When Ash kissed her, the last shadows of worry and longing disappeared from Allie’s mind. Right at that moment, all she knew was Ash was here, and hers. “I love you.”

Ash stroked her back and kissed her throat. “I love you too. You okay?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Allie pulled Ash on top of her, opening her legs so Ash could settle between her thighs. She stretched beneath Ash, fitting her breasts and her belly into the solid planes of Ash’s body. “I’m really, really good right now. I bet in a few minutes, I could be even better.”

Chuckling at the not-so-subtle message, Ash braced herself on her elbows and skated her mouth over Allie’s. The feel of Allie’s warm pliant flesh, the scent of her—light and sweet with an undertone of dark orchids—went through her like a knife. Wanting her was a sweet agony she would gladly bleed for. “Jesus, I missed you so much.”

“Do you think you always will?”

“Babe, I’m sure of it.” Ash skimmed her open mouth over Allie’s breast, scraping her teeth lightly over Allie’s nipple.

Allie made a soft purring sound in her throat, the kind of sound she made when she was happy and turned on. Ash loved pulling that moan from her, almost as much she loved Allie’s cries of pleasure when she came. She rocked her hips between Allie’s, slipping her tongue deeper into her mouth, stroking slowly in all the places she knew got Allie even hotter. When she’d been away for a few days, Allie was always on edge when she got home. Allie was going to need a lot more reassurance to convince her she wasn’t walking out on her again. A lot more time, a lot more reassurance, and a lot more moments like this. Sex was more than just physical pleasure for Allie. For her too, but Allie was one of the most passionate women she’d ever met. Allie connected with others in a lot of different ways, but sex was definitely one of her most intense forms of expression. Allie absorbed sensation with every glance, pulled in emotion through her fingertips with every touch. Making love to Allie was just one way to prove she was staying—and definitely no hardship.

“I’ve been thinking about this since we talked last night.” Ash wanted to be the one to fill her, to satisfy her, to convince her she’d be there every single day from now on. She caressed Allie’s belly, stroking softly until Allie’s hips lifted and her legs went tight.

“Ash,” Allie murmured, half warning, half plea, “I’ve been ready since last night. If you’re not careful—”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to be very, very careful.” Ash slid her fingers between Allie’s legs, finding the silken path that took her home. She entered Allie in a long smooth thrust, and Allie gasped. Sometimes she took Allie slow, sometimes she liked to tease her until she begged, but after she’d been away a while, she took her fast the first time, reminding Allie of what was theirs alone. She kissed her mouth, pushed deeper, filled her until there was no space between them. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Allie murmured, her fingers digging into Ash’s shoulders. “More than I ever…thought…oh God, Ash, I’m going to come.”

“That’s right, babe, that’s right.” Ash clenched her teeth, her clit pounding, the urgency in her loins painting her vision red. She wanted to own her, down to her last fiber, she wanted to move her the way no one else ever would or ever could, the possessive passion driving her nearly insane. She picked up her pace and Allie came, squeezing down around her fingers, twisting and whimpering.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop,” Allie cried. “I’m going to come again, baby. Don’t stop.”

“I know, I know,” Ash whispered. She slowed, but didn’t stop—moving deeper with each tight stroke. The tide of Allie’s pleasure caught her by surprise, and before she could get control, she went under. “I can’t…I’m coming. God Allie, touch me—hurry.”

Ash lifted her hips and Allie scissored her fingers around Ash’s clit. Allie squeezed erratically, her attention fractured by the orgasm breaking inside her.

“Harder,” Ash groaned. “I’m almost there. Harder, please. Please, oh fuck.”

“Ash!” Allie bucked under her and Ash exploded, coming hard in Allie’s hand. Her mind gave way, her breath gave out, and she crumpled, helpless and drained. Allie wrapped her up in her arms, and Ash closed her eyes. She’d wanted to comfort Allie and found peace instead.

*

“All set.” Mica grabbed her denim jacket from a peg on the wall behind the bar and swung around the end to join Flynn.

Flynn pushed her half-finished beer aside and they walked outside. The streets had come alive and were filled with couples strolling hand in hand, groups of boisterous club crawlers, families with tired children in tow. Despite the still-warm days, the nights were cool, and Flynn put her hands in her pants pockets.

“Cold?” Mica asked.

Flynn smiled. “A little bit.”

“You want my jacket?”

“Then you’ll be cold.”

Mica hunched a shoulder. “I don’t get cold that easily.” She looked Flynn up and down. “Except I don’t think it’ll fit you.”

“I appreciate you offering. I’ll warm up in a few minutes.” Flynn hesitated. “Although I suppose you could put your arm around me and get me warmer all that much faster.”

Mica laughed. “You are so obvious.”

“I need practice.”

“Seriously.” Mica slowed, seemed to study Flynn’s face. She wrapped her arm around Flynn’s waist. “Better?”

Flynn’s pulse jumped into the stratosphere. Mica was smaller than her, an inch or two shorter, more delicate appearing, but the arm around her waist was firm and strong and she liked the way it felt. “Much, much better.”

“You sound surprised.”

“Maybe a little.”

“Why? You think I need taking care of and you don’t?” Mica didn’t let go of her, but she sounded angry.

“It’s not that,” Flynn said. “I’m just not used to it.”

“Not used to what?”

Flynn sighed. “Being taken care of, I guess.” She’d never really been with a woman she could lean on. No one’s fault, but that hadn’t been her role. With her parishioners, she’d had to be strong. With Evelyn she’d had to be the voice of reason, although she’d failed at that pretty miserably. She and Allie had come together as two bruised souls, seeking solace in one another. They both had been a little too hurt to do more than hold on.

Mica’s arm tightened around her waist. “So enjoy it.”

“I will.” Flynn slid her arm around Mica’s shoulders, lightly cupping her upper arm. The position was intimate, more intimate than anything she could remember. The time she and Allie had walked home holding hands came close, but she hadn’t had any expectations that night.

She felt differently now. Even though she knew nothing was going to happen between them, a frisson of excitement stirred in her belly, and she let the thrill spread through her. Mica was incredibly beautiful.

“Something wrong?” Mica asked.

“No, why?”

“Because you’re shaking all over.”

“I’m really bad at this. I’m sorry.”

“At what?”

“Dating, I guess.”

“Oh man, don’t tell me you’re a—”

“No, I’m not.” Flynn laughed. “Everyone’s always asking me that. I just…haven’t had all that much practice either. And it’s kind of been a while.”

“Are we dating?”

“I’d like to.”

Mica gripped the waistband of Flynn’s jeans, as if she thought Flynn might go somewhere. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“That’s good, because neither do I.”

“Maybe it would be better if we just fucked.”

“I’m sure that would be great,” Flynn said, proceeding by feel as if she were in a blacked-out room without the slightest glimmer of light. She didn’t doubt for a second if she said the wrong thing, made the wrong move, Mica would flee like a skittish animal. She didn’t have a roadmap. She had no game plan. She had instincts that could barely be called instincts, based on nothing except the fear she’d seen in Mica’s eyes and the uncertainty she’d heard in her voice. “I think going to bed with you would be fabulous. But I’d sort of like to work up to it, so when we get there, we can do it more than once.”

“You mean in a row?”

Flynn laughed again, feeling as if she’d dodged one landmine only to face another one. “Well yeah, that too, but I was sort of thinking that I didn’t want it to be a one-time thing.”

“So what if that’s all I want—one time?”

“Then that would be good to know up front.” Flynn stroked up Mica’s arm, over the crest of her shoulder, and lightly clasped the back of her neck, letting her fingers rest against the side of Mica’s throat. She was so warm. So soft. “It’s your call, Mica. But I have to warn you, I have a feeling that one time is going to leave me awfully hungry. So I’d rather we wait and find out if we maybe could do it differently.”

“I don’t know if I want to wait.” Mica threaded her fingers through Flynn’s and pulled Flynn’s hand away from her neck and down inside her jean jacket.

Flynn’s palm rested just at the top of Mica’s breast. If she moved her fingers an inch lower, she’d be caressing the hard point of Mica’s nipple. The cauldron of excitement in Flynn’s stomach exploded and shot down her legs, through her chest, and out her fingertips. “Oh man, I don’t want to wait now either. You’re driving me crazy.”

“Yeah? I like that.” Mica rubbed her hip against Flynn’s as they walked, dragging Flynn’s hand down and molding it to her breast.

“No fair,” Flynn muttered. She tugged Mica into the shadows under the awning of a closed clothing store, tilted Mica’s face up with her free hand, and kissed her. Mica tasted sweet with a little bit of a tangy bite. Flynn had seen Mica take a shot of bourbon right before they’d left the bar, the only drink Mica had had all night. The whisper of whiskey tingled on Flynn’s tongue. She wanted to keep kissing her, but if she did she’d have to touch her, and she couldn’t do that here. “Sorry, I just needed—”