Thirteen Hours (10 page)

“And we haven’t even had lesson three yet.” Dana gave a coy smile. “I remember hearing something about using our whole bodies to full effect.”

Laurel pushed her down onto the floor, pressing her back to the gray fleece blanket. She manipulated Dana until she lay diagonally across the car, and then settled her body on top, slipping a firm thigh between Dana’s legs.

“The best kisses are about much more than just your mouth,” Laurel murmured. “I want to feel your hands on me, honey. And I’m going to touch you, too. All over.”

“Anything, as long as I can keep kissing you.” Dana lifted her hands to Laurel’s ass. She traced her tongue over Laurel’s smile and then broke into her own answering grin.

Laurel eased one hand behind Dana’s neck, bending low over her so their lips continued to touch, and settled her other hand on Dana’s upper chest. “I can’t believe I’m making out with you. I’ve been lusting after you from the moment I walked into your office and saw the red hair and the power-dyke suit.”

“You get off on that kind of thing?”

Laurel shivered, her eyes heavy-lidded. “You have no idea,” she said. “It turns out you’re pretty much exactly my type.” She dipped her head down, pushing her tongue into Dana’s mouth with a groan of pleasure.

Dana let herself be thoroughly kissed for a minute or so before breaking away with a soft chuckle. “I suggest you reserve judgment until after you see me naked.”

She blushed the moment the words left her mouth. What a stupid thing to say.

“Don’t be silly,” Laurel said. “I’m looking forward to that moment, and I know I won’t be disappointed. You’ve got curves in all the right places.”

Dana nodded, biting her lip to hold back her emotion. “Kiss me some more,” she whispered.

Laurel closed the scant distance between them in happy obedience.

When her hand started sliding down over Dana’s chest, Dana nearly came unglued. Her body jerked in shock at the passionate caress and she tore her mouth away from Laurel’s, crying out in pleasure.

“Oh, honey,” Laurel rumbled. “You are going to be so, so responsive, aren’t you?”

“Embarrassingly so,” Dana admitted.

She pulled Laurel hard against her thigh, relishing the intense heat between her legs.

Laurel groaned and rotated her hips, grinding her lower body into Dana’s. “I need to check on something.”

“Check on what?” Dana slipped a finger beneath the black string that ran between Laurel’s firm cheeks. She let a fingertip stroke the top of Laurel’s ass, inching downward to explore between her buttocks. To her extreme delight, she found slick wetness farther from the source than she was expecting. “Oh, my.”

Laurel squirmed away, cheeks turning light pink. Unbuttoning Dana’s silky white shirt with trembling hands, she said, “I want to look at your breasts. Is that all right?”

Despite the slight hesitation she felt at being exposed, Dana forced herself to relax.
Loosen up. She’s been topless half the night, and now it’s your turn.
“It’s all right,” she agreed in a whisper.

Laurel fumbled with the last buttons and pushed the blouse open, easing it over Dana’s shoulders. She grinned down at the white bra she found beneath.

“The innocent look.” She traced her fingertip along the edge of the left cup. “I like it.”

“One of us has to look innocent.”

Laurel found the closure of Dana’s bra between her breasts. “Front clasp.” She unhooked it with a deft hand. “Very nice.”

“A stroke of dumb luck.” Dana swallowed when Laurel pushed her bra apart with gentle hands.
Keep talking. Don’t think about the fact that she’s looking at your bare breasts right now.
“And to think I almost wore my chastity belt today.”

Laurel chuckled but kept her eyes locked on Dana’s chest. Her nipples were light pink, much paler than Laurel’s, and harder than Dana had ever seen them before. She gasped, shocked at the sight of her body’s reaction. A moment later, she winced in pleasure-pain as Laurel dragged the flat of her tongue up the underside of Dana’s right breast, around her areola, and then flicked the tip over the hard point of Dana’s nipple.

Dana released a ragged breath. “Do that some more,” she begged.

Her legs fell open, hips thrusting upward, and a rush of hot wetness stained her panties.
That’s it, they’re ruined.
Not that it mattered. It was a small price to pay, favorite pair or not. Dana reached up and seized a handful of Laurel’s hair, compelling her closer. Laurel wrapped her lips around the left nipple and batted at it with her tongue.

“Oh, fuck,” Dana groaned. Laurel switched from the left breast to the right, trailing wet, sloppy kisses over Dana’s skin. Back and forth, back and forth, she worshiped Dana’s breasts.

Dana felt unworthy of such adoration and care, but greedy for it, all the same. She held Laurel’s head to her breast, toes curling in ecstasy. “God, you make me feel like I’m gonna…”

Laurel drew back, releasing Dana’s nipple with a soft, wet pop. She retreated slowly, staring at Dana with wide, unfocused eyes. “Honey, I’m sorry. Maybe we should…”

Oh, no. Dana’s face flooded with heat when she realized Laurel was putting an end to their intimate encounter. “What?” she whispered.

“You think we should stop?” She sat up on the blanket, pulling her shirt over her breasts and holding it closed with one hand.

“Not because I want to.” Laurel gripped Dana’s arm. “Believe me, I could have stayed there all night.”

Dana could still smell Laurel’s arousal where it was drying on her hand. “Then why do you want to stop?”

“Well, because I want…” Laurel paused, and then looked down at a spot between their bodies. “Or, rather, I don’t want you to think that this is all that tonight was about.”

“What do you mean?” Dana loosened her hold on her open shirt, feeling somewhat less on the defensive as she listened to Laurel’s voice.

She’s serious. She’s telling the truth.

“I don’t want to be your memory of a crazy, spontaneous sexual encounter in an elevator on your birthday,” Laurel said. “With a stripper.”

She worried at her lower lip with her teeth for a moment. “I do want to go out with you, Dana. I really like you and I want to date you.”

Okay, stop panicking and start focusing on what she’s telling you.

“Do you really think I’m looking at it that way?” Dana asked. “As a crazy memory I’ll have? A one-night stand?” She took Laurel’s hand in both of her own. “Do you really think I would take a chance, after all these years, on something that didn’t feel like more than that?”

Laurel shook her head. “No, I don’t. But that’s the other reason why we should stop. Dana, you’ve never even been with a woman before.”

Dana released her hand. “If you’re going to suggest that maybe I’m confused, or that this is just a stage—or a product of this situation—then you can just get over yourself. I’ve liked women for a lot longer than just tonight in this elevator, and if you think I’m—”

Laurel held up a hand to forestall Dana’s words. “No, I’m not saying that. Just listen to me, and try to understand. If we’re together, I’ll be your first lover in over ten years. I’ll also be the first woman.”

“Trust me, I’m painfully aware of that fact.”

“Dana, I want to hang around for a while.” Laurel paused. “Do you understand how big a responsibility all of that is? I need you to know that I see it that way, and not just as a hot night with a beautiful woman.”

Dana managed a shy grin. “You can’t see it as both?”

Laurel laughed, her tension clearly easing. “I want our first time to be right,” she said. “Not on the floor of some elevator stuck between the nineteenth and twentieth floors.”

“What do you think will make our first time right?” Dana felt warmth spreading through her chest at Laurel’s sincere words, even if she didn’t necessarily agree. “Wine? Flowers? Candlelight and a soft bed?”

Laurel nodded. “All wonderful ideas that I will take into account when I’m planning the big seduction. In fact, I’m already thinking about what I’ll make you for breakfast the next morning. Something hearty, I think, since you’ll be a little sore and most definitely dehydrated.”

“I really like pancakes,” Dana offered. Her voice betrayed her resurging arousal, now that the fear of rejection was gone. “If you’re looking for ideas.”

“Okay, then. Orgasms and pancakes. Post third-date material, at least.”

Dana shook her head. “It’s never too soon for orgasms and pancakes.”

“Dana, I—”

Dana pressed her fingertip between Laurel’s lips the instant she started talking. The words stopped and a warm tongue was bathing her finger with gentle, lapping licks. “If you’re not ready, I’m not going to push you,” she said. “I just need you to know that I
am
ready. I appreciate your sense of honor, and what you’re trying to show me. I think you’re almost too good to be true, really. I just…” She paused, uncertain about how to express herself in this. If Laurel was the right one, it shouldn’t matter how they started, or when. “This feels right to me.”

“Right?” Laurel repeated.

“Tonight we got trapped in an elevator as two people who couldn’t stand each other. I was a total bitch to you, yet for some reason you’ve become my friend.”

Laurel nodded. “Meeting you has been amazing. I wanted to smack you just a few hours ago, and now I want to make you feel good so badly it aches.”

Dana whimpered at Laurel’s words.
Don’t talk about your aching unless you’re prepared for a lapful of project manager.

“I feel like we’re going to be really good friends.” Laurel gave Dana an odd smile. “Fucked up, huh?”

“Totally fucked up,” Dana said. Somehow, Laurel had completely gotten to her and “friendship” didn’t begin to describe what she felt.

She made Dana want to lay herself bare, even though it scared her to death. “I feel so open and exposed with you,” she said. “And I trust you, and that isn’t going to change whatever we do tonight. I know you mean every word you say about this being something more. I feel the same way.”

“We’re moving pretty fast,” Laurel said. “I would hate for either of us to have regrets.”

Was that what Laurel thought—that Dana had no experience and therefore no context for her desires? That if they acted on their instincts, Dana might have second thoughts afterward and run away from whatever was forming between them?

“I understand what you mean,” she said. “But I already know I won’t be able to walk away tomorrow as if nothing happened. It’s strange, I’ve spent the last ten years avoiding situations that could make me vulnerable, and it hasn’t made me happy. I need to do something different.”

“I don’t want to risk hurting you,” Laurel said simply.

Dana gave the answer she was just starting to realize herself.

“Sometimes you have to take risks to find happiness.”

Something took hold of Laurel, transforming her expression into sheer radiance. “It means a lot to hear you say that. And to think, all it took was some naked breasts, a g-string, and a little making out.”

“No.” Dana brought Laurel’s hand to her lips and planted a soft kiss on the back. “All it took was meeting you.”

It took a few moments for Laurel to summon up the will to speak.

She managed a quiet, joyful noise that got Dana grinning wide. “Damn, Watts. Not bad at all. I’m not sure I can believe that you haven’t already charmed legions of women into your bed.”

“I’m no good with legions,” Dana said. “Lucky for me, though, I seem to do okay with you.”

Swooning, Laurel covered her heart with the palm of her hand.

“Stop it, woman. If you mix total adoration with the lust I’m feeling right now, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”

“What?” Dana asked. “More kissing? Using our whole bodies to full effect?”

Dana’s face was full of so much earnest longing, Laurel had to break their eye contact to keep control of herself. More than anything, she wanted to throw Dana down on the floor, tear off her suit, and make her moan. But she really liked Dana, so much it was beginning to frighten her, and she felt paralyzed by the fear of doing something to scare her away.

“Is it too soon for you?” Dana asked after a moment, her voice low. “I mean, for all I know, you probably like to date a girl for months before taking her to bed, right?”

“It depends on the girl.” Laurel took Dana’s hand, desperate to reestablish contact. That seemed safe enough. Dana sounded so concerned about what she was feeling that she couldn’t help touching her. She thought about the best way to answer, and decided that humor might set them both at ease. “You seem pretty easy. I doubt it would take that long.”

Dana pushed a hand through her hair, obviously unnerved that her desire was so obvious. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before saying, “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?” Quirking her lips into a tiny smile, she added, “It seemed like you were pretty ready about ten minutes ago.”

Laurel’s mouth twitched. “Well, I have to admit that getting trapped in an elevator with a beautiful stranger overnight seems like an awfully big opportunity to waste. It almost seems wrong
not
to do it.”

“And just think of the great story we’ll have to tell our grandkids,” Dana said.

Laurel burst into surprised giggles. Facetious or not, Dana had gotten her point across. This was not a one-night stand as far as either of them were concerned.

“Let me think about it, okay?” Laurel laid the palm of her hand on Dana’s throat, wrapping gentle fingers around the curve of her neck.

She leaned forward and gave Dana a slow, wet kiss. “Why don’t we take a breather and get to know one another a little better first?”

Dana’s small groan of disappointment almost undid Laurel. She couldn’t imagine enduring ten years of sexual frustration, then being moments from the promise of release only to be told to take a breather.

But Laurel needed to get her head together before making the decision to jump into a sexual relationship. She wasn’t used to treating sex as a casual decision, and she sure as hell didn’t want to start with someone who made her feel as happy as Dana seemed to.

“If that’s what you want.” Dana shifted to sit cross-legged once again. “Though I should tell you that after just a few hours together, you already know me better than anyone else in my life. Isn’t that pathetic?”