but damn a hug from someone who cared, and who felt like Shazza was exactly what she needed. Until now, she hadn’t known that she missed physical comfort. After her divorce she’d kept to herself, needing to be strong for herself, unable to let herself rely on someone else’s comfort. But Shazza undid all of that in one hug. She could spend hours nestled up against her soft, yet strong, body.

  “Sure. Once we’ve eaten.” Shazza busied herself with the food, and if it wasn’t for the way the back of her neck had more colour than usual, Anvita would’ve assumed Shazza didn’t feel anything like she did.

  Hugging Anvita filled Shazza’s body with so many feelings. Immediately, she felt useful. It was lovely to provide comfort to another human. Slowly as time had eased passed them both, with seconds drawing out into minutes, the hug had turned from basic comfort and helpfulness into the tingles of a growing attraction. She’d been very careful to keep her hug gentle and not push for anything more, but her mouth had watered and she really—really—wanted to kiss Anvita. Her hands stroked up and down Anvita’s slim spine in soothing movements and she made sure that was the only motion she did. Just waited until the muscles along Anvita’s spine started to soften and relax.

  The whole story about her deadbeat shitty ex-husband layered everything with a rage that made her want to punch a pillow. Thump it hard to release some of the pent-up frustration that simmered alongside desire in her veins until her blood felt like it bubbled inside her. She might have crossed that invisible line from friendly and helpful into lust, when the smell of the dinner burning had caused her to leap away. Saved from embarrassment by burnt food. The crisp caramelisation on the lamb wouldn’t ruin the dish, but she’d turned off the heat immediately and flipped the lamb over so the burnt side wouldn’t keep burning in the heat of the pan. Caramelisation—pah, more like carbonation! But it could be fixed, and she wasn’t going to let it become a disaster.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m great. Can you pass me a couple of plates?” Shazza took them from Anvita’s hands, careful not to touch her. “And you? I’m so sorry about your ex.”

  Anvita shrugged. “That’s why he’s an ex. Sorry to be such a misery.”

  “Ah, don’t stress about it.” She plated up the lamb and added some pre-made salad to each plate. Yah for supermarkets and their easy meals. “There is bread too.” She handed Anvita a plate and walked with hers over to the back of the ute. She placed her plate on the tailgate of the ute, grateful that she’d thought to unhook it earlier, so the ute was easier to get into and the tail gate created a little table.

  “This is terribly impressive.”

  Shazza’s cheeks heated and she hummed an awkward agreement, unable to figure out how exactly to deal with the way she’d gone way overboard in preparing for tonight. She took the few steps to the cab of the ute to grab the bread.

  “Say thank you.”

  “Excuse me?” Shazza squinted at Anvita’s grinning face.

  “It’s okay to accept a compliment.”

  Shazza coughed. “Yeah, okay. Thanks. Here’s the bread.” She placed it on a cheap chopping board that she’d purchased today and cut a couple of slices.

  “This all smells incredible.”

  Shazza blew out a little laugh from the side of her mouth. “Whatever. The lamb is burnt, and everything else was made by someone else. I hardly did anything at all.”

  “Take a compliment.” Anvita leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I’m impressed by the effort.” The skitter of her breath across Shazza’s skin brought back many feelings from her teen years. Ones she assumed had been a phase, or simply just buried under the reality of marriage, two children, and running a small business.

  “Eat. That’s all the thanks I need.” She cut up her own lamb into strips and laid them onto a slice of bread. Once topped with a bit of salad, and another slice of bread, she had a sandwich for ease of eating.

  Every motion helped cover up the fragile beginnings of her feelings for Anvita. She craved the normalcy of simply eating, side by side, together, but not, like together, together. The burnt side of the lamb crunched a little in her mouth. Not enough to ruin the meal, just enough to add texture to the mouth-watering flavours. Just as she couldn’t ruin the niceness of right now. She stuffed more food into her mouth to stop her blurting out something awkward.

  “This is delicious.”

  Shazza swallowed, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Yeah. I must be hungry because it tastes a lot better than I thought it would.”

  “Or you are a good cook and you should—”

  “—take a compliment. Fine. It’s lovely.” Shazza took another bite and turned her face towards the last of the sunset. Orange streaks had settled into a warm glow as the sunset filtered through the bush. They ate together in silence with only birdsong interrupting their peace. It was so lovely to enjoy a meal where she didn’t have to badger anyone into using their manners.

  “Oh, look!” Anvita pointed towards the little BBQ. A possum sat in the shadows only a few steps away from the frying pan.

  “Shoo.” Shazza rushed over to the little creature, waving her arms. “It’s still too hot, silly animal. You’ll get burnt paws.” She picked up the frying pan by the handle and suddenly realised she hadn’t planned for after the meal. The washing up would have to be done some other time, not tonight with nothing to clean anything with. She only had enough water for drinking. Stupid mistake.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I forgot to get cleaning stuff.” Shazza paused. “Never mind. Once the pan is cool enough, I’ll chuck it in the cab of the ute in a plastic bag and clean it when I get home. All the plates and shit can go in there too.”

  “Shall we give the leftover food to the possum?”

  Shazza shook her head. “The salad is probably fine to chuck into the bush for the animals, but human food isn’t great for them. We should lock it inside the ute, so they don’t scavenge it.”

  “That makes sense.” Anvita nodded then didn’t speak again until she’d finished her meal, having eaten it with a knife and fork. Neatly, unlike Shazza’s bush sandwich that she wolfed down using her fingers. The contrast between them reminded her of her place in Anvita’s life. Shazza might want a soothing hug to turn into something more, but anything between them would be temporary. Maybe she’d be okay with that. Sex was just sex—it didn’t have to mean more.

  “Here. Give me those.” She held out her hand and took the dirty plate and cutlery from Anvita and dumped them into the frying pan. It was cool enough now to be wrapped up and left in the cab of the ute, away from any animals hunting for an easy meal, and wouldn’t add too much of a smell to the already blended scents of her ute. It only took a few minutes to clean everything up and then with nothing else to keep her occupied, Shazza scratched her forehead.

  “When you are done, come up here and watch the sky with me.�
� Anvita’s proposal would have to do. She’d done as much as she could to pass the time, and now the sun had set. She climbed up onto the ute, and slipped off her boots, leaving them neatly in the corner of the ute. Anvita patted the yoga mat beside her and Shazza sat down.

  “If you are hoping I’ll be able to tell you about the stars and whatnot, you’re out of luck.”

  “Shazza. You don’t have to do everything. I’m fine.”

  “Really?”

  Anvita leaned closer, her shoulder brushing against Shazza’s with a crackle in the air. “Really.”

  “Good.” Shazza cleared her throat after the word came out all growly and rough.

  “There is one thing, though.”

  “Yes?”

  “Can I kiss you?” Anvita’s question sent a rush of heat across Shazza’s skin. Before she could second-guess herself and think too hard, she reached over and kissed Anvita first.

  Just dove in, so to speak, although the reality was that she moved her head with caution. An emotional dive with a physical slowness. Her lips caressed Anvita’s cheek, warm soft moisturised skin with a tang of bug spray to remind her of their outdoor location. Anvita shifted beside her and lifted her hand to meet her shoulder. Slowly they lay down, lips touching each other’s in the beginnings of a kiss.

  “Shazza.” Anvita whispered against her lips, then deepened the kiss. It was a homecoming, an arrival, with all the thrill of seeing someone you hadn’t seen in forever, and the joy of being safely home. Shazza stared into Anvita’s brown eyes, as the light around them faded and sensation took over.

  Every minute movement of lip against lip added heat to Shazza’s skin, and she shifted so she could hold Anvita’s face with one hand. This was the kiss she’d been needing, been waiting for, ever since she’d first seen Anvita at the interview for Uplift. She traced her finger around the other woman’s ear and drank in her moan. Anvita pushed gently on her shoulder, and together they rolled so Anvita lay over her, mouths still joined. Shazza opened her mouth, welcoming Anvita in, and the slash of her tongue across her own jolted like a spark down into her chest.

  Fuck yeah.

  She slid both hands into Anvita’s thick hair, the long strands brushing over her hands.

  “Hold on.”

  “Like this?” Shazza dug her fingertips against Anvita’s scalp.

  “Yes. Please.” Anvita sucked on Shazza’s tongue, then with a hard kiss against her gasp, she moved down, trailing kisses down Shazza’s throat. She let her head rest back against the yoga mat on the deck of her ute, glad she had something between her head and the hard, metal, grubby surface. With every kiss from Anvita, her fingers softened in Anvita’s hair, until they slid down to hold her shoulders.

  Anvita glanced up. “Still good?”

  “Excellent.” Shazza hadn’t had sex since Shane died. She’d been too busy with work and the kids and holding everything together, and whenever she had a spare moment, grief stopped her from more than using her own hands. “I’m clean, by the way, I had all the tests done after Shane’s death.”

  Oddly enough, none of that mattered right now. Her earlier nerves that had led to her buying too much food disappeared. She wanted this, wanted to kiss Anvita.

  “I understand.” Anvita lifted her head, and Shazza missed the sensation of Anvita’s mouth on her throat. “I didn’t trust Brian and had myself tested after the divorce. Thankfully, I was clean then, and I haven’t had time for a hook up since.”

  It wasn’t about trust for her and Shane, she just needed to have some other tests done and the doctor had recommended getting the full range of STI ones at the same time. So, she only nodded, not wanting to compare Shane with Brian, simply because it wasn’t fair to remind Anvita of her own healthy relationship, cut short by death, against Anvita’s obviously hurtful divorce.

  “I think we have time now.” Shazza wanted this kiss, this whole evening, to be more than a hook up, but she’d take what she could.

  “Yes. We do.” Anvita unbuttoned Shazza’s work shirt and pulled the two halves wide open. “I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you.”

  “Really?” People stared at her big tits all the time, so that didn’t surprise her, but when Anvita nestled her face between them and licked, Shazza squealed. If That’s what Anvita meant, then Shazza could get on board with that idea.

  “Yes, really.” Anvita held Shazza’s tits in her hands with a reverence that amazed her.

  “I’m sorry my bra isn’t prettier. Getting something supportive for this size doesn’t equate to sexy stuff.” Not without a ridiculous price tag, anyway. Lacy and supportive bras were way outside Shazza’s pay grade. She’d rather be…

  “It’s practical. Just like you. And delightfully perfect.” Anvita eased all her concerns. It certainly helped that she was holding Shazza’s big tits with her hands, and gently stroking them. Anvita’s thumbs slid over her taut nipples, and Shazza had to bite her bottom lip to prevent another squeal of delight. The best part was that Anvita took her time, slowly worshipping her tits with her exploring hands. Shazza squeezed her thighs together, wet and ready for more. Anvita stroked and caressed, and toyed with her until she panted. And when Anvita sucked on one nipple—even through the fabric of her practical bra—she moaned loud enough to silence the chatter of the birds in the trees behind the ute.

  “More, please.”

  Anvita’s mouth shifted, like she’d smiled, and she sucked again. Shazza’s hips bucked up against Anvita’s leg, and she needed to hold on. She wrapped her arms around Anvita, her fingers digging into the back of Anvita’s neck, and Shazza lifted her head to kiss the top of Anvita’s scalp. One more strong suck from Anvita caused her head to drop back, and her eyes almost rolled in their sockets as pleasure rocketed through her body.

  “Oh my God, you are good at this.”

  “Thank you.” Anvita slid one hand down between them, trailing along the skin of Shazza’s plump stomach. She held her breath. When people said they loved curves, they meant tits and butts, and they pretended the curves didn’t go everywhere. Shazza struggled to like the way her stomach hung over the waistband of her jeans, and since having kids, it was covered in stretch marks too. At least it was dark enough now with the sun almost set so Anvita couldn’t see them. “I love your body. It’s so full and round and soft. Everything that is beautiful in a woman.”

  “Truly?” Shazza wasn’t so sure.

  “Really. I’ve always had a thing for full figured women. Thick thighs, big tits, a full round stomach and hips. The best.”

  Shazza tried to push away that awful doubt. It had been around her whole life, one compliment from an elegant person wasn’t going to get rid of it completely, but it sure helped when Anvita obviously worshipped her skin with her hands and mouth. “Thank you.”

  Anvita laughed, and her lips vibrated against Shazza’s skin, sending sparkles of passion scattering all over her body. “See. I told you you’d learn how to take a compliment.”

  “That’s me. Learning every fucking day.” Shazza wanted to squirm against the uncomfortableness of this discussion, but the little circles Anvita drew on her stomach made it impossible to feel anything but brilliant awareness.

  “Hey, stop underestimating yourself. I’d be sleeping on a couch with my crew if you hadn’t organised tonight.”

  Shazza had to stop herself from dismissing her efforts. “There’d be no bugs there.”

  “And you had an answer for that too, although the taste of bug spray on your face wasn’t the greatest.” Anvita paused and Shazza started to apologise. “But a little bitter tang is worth it.” Anvita lowered her head and licked Shazza’s stomach.

  “Oh, yes.” Shazza couldn’t think of a retort. She stretched her arms down as far as they would go, but Anvita kept moving lower, and all she could reach was her hair which lay trailed over her bra and stomach.

  Anvita unbuttoned Shazza’s jeans and Shazza lifted her hips to help Anvita drag her jeans off. Her underwear
went with them—thank fuck for that—no one needed to see the ugly old stretched pair of undies she’d been wearing. But Shazza hardly had time to stress about her lack of sexy clothes, because Anvita placed her mouth at the top of her curls. An electrical buzz flooded her body and her hips bucked up against Anvita’s face. She wanted to sit up and hold Anvita’s head, but her body was too relaxed to try. Anvita’s hands explored her thighs, stroking the skin until Shazza was ready to come. Her thighs relaxed, wide, open and encouraging. And when Anvita—finally—stroked one finger along her soaked labia and dipped inside her, she let out an almighty moan and a shudder.

  Anvita’s favourite thing was the musky scent of an aroused woman.

  She’d fucked everyone and anyone before her marriage. Why she’d ever thought she should marry a man was something she deliberately chalked up to being young and naïve. But the way Shazza cried out as she touched her, and the aroma that filled her nostrils as Anvita stroked and played with her, was better than anything else.

  This moment felt like home.

  She never would have imagined she’d ever want to be outdoors, on the back of a damned ute in the bush, but being with Shazza, like this, all spread-legged for her, and soaking wet, was exactly where Anvita wanted to be. It was like every moment in her life until now had been a rehearsal for this time. And she was determined to enjoy every second of it.

  She flicked her forefinger over the tight bud of nerves at the top of Shazza’s wet slit and let the guttural wail of Shazza’s moan wash over her skin. It would be so easy—no, necessary—to kiss her clit now, suck on it until Shazza came all over her face, but there was one thing she needed to do first. Anvita dragged her knees under her body, and balanced on one hand, while keeping the other circling Shazza’s clit. Once she had her balance, she shifted so she was beside Shazza, able to touch her wetness, and kiss her on the mouth at the same time.

  The kiss tasted like Shazza, the slightly burnt lamb she’d lovingly prepared for dinner, with a touch of vinegar from the salad dressing, and underneath it all, the soothing taste of summer peaches. Sweet, succulent, and delicious. Anvita kissed Shazza, stroking her tongue with hers, to match the rhythm of her hand, and kept the pace until Shazza grew more desperate. Shazza grabbed her hand and pushed her fingers inside her.