Chapter 22
Content disclaimer
This chapter includes a sex scene.
If you’d rather not read sexually explicit content,
please skip ahead to chapter 23.
With her finger hovering over the track pad of her laptop, Holly glanced over at Leo to see if she was ready. When she caught her smoothing down an errant strand of hair, she giggled and gave her a loving nudge. “Stop preening. Meg is ace too. She doesn’t care how your hair looks.”
“What? Are you saying aces can’t appreciate nice-looking hair?”
“Oh, we can, but Meg really couldn’t care less.”
Leo shrugged. “I just want to make a good impression. I know she’s one of your closest friends.”
Holly wrapped one arm around her waist and kissed her. “Don’t worry. She’ll love you. Not half as much as I do, of course.”
Leo stopped fussing with her hair and returned the kiss.
The melody announcing an incoming Skype call interrupted them. Apparently, Meg didn’t want to wait for them to call her. Maybe she was as nervous as Leo was.
Holly clicked to accept the call.
Meg’s smiling face appeared on the laptop screen. When she saw herself in the little Skype window, she reached up to adjust her hair.
Leo nudged Holly. “See?” she whispered. “She cares.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Holly nudged her back before turning her attention to the screen. “Hi, Meg.”
“Hi.” Meg waved energetically and then looked at something offscreen. “Come on, Jo. They’re here.”
Jo dropped onto a seat next to her and pressed a mug into her hands. “Hi,” she said in the direction of the webcam.
“Leo, these are my friends Meg and Jo. Guys, this is Leo.” Holly leaned in to Leo until their shoulders touched.
Meg laughed. “I know. I’ve seen her on TV.”
“Oh.” Heat crept up Holly’s neck. Most of the time, she forgot that Leo was a celebrity. To her, she was just Leo. “Of course.”
“Thanks for the card and the autograph,” Meg said before the moment of silence could become awkward. “I really appreciated it.”
“The PS too?” Leo asked with a teasing grin.
“Yeah, well, I’ll forgive you for that.” Meg waved her hand like a queen pardoning a prisoner. “I hear falling in love can cloud your judgment.”
The small window in the corner of the main screen showed Leo arching her eyebrows.
“I didn’t tell her that,” Holly said quickly.
Meg snorted. “Oh please. You’re both head over heels. It’s as obvious as the fact that Yen is way cooler than Triss. That’s why I encouraged you to give it a chance.”
“You did?” Leo asked. “In that case, I forgive you for your lapse in good taste regarding Triss and Yen.”
The two laughed, and Holly beamed along with them. Only now did she realize that she’d been a little nervous about this first meeting too. She wanted her friends and Leo to like each other, and apparently, they were off to a good start.
“So, how did the two of you meet Holly?” Leo asked.
Holly covered her face with both hands. “Oh no. Not that story.”
Meg let out an evil chuckle. “Well, she asked for it, and far be it from me to deny her.”
“Wait, now I remember. Didn’t you say you met on Tumblr?” Leo gave Holly a puzzled look. “How’s that embarrassing?”
“I left a comment on one of her Tumblr posts…and it had a typo that caught Meg’s attention.”
“And that of about a million people all over the Internet,” Meg quipped with a grin.
Leo’s gaze flicked back and forth between Holly and the screen. “Must have been some typo. What was it?”
Meg opened her eyes dramatically wide. “She called me aromatic.”
“It was that damn autocorrect,” Holly grumbled. “I typed in aromantic, and it corrected it to aromatic.”
“Well,” Jo said, speaking up for the first time, “since I’m doing the laundry in this house, I can tell you that you weren’t completely wrong about her being aromatic either. At least not when it comes to her socks. They are—”
Meg covered Jo’s mouth with her hand. “Excuse us for a moment. I have to go beat up my partner here.” But instead, she merely tousled Jo’s hair.
When their call ended about ten minutes later, Holly and Leo leaned back on the couch and grinned at each other.
“That went well,” Holly said.
Leo tilted her head. “You didn’t think it would?”
“No, I thought they would like you. I mean, what’s not to like, right?” She smiled.
“Exactly.”
They chuckled.
“But you never know with Jo.” Holly swung her legs onto the couch and settled them on Leo’s lap. “She’s usually not a people person, but she warmed right up to you.”
“I like them,” Leo said. “Have you made many friends online?”
“A few. Dana and I got to a point where things were so bad that I spent a lot of time online, asking other aces and their allosexual partners for advice.” A sigh escaped her. “Not that it saved our relationship.” Needing the closeness, she sat up and slid forward, which put her nearly in Leo’s lap.
Leo pulled her more firmly onto her lap and held her securely. She played with the embroidered design on the back of Holly’s jean shorts. Basically, she was almost caressing her butt, and Holly found that she didn’t mind at all. In fact, it was nice, and so was the feeling of skin on skin, since they were both wearing shorts.
“If you ever feel that things between us aren’t going well, promise me that you’ll talk to me instead of people on the Internet, okay?” Leo said.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get to that point. But yeah, I promise.” She ducked her head and rubbed her nose against Leo’s, liking that, for once, she was the taller one. “I’m not squishing you, am I?”
“Not at all. I like you here.” Leo nuzzled her face against Holly’s throat and continued to speak with her lips close to her skin. “You know…I had no idea how complex relationships could be. Meeting you and your friends really opened my mind and made me see nuances that I wasn’t aware of before.”
Speechless, Holly looked down at her. No one had ever made her feel so good about herself. The urge to make Leo feel just as good thrummed through her veins. “Leo?” Her voice trembled a little, but it wasn’t fear, only an overload of emotions. “Do you…do you want to make love?”
Leo went still beneath her. “N-now?”
“Why not? I’ve got the day off tomorrow, and you told your mother you might sleep over at my place, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t have an ulterior motive when I said that. I just thought we might stay up late, playing some games on the Xbox.”
“So you’d rather play video games?” Holly asked with a smile.
“Hell, no! I’d much rather make love to you. But if you want to stop at any time, just say the word. It would really be okay.”
“I know. This is what I want. Will you trust me?”
Leo looked her in the eyes. “Yes.”
Holly climbed off Leo’s lap and held out her hand, palm up.
When Leo reached for it, her fingers were shaking.
Somehow, it was soothing to know she wasn’t the only one who was nervous. They held each other’s hand tightly as Holly led her to the bedroom and pulled back the covers. She flicked on the lamp on the bedside table and turned off the overhead light, leaving a more intimate glow.
For several moments, they stood next to the bed without moving, gazing deeply into each other’s eyes.
Where to start? It had been years since Holly had been with anyone, and back then, she hadn’t known herself and her needs very well, so her partners had always taken the lead. But with Leo, she wanted things to be different. She didn’t want to have to lie back and think of England, as Leo had put it.
Getting both of them naked might be a good first step. “C-can I…?” She pointed at Leo’s T-shirt.
“Whatever you want,” Leo answered.
Holly stepped closer until she could sense Leo’s body heat. Barely breathing, she tugged the T-shirt from the front of Leo’s jean shorts. As she pulled it up, her fingers grazed the warm skin of Leo’s belly.
Leo’s breath hitched, but she willingly lifted her arms and let Holly pull the shirt up over her head.
The soft light of the lamp made her skin glow with a golden shimmer.
Holly couldn’t resist feathering her fingertips along her shoulder and down her arm until she could entwine their fingers.
Leo lifted her hand to her mouth and kissed it. “Yours too?”
In the past, Holly had always preferred undressing herself, needing that bit of control, but now she nodded.
Leo’s pulse beat visibly in her neck as she reached for the edge of Holly’s shirt. She kept eye contact as she pulled it up, interrupting it only for the moment when she pulled the shirt over her head, then her gaze was back on Holly’s.
The shirt fluttered to the floor.
Leo traced her collarbone with a single finger and then touched her face. “Bras too?”
Holly leaned her cheek into Leo’s palm and nodded.
When they reached around each other, their nearly bare torsos brushed. Leo sucked in an audible breath, and Holly shivered at the intimate feeling. Both fumbled a bit with the clasp of the other’s bra. The cups of Leo’s bra fell away first.
“Hey,” Leo protested with a smile. “I’m supposed to be the one who’s better at this.”
Holly looked into her eyes. “You’re not supposed to be anything. Not with me. No expectations, okay? Just you and me.”
“I’d like that very much,” Leo murmured. She touched her lips to Holly’s in a gentle kiss.
When the kiss ended and they moved back a little, Holly’s bra, which had been trapped between their bodies, dropped to the floor too.
“Shorts next?” Leo asked.
Holly nodded. She couldn’t resist sliding her hands over the soft skin of Leo’s outer thighs as she helped her out of her jean shorts.
Then it was her turn.
Leo’s fingers trembled a little as she opened the button on Holly’s shorts. Slowly, looking into Holly’s eyes, she slid down the zipper and then guided the shorts down her legs.
Cool air flowed over Holly’s nearly bare body as she stood in front of Leo in just her panties. Goose bumps broke out all over her skin.
Leo’s heated gaze roamed over her, lingering on her breasts and her hips. “Wow,” she murmured and then swallowed audibly and lifted her gaze back to Holly’s face. “You’re beautiful.” Her voice was rough and tender at the same time. “Very beautiful.”
Encouraged by those words, Holly slid her panties down her legs.
Leo mumbled something that sounded like, “God, give me self-control,” which made Holly blush and giggle. Leo’s lips quirked up into an answering smile.
Holly relaxed a little. It was good to see that they could laugh with each other and didn’t need to be so serious.
She reached out a hand and caressed Leo’s panty-clad hip. “I want to see all of you too.”
Leo didn’t hesitate to fulfill that wish. Within seconds, her panties fell to the floor.
Holly couldn’t help staring. She knew Leo was beautiful, but this… The low light of the lamp made her hair gleam like gold. Several strands cascaded down onto the smooth skin of her shoulders and brushed the upper slope of her small, firm breasts. Holly’s gaze took in the flat planes of her belly and lingered on her long legs. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she was looking at the most beautiful woman in the world—and, more importantly, the woman she loved.
“What do you feel when you look at me like this?” Leo asked. Her cheeks had flushed beneath Holly’s gaze, and her voice had become even huskier.
“It makes me want to touch you.” Not necessarily in a sexual way, but it could include that without making her uncomfortable.
“You can do whatever you want to.” Slowly, Leo framed Holly’s face with her hands, brought their mouths together, and kissed her—just a tender contact, with only her fingers and lips touching Holly.
With a sigh, Holly sank into the kiss. She slid her fingers into Leo’s hair and pulled her closer until their bodies touched all along their lengths. The feeling of Leo’s bare skin against her own was so intimate that it made her head spin.
Leo moaned into her mouth and deepened the kiss. Heat radiated off her skin. Finally, she broke the kiss with a gasp and looked into Holly’s eyes. Without breaking eye contact, she guided her onto the bed and slid onto the mattress next to her. “Would you be comfortable lying on your belly, even if you can’t see what I’m doing?”
“Um, what?” That was the last thing Holly had expected. “I mean, yes, I would be comfortable doing that, but…”
“Then roll over,” Leo whispered. She smiled and cradled Holly’s cheek in her warm palm. “Orgasm for me, cuddlegasm for you. That’s what you said would work for you, right?”
Raw emotions burned in the back of Holly’s throat. It meant the world to her that Leo put her needs over whatever she herself might want. Too choked up to speak, she rolled over onto her belly.
Leo cuddled against her side, one breast warm against Holly’s arm. “Mmm, you feel good,” she whispered into Holly’s ear.
Her warm breath made goose bumps rise all over Holly’s body again.
Leo supported herself on one elbow next to her and trailed her fingertips along Holly’s back. She drew tiny circles around each ridge of her spine, one by one.
The calluses on her fingers tickled a little, making the corners of Holly’s lips twitch up into a smile.
Leo took her time, mapping every inch of Holly’s back with her hands. She swirled her fingertips around the contours of Holly’s shoulder blades before moving lower. Her fingers followed the arc of Holly’s ribs, but each caress stopped short of the outer edge of her breasts.
“Is this okay?” Leo asked.
“Very okay.” Holly sighed in contentment. Her eyes fluttered shut.
Leo’s caresses trailed down her body and lingered in the dip of her waist.
“The curve of your hips is so beautiful.” Leo slid her fingertips down Holly’s sensitive side and then over one hip in a whisperlike touch. “Makes me wish I was a painter, not a singer.”
Holly nearly melted under Leo’s touch and her honest admiration.
On the small of her back, Leo paused and began a gentle massage before trailing her hand down over Holly’s butt and down her leg until she reached her calves. She kneaded each one tenderly and then started to slide her fingers back up Holly’s leg.
Trusting Leo not to dip toward the inside of her thigh, Holly relaxed beneath her touch.
Leo made several languid sweeps of her body, from her shoulders to her ankles, until Holly felt heavy with pleasure yet strangely light at the same time.
When Leo retraced her route up her back again, Holly pressed her forehead into the pillow to expose her neck.
Leo chuckled. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
“Wouldn’t want you to forget the best places,” Holly murmured into the pillow.
“Best places, hmm?” Leo’s voice was laced with amusement and affection. She slid her fingers up along either side of Holly’s spine, half massaging, half caressing. When she reached her neck, she gentled her touch. Her short nails rasped over Holly’s skin and teased the tiny hairs on her neck. Soft strands of hair fanned over Holly’s shoulder blades, tickling her skin, as Leo leaned over her and ducked down her head. Her bare breasts brushed Holly’s back, making her shiver.
Then Leo’s warm lips pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck.
A moan escaped Holly.
“You like this?” Leo whispered, her breath warm on Holly’s ear.
“Mmm, yes.” It was the most sensual experience of her life, and she could enjoy it for what it was.
“Good. I like it too. Very…” She kissed behind Holly’s right ear. “Very…” And then the left. “Much.” She feathered a string of kisses all over her neck. “Did you cuddlegasm yet? Or is it caressgasm, in this case?”
Holly smiled into her pillow and then turned her head a little so she could answer. “I’ve had neither.” She didn’t want this wonderful experience to end. “I’ve got lots and lots of stamina, you know?”
The sound of Leo’s laughter flowed over her. “Lucky for you, I do too.” She shifted a little and swung one leg to the other side of Holly’s body so she was straddling her, her weight on her knees, not on Holly. “This okay?”
“Yes,” Holly whispered.
Leo sat up a little more. The curly hair at the apex of her thighs tickled Holly’s butt, but Leo didn’t try to rub her center against her. Instead, she focused fully on Holly’s pleasure.
Using both hands, she followed the lines of Holly’s shoulders with her fingertips, out to her upper arms, and then traced along the sensitive inside of her forearms until she found Holly’s hands, which were lying palm down beneath the pillow. She entwined their fingers and gently lifted Holly’s arms to the sides, her own arms parallel to Holly’s and her breasts pressed against her back. Leo’s lips trailed tender kisses along the side of her neck.
Their position left Holly completely vulnerable, and it surprised her how much she enjoyed it. A sound of approval hummed from her throat. It felt like being covered by Leo’s love. She tilted her head a little more to give Leo unlimited access to her neck.
Leo smiled against her skin and placed a string of gentle nibbles and kisses down her neck. She nuzzled a sensitive spot below Holly’s ear; then her weight disappeared from Holly’s back. “Turn over,” she whispered.
Holly did, so they were lying side by side.
Their gazes connected, and then their lips brushed. They separated for a moment before meeting again in a firmer, more passionate contact.
Finally able to touch, Holly wrapped her arms around Leo and trailed her hands over the smooth planes of her back.
Leo moaned into the kiss, and a fine tremor ran through her body, reminding Holly that this wasn’t just pure sensual bliss for her partner.
Gently, she guided Leo onto her back and started her own explorations.
Leo lay still, her fingers splayed wide against the mattress, as if she needed to brace herself for what was to come.
Holly caressed Leo’s flushed cheek. “Don’t hold back, okay? I want you to enjoy this, so stop worrying about me and just…feel.”
Leo swallowed and nodded.
Alternately using the back of her hand and her fingertips, Holly stroked the long arms that always held her so tenderly. When she reached the bend of her elbow, she slid down in bed and added her lips to the exploration. The skin on the inside of Leo’s forearm was a shade or two lighter than the outside. It shone like alabaster in the light of the lamp on the bedside table.
She guided one of Leo’s hands up so she could kiss the open palm and then nibbled on her index finger.
A long, breathy moan escaped Leo.
That was sexual for her? Interesting. To test her new discovery, she slid the tip of Leo’s middle finger into her mouth and tasted her salty skin.
Another moan and the pulse in Leo’s wrist throbbed beneath Holly’s fingers. Leo stared up at her. The green of her eyes formed thin rings around her enlarged pupils.
Wow. Holly had been a little afraid that seeing Leo in the throes of passion would make her feel disconnected from her, because she was getting into a zone where Holly had no way of following. Usually, this was the point when things started to feel surreal for her, as if she was watching someone else while the analytical part of her brain tried to figure out what she should do next.
But now she found that she was mostly fascinated by how easily Leo responded to her touches. She tried to stay in the moment and focus on emotions, not merely motions.
She moved back a little and skimmed her lips over the elegant arc of Leo’s collarbone, then kissed the hollow at the base of her throat.
Leo encouraged her with little gasps, moans, and hums.
Goose bumps rose beneath Holly’s lips as she trailed them up Leo’s neck, and Holly made a game out of trying to kiss them away. In between kisses, she lifted her head and glanced at Leo’s flushed face to see how she reacted to each touch.
Leo seemed to struggle to keep her eyes open.
Holly pressed her lips to the warm spot below Leo’s ear, where she caught faint traces of Leo’s perfume. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent and the heat of her skin.
Leo’s pulse thudded beneath her mouth as Holly trailed careful little nibbles down the other side of her neck.
A light sheen of perspiration made the valley between her breasts feel like silk beneath her fingertips. Holly idly ran her fingers back and forth. Mmm, nice. She could have done this forever, but she knew this was foreplay for Leo, not the main course, so she tilted her head down and nuzzled her cheek against Leo’s breast.
So warm and soft…
Leo’s chest quickly rose and fell beneath her, and both of her hands took a firm grip on the sheets.
For Holly, stroking Leo’s shoulder was as pleasing as stroking her breast, but for Leo, there was definitely a difference.
Let’s see… She watched Leo’s face as she experimentally smoothed her thumb over one of her nipples. It instantly hardened beneath her touch.
A low, hungry sound escaped Leo. “C-can you…?” Her voice cracked. “Do you want to…do that again?”
The reactions she could cause in her partner were amazing. She smiled. “Of course. Or do you want me to kiss it?”
“Yes. Either. Both.”
Holly cradled one breast in her hand and placed slow kisses all around its slope, then closer to its center. Gently, she tasted it, fascinated by the contrast between the satiny soft skin and the hard nipple. What would Leo do if she sucked it a little?
She got the answer to her question when Leo arched up against her and let go of the sheet with one hand to bury her fingers in Holly’s hair and hold her to her breast.
Holly smiled around the nipple in her mouth. Now that she had found out what Leo liked, she tried more of the same to find the best way to bring Leo pleasure.
Tiny tremors ran through Leo as Holly flicked her tongue over the nipple. Her hips shifted against Holly’s, and her fingers played restlessly with her hair. She didn’t try to urge her on, though, but let her explore at her own pace.
Holly spent a long time loving one breast before switching to the other. In between kisses and licks, she glanced up at Leo’s face.
Each time, Leo looked back at her through heavy-lidded eyes, her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly parted.
Finally, she let go of Holly’s hair and dropped her hand back to the mattress like a wrestler tapping the mat to signal surrender. “Please.” She panted out the single word. The flush on her cheeks had spread to her entire body, and need simmered in her eyes.
Holly pressed a kiss to her lips and then slid her hand over Leo’s tense belly, down to the inside of her thigh. How soft the skin there was. For a moment, she forgot what she’d been about to do until Leo moaned out another “please.”
The helpless need in her voice made a wave of protectiveness crest over Holly. She slipped her hand between Leo’s thighs and started to stroke her. At first, it was a little awkward. That familiar disconnected feeling threatened to rise.
But then she looked up and saw the open, vulnerable expression and the look of pleasure on Leo’s face. She had put that there, just by touching her this way. It amazed her and made her feel good about what she was doing.
Leo rolled her head back and forth on the pillow. “So good.”
“Yeah?”
Leo nodded frantically, as if now beyond speech. A groan tore from her chest. She let go of the sheets and gripped Holly’s hips with both hands, arching up toward her.
Fascinated by how out of control Leo was getting, Holly matched her rhythm.
“Holly!” Leo slid her fingers up, dug them into Holly’s shoulders, and pulled her down, guiding their mouths together in a deep kiss.
Everything was moving a little fast for Holly now. She couldn’t keep up. But it didn’t matter since Leo set the pace for them both.
After only a few seconds, Leo tore her mouth away and surged upward, clutching Holly to her.
Holly’s breath caught at how beautiful Leo looked as she strained against her. Her head was thrown back in abandon, the muscles in her neck corded.
She choked out Holly’s name before stiffening against her; then she collapsed back onto the bed with a ragged gasp. “Holly,” she murmured. “God, Holly.”
She looked all flushed and soft, as if her limbs were too heavy to move even an inch, and all Holly wanted was to hold her close—so she did. She curled against Leo’s side and rained down tender kisses on her closed eyelids and her flushed cheeks before settling her head on her sweat-dampened chest. Leo’s heart drummed a fast beat beneath her ear.
God, she loved seeing her so satisfied, loved knowing that she could do this for her. Seeing Leo come had been fascinating too, but this—holding her afterward—was simply amazing.
“My limbs seem to have turned into overcooked spaghetti,” Leo murmured, “but I’ll be as good as new in a minute. So if you want…”
Holly kissed her. “No. Not today. This was perfect for me.”
“Mmhm. For me too.” Leo lifted her head and kissed her, reconnecting.
Holly hummed into the kiss.
When it ended, Leo searched her face. “Was it really okay for you?”
Holly brushed damp strands of hair out of Leo’s eyes. “More than okay. What you did for me… No one has ever made love to me that way. Even if it didn’t end with me having an orgasm, that’s what it was for me—lovemaking.”
“I know. It felt wonderful to touch you like that.” Leo gave her a dreamy smile. “But what about the rest?” She reached for the hand that Holly had used to touch her, lifted it to her mouth, and kissed it. “Was that okay too?”
“Yes,” Holly answered without hesitation. “You looked so beautiful that I nearly forgot what I was doing.”
Leo laughed, her voice still raspy. “Oh yeah. I could tell when you suddenly explored my inner thigh in great detail.”
Holly blushed all the way down to her toes. Since she was naked, they could both see it. “Your skin is very soft there,” she said in her defense and trailed her fingers over that soft spot.
Leo sucked in a breath and covered Holly’s hand on her thigh with her own, stilling it. “Unless you’re up for a second round, you better find another soft spot to caress.”
“Oh.” Holly smiled sheepishly and moved her hand to Leo’s belly. “Better?”
“Perfect.” She wrapped both arms around Holly and held her close. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal, and her heartbeat beneath Holly’s ear slowed to a steadier pace.
Holly snagged the covers that had slid to the bottom of the bed with her toes and dragged them up until she could reach them with her hand.
Leo laughed at her acrobatics. “What are you doing?”
“Covering us.” She pulled the covers up over their cooling bodies.
“Holly?” Leo’s voice was already drowsy, as if she was beginning to fall asleep.
“Hmm?”
“I love you.” Leo’s lashes fluttered closed, and her breathing turned into the slow rhythm of sleep.
Smiling, Holly reached past her and flicked off the light before settling back against Leo’s side, one arm and one leg hooked around her. “I love you too,” she whispered into the darkness. It was wonderful to lie here and hold Leo close without feeling the resentment or the loneliness that usually followed sexual encounters for her.
She knew there might be days when things didn’t go as well and their needs would be just too different. But no matter what, she trusted that they would always find ways to compromise and make each other feel loved in some way.
With a butterfly kiss to Leo’s shoulder, she closed her eyes and followed her into the realm of dreams.