A Table for Two (33 page)

"I guess we've got some time to ourselves." Dana lifted Ridley's shirt and cupped one of her breasts in her hand. "I feel good and rested, don't you?"

"I think I've recovered sufficiently." Ridley pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor. Then she wiggled out of her panties and threw them aside. "I want to make love to you," she said as she helped Dana out of her tee shirt and panties. "I thought I'd never touch you again." Ridley kissed Dana until they were both struggling to breathe and then bent to kiss her breasts. With her hand she caressed Dana's entire body and when she reached between her legs, she gently parted them. "I need to touch you."

"Yes. I want you to...please." Dana's hips searched for Ridley's hand.

Ridley groaned as she felt how wet Dana was. She held her close as she made love to her and watched Dana's face change, her eyes close and her breathing become erratic. She stayed with her as she stiffened and cried out and then she held her close when it had passed. She knew she would never leave Dana. Life without her in it was unthinkable and unbearable. "I'm so glad you came back to me."

"I never left you, not really."

Ridley separated from Dana enough to meet her eyes. They were dark as the night and filled with a desire that poured into her and made her want to stay in bed with Dana forever and never stop touching her. "Pinch me and tell me this isn't a dream."

"If this is a dream, I never want to wake up." With her arms around Ridley's chest, Dana rolled them over so her body ended up on top of Ridley's. She straddled Ridley's firm thigh and wedged her own thigh between Ridley's legs.

Ridley opened her legs wider as Dana began to slide against her. She ached for relief from all the emotions of the last few days, all the pain and all the longing. They moaned together and moved together and fit together perfectly and before long, they cried out their release together.

"You're a wonderful lover," Dana said as she rested in Ridley's arms. "I never thought it could be like this. It's like you live inside me, inside my soul. We're amazing."

"You're amazing and I love you more than you'll ever know. We haven't known each other that long, but I feel like you're my soul mate. I've known it from the start." Ridley spoke through a haze of desire. She kissed Dana's eyes, her cheeks and mouth and then she laid a trail of kisses down the length of her body leaving no part of her un-kissed. When she reached the place she'd hungered for the most, she lifted her eyes. "I've missed doing this the most. I want to do this to you again and again and..."

"Oh, God," Dana cried as Ridley covered her with her mouth.

A COUPLE OF hours later, in spite of wanting to make love with Dana for the rest of the day and then some, Ridley climbed out of bed. "We'll have to continue this later. I hate to leave this bed and you, but we should get to the hospital. I'm anxious to see my mother and make sure she's okay. I'm going to hop in the shower. Want to join me?"

"If I join you, can I trust you?" Dana teased.

"Hell no." Ridley took Dana's hand and dragged her into the bathroom. "We're not in that much of a hurry and I'm not that strong."

After a long shower, they went into the bedroom to get dressed. Ridley reached into one of the dresser drawers and held out another pair of panties for Dana. "Here, you can wear these. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Dana's eyes twinkled.

"Unless you'd rather not wear any underwear at all? I'd find it terribly sexy knowing you didn't have any on."

"You don't say? Then I won't wear any panties." Dana threw the panties on the bed behind her and winked as she pulled her jeans on over her naked body. "I do have to wear a bra, though. I'm too self-conscious about going around in public without one."

"All right, if you insist, although, it would be a whole lot sexier to think of you without a bra or panties." Ridley pretended to pout as she pulled on her panties and jeans and then put on her bra. "I have to say I'm disappointed."

"You're not being fair. You're wearing underwear," Dana said.

"I'm visiting my mother. I have to be decent."

"Oh? And I don't?"

"No. Besides, she told me never to leave the house without clean underwear on case I have an accident and end up in the hospital and we are going to the hospital, aren't we?" Ridley grabbed Dana and hugged her playfully. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm always hungry for you, but if you mean for food, yes."

"I don't feel like making breakfast or doing dishes or trying to find my way around my mother's kitchen. Why don't we stop at my favorite diner on the way to the hospital? They have an interesting menu and they make the best home fries. I feel like I haven't eaten for days and I desperately need a good cup of coffee."

"So why are we poking around? Hurry up."

DANA GLANCED AT Ridley as they walked side by side down the long corridor that led to the ICU. Dana stopped about mid-way and grabbed Ridley's hand. "You look happy," she said as she studied Ridley's eyes. "And that makes me happy."

Ridley jumped into the depths of Dana's eyes. "I am happy. You're mine and my mother's going to be all right. What more could I want?"

Dana raised Ridley's hand to her lips. "The way your eyes burn into me, they melt me inside and I'm all flesh and blood and liquid desire."

"That's a beautiful thing to say." Ridley kissed Dana's fingers and raised her eyes to capture Dana's, again. "You seem to be able to take the heat."

"Hold that thought until we're alone again." Dana dipped the tip of one finger into Ridley's slightly open mouth and tugged on her bottom lip. "Right now we're in the middle of a public hallway and we have to go see your mother."

After checking in with the unit clerk, Ridley and Dana went to her mother's bedside. They were surprised to find Vicki out of bed sitting in a chair. Her color was much better and she was alert. Everything was gone but one IV and her nasal oxygen.

Vicki glowed when she saw them. "Here's my Ridley...and you brought Dana." Her voice sounded hoarse and her words came out dry and sticky. She motioned to the space by her chair. "Come over by me, girls, and sweetheart, give me some water, will you?"

Ridley held the plastic cup with the curved straw while her mother took a drink. "You look so much better, Mom." Ridley kissed her on the cheek.

"I think I'm on the mend," Vicki said.

"How do you feel this morning?" Dana asked.

"Like I've been hit by a truck," Vicki said, her words followed by a painful grimace.

"Mom..." Ridley and Dana looked at each other. "You were hit by a truck."

"I was?" Vicki winced as she started to laugh. She clutched a special pillow to her chest to brace her sore ribs. "Please don't make me laugh."

"Sorry, Mom." Ridley pulled up a chair next to her mother while Dana sat on the edge of Vicki's bed. Ridley proceeded to tell her mother everything she knew about the accident and the events that followed. "Don't ever scare me like that again. I don't know what I would do if you weren't around."

Vicki took Ridley's hand in hers. "I'm not going anywhere just yet. I'll be around until you're good and sick of me." She touched her daughter's cheek. "I'm doing fine, so the doctors and nurses keep telling me. The cardiologist came in this morning. I must admit he was a little worried when he listened to my heart."

"He was?" Ridley asked. "Why? Was something wrong?"

"No, honey, but he was handsome enough to make it skip a beat or two."

"I guess you do feel better," Ridley said.

"You can't blame me for admiring a handsome man. I do that every now and then. One of these days, I might even do more than that if the opportunity presents itself. I'm not too far over the hill for romance, I hope."

"Of course you're not, Mom. I think you're lovely."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"So, what did the cardiologist say?" Ridley asked.

"He said my heart's healthy and there's nothing wrong with it. I'm going to a regular room later as soon as they get a bed for me."

"Why are you still on the heart monitor?"

"I asked them that and they said you have to be when you're in the ICU. It's policy." Vicki took a long look at the two of them. "That's enough about me and my accident. Something has changed between you two. You both look radiant."

Ridley went to Dana and put her arm around her. "We're in love, Mom."

"Why, of course you are. That's what I see."

"What do you think, Mom?"

"Why, I think that's the best news I've ever heard. I'm happy for you both, I really am." Vicki held out her hands. When the girls took hold of them, she looked up at Ridley and said, "I so hoped for this." Then she spoke to Dana. "Welcome to the family. We're few in number, but we're a devoted bunch. A talented chef and a nice girl like you will be a wonderful addition and I'm very pleased to say the least."

"Thank you," Dana said. "I want you to come to my restaurant any time you want. Bring your sister or Ridley or anyone else you want to bring. I owe you and your daughter a lot."

"Whatever do you mean?" Vicki asked.

"Yeah, why would you owe us anything?" Ridley asked.

"Thanks to the two of you, I came out to my family when I was in Chicago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ridley asked.

"I wanted to tell you and your mother together. You're the one who pointed me in the right direction, Ridley, when you told me how you regretted not having told your father and then when your mother shared her feelings with me that time we went for dinner, I made up my mind that I would tell them the next time I saw them."

"Good for you, dear," Vicki said. "How did it go?"

Dana told them all about it. "I'm so relieved that's out in the open."

"Did you tell them about you and Ridley?" Vicki asked.

"No. I wasn't sure about us at the time and I thought it would be too much. I did tell my sister about her, though, and next time I talk to my mother, I'll tell her."

"I'm proud of you." Vicki's eyes drooped. "Push the bell for the nurse, will you? I'd like to get in bed and I think I need a pain pill."

Two nurses came in and asked Ridley and Dana to leave while they got Vicki back in bed and made her comfortable. They directed them to a small family room inside the ICU.

Ridley sat next to Dana in the empty room. "You are so hot," she whispered. "All day I thought about you naked inside those jeans and I wondered if you were wet and if you wanted me as much as I wanted you."

"We're awful. Your mother's in the hospital and all we can think about is making love to each other. I am wet and looking at you makes me wetter."

"Just knowing that turns me on even more. And we're not awful. It's wonderful to feel this way. It's a sweet, sweet torture."

Dana leaned forward, her voice low. "I can't wait to be alone with you."

With one eye on the door in case someone came in, Ridley placed the palm of her hand on Dana's cheek and ran her thumb back and forth over the soft skin. "Can you stay with me again tonight? Please say you can."

"Yes, but I'll have to go back home later tomorrow. I have to be up early on Tuesday to go to the wholesale markets and I need to get back to running my restaurant. I've taken advantage of Tracy long enough."

"I don't care as long as I know you're mine."

After fifteen or twenty minutes, the nurses sent one of the residents into the family room to talk to Ridley about her mother's progress. After that, she and Dana sat by her mother's bedside and talked to her for a while.

"You two don't need to spend your day watching me sleep. I'm fine," Vicki said once the pain pill kicked in and she started to drift in and out of sleep. "Go out and have fun together. Go have a nice dinner and get out of this hospital."

Ridley took her mother's hand. "I hate to think of you here alone."

"I won't be alone. My friend Arlene is coming and she'll be bringing Aunt Jean with her. I'm tired and sore and I think I just need to rest. Why don't you girls come back tomorrow? I'll have one of the nurses call you if I need anything."

"I'll call this evening and see how you're doing," Ridley said. "And I'll come to see you tomorrow. I'm not going home or back to work for another day or two."

Vicki nodded. "That will be fine. I'm very happy about the two of you." She glanced at Dana. "I'm glad you're staying with Ridley. Now, I've got two cheeks, so you each choose one and give me a goodbye kiss."

THEY DROVE IN silence, having no need for words. They knew where they were going and what they were going to do when they got there. Nothing else existed but the two of them, two people who needed to express their love for each other, not with words but with their hands, their mouths, and their bodies.

The instant they stepped inside the house, Ridley grabbed Dana and kissed her with a need and a hunger that had been building all day. She couldn't wait one more second. Dana's lips parted to allow Ridley access to the sweetness within. Ridley yanked Dana's shirt from her pants and touched the smooth skin at the small of her back. "I've wanted to touch you all day."

"You told me," Dana whispered.

Ridley slid her hands down the back of Dana's jeans and pulled her against her hips as she kissed her again. Wanting someone with this level of intensity was an entirely new experience and even this early in their relationship, she was hopelessly addicted to the feel, taste and smell of Dana. She was the most delicious, sweetest creature on earth and being with her was the very essence of joy.

Dana rocked her hips into Ridley's. "All day, I keep thinking of your mouth on me." She touched her trembling fingers to Ridley's lower lip. "Could you do that for me?"

Dana's question drew a low groan from Ridley. "Yes," she breathed. With one hand, she held Dana and with the other she unbuttoned Dana's jeans, slid the zipper down and reached inside. "I kept thinking about how wet you told me you were."

Dana's body shook all over and she cried out almost immediately. "Good lord, I've never done anything like that. I..."

Ridley held her until she stopped shaking. "You're so beautiful. Let's go upstairs before we end up on the floor."