Vicki & Lara

Meeting Each Other
Series:

Vicki & Lara

Published in October
2013 by Little Vamp Press

ISBN:
978-0-9926995-1-2

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No
part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any
means, electronic, mechanical, printing and subsequent photocopying
or otherwise. It is intended for the use of the purchaser only.

Cover image Copyright ©
Grace Elkin 2013

www.graceelkinphotography.co.uk

All characters and
words the work of Raven ShadowHawk

All characters,
locations, names or incidents appearing in this work are fictitious
and a product of the author’s overactive and slightly crooked
imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living, dead,
vampire, ghost, zombie, lycanthrope, faerie or daemon is purely
coincidental. Promise.

This book is sexually
graphic and intended for a mature audience. This book, and others
in the series, should only be purchased and/or read by those for
whom it is legal, according to the laws in their country of
residence.

The moral right of the
author has been asserted.

Copyright © Raven
ShadowHawk 2013

While part of
me wants to dedicate this story to my sons, the rest of me is happy
to acknowledge that when they’re older, they may be horrified at
being linked, in any way, to a work of erotic fiction written by
their mother. So . . . thanks to my wonderful loving Dave, my Funk
Master, for encouraging me, believing in me, and giving me the
time, space and invaluable encouragement to really follow my
dream.

It’s not crazy
after all.

Love you x

Though I tried
not to notice, I knew, as soon as I entered the bedroom, that Lara
was naked. Her clothes lay heaped on the floor beside the bed, damp
and stinking of lager.

My breathing
hitched and I clicked off the light to hide the blush I could feel
burning my cheeks.

A few seconds
passed before my eyes adjusted, and then I could see everything.
Moonlight haloed Lara’s body, and the bed sheets smoothed the shape
of her hips and thighs into soft mounds. Through the cotton, I
could see the dark triangle of hair between her legs.

Yep. Totally
naked.

I looked away,
staring instead at the relative safety of her face.

She stretched,
causing the sheets to slip back over her skin. ‘Vic?’

‘Yes, it’s me.’
I licked my lips, my gaze following the scalloped edge of the sheet
as it inched further down her body. When it dropped off the peak of
her breasts and landed in a rumpled pile on her stomach, I felt my
own gut clench.

The cool air
teased Lara’s dark nipples into stiffness and brought goose pimples
to my arms. Her hair, red and long, slithered over her neck and
shoulders, shiny in the silver light falling through the open
curtains.

‘Are you sure
you don’t want a T-shirt?’ Turning aside, I pulled open a drawer on
my dresser, eager to cover her up. To remove the temptation.

‘You really
think you have anything to fit me, Miss Hips-and-Arse? Don’t worry
about it.’ Grinning, she shook her head and lifted a corner of the
sheet in that universal gesture of invitation. ‘Coming?’

‘Just a
second.’

Rough red lace
with a plunging neckline made the first nightdress I found
unacceptable. Better was the white tent-like garment with a pair of
sleeping teddy bears stitched onto the chest.

Perfect.

I took my time
over removing my jewellery; placing each item on the dresser in a
neat line. Over the back of the chair, I put my skirt, then my
blouse, aware that Lara followed my every move. Only after turning
my back and wriggling into the nightshirt did I take the time to
fold the clothes.

‘You okay,
hon?’

Still facing
the door, I took a deep breath. ‘Fine.’

‘Is everyone
gone now?’

I nodded.
‘Bill’s got the spare room. Lin, Niall and Carol are sharing the
sitting room.’

‘In you get,
then.’

When I turned
back, Lara lifted the sheet. She held it high and gestured with her
free hand, renewing the invitation. ‘You’re leaving your underwear
on?’

‘Yes.’ I said,
pleased at how steady my voice sounded.

‘You’ll ruin
the bra.’

‘It’s
fine.’

She shrugged.
‘Whatever.’

Having run out
of excuses, I stepped up to the bed, arms folded across my chest.
Swallowing the lump of my heart in my throat, I climbed in and
tucked my half of the sheets around me. Six inches of mattress
separated me from Lara’s naked body.

Not
enough.

She rolled her
eyes, then turned onto her side to face me. Her eyes shone like
liquid crystal while moonlight highlighted the bright white of her
teeth and gave her the impression of a Cheshire cat.

‘Thanks for
hiding my car keys,’ she said.

‘No
problem.’

Lara propped
her head on one hand and traced small circles on the sheet with the
other. Each time her finger came close to my side, my chest
tightened. I moved my hands away and clasped them on top of my
stomach instead.

The finger
stopped moving. ‘Had a good time?’

‘I guess. No
puke, fights or arrests. That must be a record.’

‘For one of
your birthdays? Probably.’

The next words
seemed to burn my mouth as they left it. ‘What happened to
Malcolm?’

‘What do you
mean?’

I stared at
her. ‘He looked . . . upset.’

‘I suppose he
would have been. But not as much as you.’

She was right
about that, so I kept my mouth shut.

Lara grinned
and flopped onto her back.

With my
peripheral vision, I saw the sheet slide off her breasts again. It
took vast strength of will to keep my eyes on her face. Despite
that, I could feel my mouth moistening and the tightening in my own
body as I imagined touching her nipples with my tongue. I could
almost feel the silk-like softness of her skin against my lips and
palms. Her smooth, pale body above my dark one.

‘. . . creep
with a jealousy complex. He deserved it.’

Only from the
silence that followed did I realise Lara was expecting a reply.

‘Were you even
listening?’

‘Sorry. Miles
away.’

‘I’ll say. I
said he deserved it. He’s not your boyfriend any more, just a creep
with a jealousy complex. Why do you think I did it?’

‘You’re crazy,
that’s why.’

‘No.’ She
grinned. ‘I did it because he thinks you’re stupid. That you’d go
back to him after how he treated you.’

‘He said
that?’

‘Near enough.
But I knew you wouldn’t.’

Lara’s gaze was
hot on mine, eyes widening. I recognised the signs; I knew she was
trying to tell me something. Part of me wanted her to simply say
it, but the rest of me worried what the words would be. So I didn’t
ask. Instead, I settled on something safer.

‘But did you
have to shave his head?’

She grinned,
and the gesture sent slithers of warmth coursing through my body,
as far as my toes.

‘It’ll grow
back.’

In my mind’s
eye, I saw Malcolm storm from the house, fingering the inch-wide
strip of exposed skin along his skull from forehead to the nape of
his neck.

‘Feeling sorry
for him?’

‘God no, I
just—’ I had no words to finish the thought.

‘Vic, you’re my
girl. You must know I’m going to stand up for you. Whatever
happens.’

My girl.

The words gave
me a warm glow I had no right to feel.

A smile played
around my lips. My shoulders relaxed into the mattress. ‘What did
you do with it?’

‘The ponytail?
Binned it; mullets went out years ago. Why? Did you want a
souvenir?’

My smile
blossomed into a grin, complete with laughter. ‘Gross!’

Chuckling, Lara
pantomimed her earlier actions with the razor. ‘Bzz!’ she cried,
jabbing the air near my face with a bunched-up fist. ‘Let’s see him
fix
that
without going for a complete skin-head!’

‘Thank
you.’

‘Don’t be
stupid.’ Lara reached over and yanked me into a bone-crunching hug.
She seemed not to notice when I stiffened beneath her. A twist of
her hips pressed her whole body against mine.

Her proximity
made my nightshirt utterly pointless. I could feel everything from
the heat of her skin, to the patch of sweat on her chest and
stomach which soaked through my nightdress. Her breath whispered
across my face: cheap wine laced with chicken Madras, mango chutney
and cheap lipstick.

I closed my
eyes and inhaled.

Never had I
smelled anything so good.

‘I love you,
Vic.’

My eyes snapped
open.

I jerked away,
spitting strands of red hair out of my mouth. ‘What?’ I wiped my
sweaty palms on the front of my nightshirt and tried to tell the
joyous leap in my stomach that she couldn’t possibly mean what I
hoped she did.

‘You’re my best
friend,’ she continued. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

‘You’re drunk.
Anyway, it’s more like what
I’d
do without
you
.’ I
frowned. ‘Malcolm would have—’

Tension rushed
back into my body. The gut-churning sensation of impotent fear
crawled through my limbs as they remembered the feel of his large
calloused hands gripping my arm. Slapping my face.

I pressed my
legs together.

‘How did you
know where we were?’

‘You looked so
scared, I followed you,’ she said. ‘No one else noticed.’

‘Good.’

‘It’s not.
People need to know what he’s like. He’s lucky Bill didn’t
see.’

I tried to
imagine the night’s outcome if my brother had found out what
Malcolm had done. ‘It would have continued the trend of birthday
arrests.’

Lara smirked.
‘And Malcolm isn’t worth going to prison over. So I dealt with it.’
She patted my shoulder and peace oozed through me.

The tiny hairs
on my arms and legs stood to attention beneath my nightshirt,
straining to be close to her. Blood rushed to the surface and
flushed my skin with heat.

‘Hey, Vic, it’s
okay. He’s gone now.’ She spoke to me the same way she spoke to
children in the surgery. I imagined her standing over me in her
pale-yellow uniform, bright hair pulled off her face in a high
ponytail.

It’s true what
they say about nurses.

‘I’m fine.’

‘Then why are
you shaking? Come here.’ She curled her limbs around me again,
tucking her head beneath my chin and rubbing my arms with brisk
strokes.

‘I’m not
cold.’

Lara ignored
me. ‘You always react badly to booze. Remember Majorca?’

I did, and the
memory was the last one I needed at that moment: Lara’s scantily
clad body, writhing to music, dripping with sweat. The rising
warmth in my belly. The first understanding that my feelings for my
best friend were evolving into something more. Something
unexpected. Something needy and visceral.

I remembered
our drunken kiss on the heaving dance floor and the playful press
of her hands on my hips and ribs as we teased the Spanish men with
their shameless stares.

My body hummed
with a pulsing need and a trickle of wetness slid down the inside
of my thighs. I wrenched free of Lara with more force than
necessary. Her arms slid away. My back left the mattress and I
clawed at the empty air, too late to save myself from falling off
the side of the bed, taking the sheet with me. It pooled on my face
and blocked the light as my hip and shoulder slammed into the
floor, my feet still resting on the mattress.