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  She trembled as Kai lightly brushed her lips across hers, a gentle tease, before pressing more firmly, delicate and determined. Kai licked her mouth, tasted its corners, her hands settling on Chloe’s shoulders. Those hands were cool but quickly warmed as they moved gently over the flannel covering Chloe’s skin.

  Chloe parted her lips for Kai’s tongue, and the other woman groaned, a tortured sound.

  “Fuck . . .” She tugged the covers down to get more of Chloe. “I’m going to hell for this. I’m going to hell,” she moaned against Chloe’s mouth. “But, God help me, I want you.”

  Chloe made a glad noise, pressing herself even more into the kiss, into Kai’s firm upper body, which was covered by a thick cashmere sweater. Kai pushed the sheet away completely, then unbuttoned the flannel pajamas as her kiss sweetly seduced Chloe, her tongue firm and hot, her skin soft and perfect. Chloe trembled, unable to believe that at last, she was getting to kiss the older woman the way she’d always wanted, that Kai was touching her with desire.

  She gasped when Kai touched her breasts, her thumbs brushing nipples that were already painfully hard. Between her legs was a river, flooding with want and anticipation.

  She whimpered as her body surged with sensation, her senses nearly on overload at the improbable that was actually happening: the dreamed-for moment of Kai making love with her.

  “Oh, God . . .” She clawed at Kai’s shoulders.

  “Sh . . .” her lover murmured as she kissed Chloe way down her throat, her lips moving in a tingling path down to where her hands already tugged and pinched at Chloe’s sensitive flesh, inciting her even more. “I’m going to make it so good for you.” Kai bit her throat. “So good.” She soothed the bite with her tongue; then her head dipped down.

  Chloe cried out as Kai’s mouth covered her nipple. Her tongue swept over the sensitive tip again and again while she squeezed and tugged at the other nipple. Chloe’s sex felt too swollen to be contained. She shifted her thighs under the sheet, trapped in the flannel pajamas.

  “Kai . . .” It was so natural to call out her lover’s name after so many years of fantasizing about touching her, about feeling her mouth, her hands. Chloe threw her head back, gripping Kai’s thick locks as Kai pleasured her with her mouth, teased her breasts and the sensitive nipples. Chloe quaked in the sheets, overcome by the sensations.

  This was what it meant to not have an imitation of what she craved. Ecstasy rolled through her, and she shuddered, her body reaching its completion without Kai ever touching her pussy.

  Chloe panted and sagged in the bed. But Kai didn’t stop. She tugged down the pajama bottoms and slid her fingers into the dampness between Chloe’s thighs.

  Kai groaned with pleasure as she effortlessly found the swollen clit and stroked it. Chloe’s desire swiftly rose again. She groaned and arched her back, her breasts lifting into Kai’s mouth, her hips circling in the bed as Kai pressed and circled her clit. First a slow and languorous dance of fingers and sensitive flesh. Then a firmer caress, a finger under Chloe’s hood. Harder, then faster, until a flush rose up Chloe’s chest, a prickling heat, and she cried out again, shudders of orgasm shaking the bed.

  “Can I get inside you?” Kai gasped the question against Chloe’s throat.

  “Yes!” Chloe widened her legs, and Kai slid her fingers deep inside. They both trembled.

  “You’re fucking amazing,” Kai groaned. “Amazing . . .”

  She settled her body over Chloe’s, one hand sinking in her hair, gripping it tight, the other between her legs, sweetly fucking another orgasm into her, then another and another, building the sensation higher and higher, until she gushed her peak over Kai’s hand and into the sheets. She screamed from the pleasure, her body a tight bow, all her muscles tensed and aching. Kai still fucked her, her fingers pressing, making a firm and beguiling motion against her G-spot, which stirred her hips again.

  It was like Kai was making love to her for the first and last time. Giving Chloe everything at once.

  Chloe panted as the sensations tripped through her.

  “Wait . . .” She pressed her hands against Kai’s chest. “I want to touch you,” Chloe gasped. “Let me touch you!”

  “You’re so beautiful. . . .” Kai buried her nose in Chloe’s throat, nibbling the side of her neck, her fingers making lazy strokes between her thighs, stirring through the thick moisture, then wandering back until they slid hotly against her rear passage.

  “Oh!”

  Chloe’s fingers clenched Kai’s sweater as the other woman explored her tender orifice, sliding in a gentle finger. Another finger caressed her clitoris, circling the sensitive bud.

  “Kai!”

  The finger at her rear moved deeper, moving subtly to the rhythm of the first, while Chloe’s breathing changed again, the pleasure building with each movement of Kai’s fingers on her, inside her. She had never felt anything like it before, her bottom stretched and opening hungrily to swallow the long finger, the knowing press and caress of her clit, a quivering pleasure.

  Her breath quickened. Her nails sank into Kai’s sweater while her lover’s hands worked magic between her thighs until she was coming apart. Coming apart and screaming.

  “Stop!” Chloe gasped. “Stop, please.”

  She pulled away from Kai, acutely feeling her nudity while her lover was still fully dressed. “I want to touch you. I want to make love with you.”

  Kai shook her head and pulled back even more, pressing kisses to Chloe’s hands. She was breathing heavily. With the orgasmic tremors falling away from her, Chloe could smell the alcohol even more on Kai’s breath. The other woman drew back even farther.

  “It’s just this time,” Kai said. “Just this once.” Her hungry gaze swept down Chloe’s body. “Ever since the night of the fair I’ve been thinking about you, thinking about touching you. It felt so wrong.” She groaned. “But damn, you feel so good.”

  Chloe grabbed Kai’s sweater in her fists. “Don’t say that. Stay with me. Let me show you how much I love you.”

  But Kai took her hands and pressed them together. “You don’t want me, baby. Not really.”

  Chloe stiffened. “Does that mean you don’t really want me, either?”

  “Fuck, I still want you. I want to taste and touch every part of you. I want . . .” She made a noise of frustration and need. “But this has to be it. There can’t be any more.” Kai stumbled to her feet and backed away from the bed. “Go back to sleep.” Chloe could make out only the barest gleam of Kai’s bright eyes in the darkness. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She stared in disbelief as Kai left the room and closed the door behind her. Her body was satisfied. Thoroughly ravaged and drenched in the aftermath. But she’d wanted an exchange of equals. Not some bullshit encounter that Kai could write off, as if it had never happened. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She jumped up from the bed and stumbled as her weak knees nearly buckled under her. She clung to the side of the bed for a moment, then left the bedroom, still naked, to find Kai.

  She didn’t have to go far. As soon as she padded into the hallway, she heard the sounds of light snoring. She followed the noises and found Kai sprawled on her back on the couch, still fully dressed, one leg dangling on the floor. She looked . . . vulnerable. Unlike herself.

  Chloe felt that ache inside her again. The feeling that she had done something to Kai, something that was wicked, something that the older woman did not deserve. Chloe remembered the words Kai had moaned against her mouth as she made love to her, the agony behind them.

  I’m going to hell for this, she had moaned. I’m going to hell.

  She didn’t want Kai like that. Not so torn and obviously tortured about what they had done and about what she was feeling for Chloe. Sighing, Chloe took off Kai’s shoes, put her dangling leg on the couch, and draped a blanket over her sleeping body. She loved Kai, but the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her like this.

  Chapter 7

 
The light was too bright. Chloe turned over in the bed and away from the morning sunshine. The sheets shifted against her naked body, and she sighed at the sensation of the cotton against her bare nipples, her back, and belly. She moaned and settled deeper into the sheets.

  “You keep making those noises, and I won’t be responsible for what happens between us today.”

  Her eyes flew open to see Kai in the doorway. She had showered and gotten dressed, impeccably put together in dress shoes, black slacks, and a gray sweater over a white button-down shirt. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and framed her handsome, smiling face. She looked like she was ready for a meeting.

  Chloe stared at her, amazed at the difference between this woman and the one who had stumbled out of bed last night, regretting everything they had done together.

  “Good morning,” she said tentatively, keeping the sheets over her breasts.

  “Yes, it is.”

  Chloe frowned. “What have you done with the Kai from last night?”

  “This is me, Little Bit. Just sober, unlike last night.” Kai tapped long fingers against her thigh. “Take a shower and get dressed. I’m taking you to breakfast.”

  “I—”

  “No arguments. Your bag is at the foot of the bed, and everything you might need is in the bathroom. You have forty minutes.”

  Then Kai left the doorway, her sexy, loose-limbed walk taking her down the hallway and toward the living room.

  “What the hell?” Chloe stared after her.

  But she didn’t bother wasting any time. She flung the covers back and quickly made the bed before hopping into the shower. Even though she wanted to linger over her body, savor the sensation of stroking places that Kai had so recently touched, she was mindful of the instructions she’d received, and thoroughly scrubbed her body instead, leaving the savoring for another time.

  Within thirty minutes she was dressed in her ankle boots, skinny jeans, and a red cowl-necked sweater. Her makeup was impeccable but her nerves were a mess when she left the bedroom in search of Kai.

  The other woman was in the kitchen, sitting at the small dining table, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper. Kai lifted her head when Chloe came through the door. Her bright eyes darkened as they took in her outfit, her figure, her face.

  “You look beautiful, Chloe.”

  This was the Kai she was used to. Controlled and debonair. Charming and unwavering in her pursuit of every sort of pleasure available to a woman. She was glad to see the uncertain, drunken woman from last night gone. But hadn’t she been the one who had made love to Chloe? Hadn’t she been the one who was out of control enough to take what she wanted?

  “Thank you.” Chloe cleared her throat. “Any more orders for me, Ms. Harrington?”

  Kai’s eyes sparkled. “Not yet. But it’s still early in the day.” She put aside the newspaper and drained the last of the coffee, then got up to rinse out the mug in the sink.

  Chloe couldn’t help but watch her slow, graceful movements around the kitchen, the press of her butt against the slacks, the long legs and the beautiful body, which were only emphasized by the slim-cut pants.

  Kai turned around, her eyes still amused. “You like what you see?”

  Chloe didn’t bother saying anything but the truth. “Very much.”

  “Good. Are you ready to go?”

  She was more than ready. Curiosity was eating away at her about what the Kai of serious talks and paternal distance had to say to her this morning that was different from what her lover had said last night.

  “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  They left the apartment for a restaurant nearby, Chloe feeling simultaneously proud to be at the older woman’s side and nervous about the reason for their conversation. In her slim-fitting slacks and three-quarter-length coat, and with her snapping gingerbread and mint eyes, Kai attracted more than a few second glances. Her entire look shouted power dyke, and her energy was so sexy and potent that it gave Chloe chills as she remembered what they had done together the night before.

  At the restaurant, Kai opened the door for her, ushering Chloe ahead of her with a hand at the small of her back. From the outside, it was a cozy and unassuming place with an anonymous-looking set of glass windows, an innocuous sign on the door. But once they walked in, the place was gorgeous. Stone floors, old-fashioned Campari posters on the walls, a long and elegant bar, with a gorgeous tuxedoed woman smiling from behind it.

  The tables were small and round, intimate, like the ones Chloe had seen in a thousand advertisements for European and African cafés. The walls were each painted a solid color, a deep yellow, ocean blue. The clientele was mixed, though mostly female, nearly a dozen tables filled with patrons, even though it was a Tuesday morning. The place smelled like delicious cooked things.

  People glanced up as they came in. Chloe thought she saw envy directed at her for being with such a fine woman. Her cheeks warmed with pride and an awareness of Kai. The hostess seated them at a corner table, with a blue wall framing Kai. Two glasses of Perrier later, they placed their orders.

  Kai took in the restaurant with a slow and appraising eye before turning back to Chloe. “You looked beautiful in bed this morning.”

  Chloe found herself blushing, remembering how it felt to awaken naked, the sun on her face, the sheets brushing her nipples as she luxuriated in the afterglow. Across the table, Kai’s gaze was amused, in control.

  This was the calm Kai, whom Chloe was more than familiar with. The woman who approached any crisis—whether it be Chloe’s first car accident or being downsized at work—with a levelheadedness and calm designed to put those around her at ease while masking her own panic. This was also the shrewd corporate strategist who never blinked first.

  “I’m glad to see you’re so calm about this,” Chloe said.

  Kai chuckled softly. “The truth is, I’m absolutely terrified about what happened between us last night. But it won’t do any good to ignore or avoid it.” She leaned back in her chair, bracing an arm against the table’s edge. “You were so responsive and luscious last night. I can’t let that go without saying so. You deserve to know that I enjoyed myself and had a wonderful time making love to you in my bed.”

  Jesus!

  Chloe felt her face roasting in the face of Kai’s casual acknowledgement of their lovemaking. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? And she should have known that Kai wouldn’t avoid talking about what this thing was between them. Her new lover was not a coward. Still, she waited for the other shoe to drop.

  “Last night shouldn’t have happened,” Kai said.

  The other shoe.

  Chloe took a careful sip of her sparkling water, giving herself time to respond to that unfair statement.

  “It shouldn’t have happened,” Kai said again. “And I have absolutely zero excuses for it. I have been celibate before, and I have never taken advantage of a woman just to get off after a dry spell. I have been drunk before and have never dragged a woman to my bed to fuck her just for my own satisfaction.”

  Chloe couldn’t keep silent then. “You didn’t drag me anywhere, Kai. I was already in your bed and waiting for you. And you certainly didn’t take any kind of advantage of me. I was ready and willing to make love to you. I’ve wanted it for far longer than you’ve been celibate.”

  “Well.” Kai’s eyebrows popped up, and she adjusted her napkin in her lap. She sighed, seeming at a loss for words. But, of course, that didn’t last long. “Your mother is not going to like this.”

  “Why do you have to tell her?”

  “I’m not going to tell her anything. We are.” Kai’s eyes flickered like lightning over Chloe’s face and throat before she looked up at the waitress, who had arrived with their hot drinks—a cappuccino and a hot chocolate. She waited until the woman left to speak again. “It’s bad enough that I did it, but it’s worse that I want to do it again.” That smile of Kai’s came again, a flickering and searing look that made Chloe’s ni
pples tighten against the sweater, made that place between her thighs tingle with the first stroke of arousal. “Thanks for coming out to breakfast with me. I didn’t want to risk falling into bed with you again by having this conversation in the apartment.”

  Chloe blushed again. Pleasure and amusement made her smile despite the gravity of their discussion. “It’s not like you gave me a choice, Ms. Harrington.”

  “True. My apologies. Sometimes I can be a little high-handed.”

  And Chloe had never known that side of Kai. Not really. She’d known about the stern disciplinarian. The woman who bought her anything she asked for as a child. She’d even known the best friend who would stand by her mother no matter what. But this lover who took charge with casual and complete confidence was new to her. This side of Kai made her melt even more.

  “Don’t apologize,” Chloe said. “I like it.”

  Kai shook her head. “And that’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

  It was then that their food came. Chloe’s broccoli and cheese omelet and oven-warmed wheat bread. Kai’s buttery cheese grits with a side of eggs, which she nearly covered completely in hot sauce.

  “So, what do you mean that we are going to tell Mom what happened?” Chloe bit into her buttery wheat bread, licking her lips from the slightly crisp outside, the soft and chewy texture just beneath.

  Kai’s eyes fastened on Chloe’s mouth. She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she answered, “Just like I said. We need to face her together and tell her what happened. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea or blame the wrong person.”

  “It was my fault,” Chloe said immediately. “I was the one who came to New York and threw myself at you.”

  “But did you throw yourself at me at the fair too?”

  No. That night at the fair had caught her by surprise. Yes, she’d wanted Kai for years, but that night at the fair she realized that Kai had wanted her too.