Ember Flowers (22 page)

She had
imagined that her initial efforts were clumsy and self conscious.
If they were her lover had never let on. After they first made
love, Jo had woken early as the sun rose. Nestled comfortably in
the older woman’s arms. She had found herself looking up into her
companion’s dark eyes. Their lips brushing in a delicate caress, no
words were needed. A willing student, Jean left her trembling and
lulled by the quiet space between rapture and sleep. It felt right
to do the same thing for her.

The murmurs and
moans against her lips were coming quicker. They shared a breath as
her lover arched, her breath catching, reaching for her.

The morning
light was beginning to seep through the curtains, bathing Jean in a
softened afterglow. She looked almost ethereal, tangled in Jo’s
sheets, the pillows under her head. The blonde was taken aback by
the look she was given, a tenderness in her companion’s eyes. A
clear and honest affection, a selfless desire for her happiness.
The older woman reached up, cupping her face, pulling her down into
a chaste kiss. Long and lingering as Jean’s fingertips threaded
through her hair, ending in rubbing her back with slow easy
touches. Joanne pulled away, still looking at her, eyes narrowed in
contemplation.

Her long frame
unwound itself from her lover’s smaller body. Jo lay on her back,
deep in thought. Soon she saw two hooded orbs above her, a cheeky
grin, a waggle of her lover’s eyebrows, teeth capturing her bottom
lip amidst a sensuous kiss.

Kisses down her
long body, a segue here and there, tanned fingertips easing her
thighs apart. Then her lover’s tongue was on her, smooth heat over
her sensitive flesh. No time for her to feel self conscious, for
her to feel vulnerable. Joanne could only gasp in surprise. A long
velvety lick made her shiver. She was completely exposed to her
lover’s gaze. Calloused hands sliding along her inner thighs. The
heat of her breath. A gentle squeeze of her soft skin.

Jo groaned, her
fingers slipping into Jean’s silky hair. A subtle scent of mandarin
and sandalwood.

Vibration of a
voice against her. “I adore the sounds you make..” Punctuating the
panted statement with kisses over her heated skin.

A groan as
Jean’s fingertips slid inside her. Alternating sensation, Jo lost
control of her breathing. Reservations forgotten as she gasped
hotly in time with her lover’s movements.

She climaxed
with her lover’s lips against her, her body arched and trembling.
The brunette peppered her skin with kisses as she crawled back up.
Gathering the blonde into her arms. The older woman nuzzled the
back of her neck and smiled. Quick breaths as Jo’s body calmed.

“Jean?”
The
words were there. Right there.

“Yes?” A kiss
below her ear as an arm slid around her.

She felt
sleepy, an odd sort of contentment. “Mm..nothing, sweet
dreams.”

Chapter
32

Jean meandered
her way through the front yard toward her car, she unlocked it with
a soft peep, opening the door and reaching onto the floor. Joanne
was organising her daughter’s breakfast inside, so Jean took the
opportunity to grab her things. She’d been prepared this time,
bringing with her a change of clothes. A soft yawn against her hand
as she walked out to the verge, bending to pick up the poorly aimed
morning paper.

Standing, she
brushed stray lawn clippings from its sticky plastic wrapper.
Another soft yawn as she heard a cautious greeting from over the
fence.

“Good morning
Jean.”

For a second
she stood perfectly still.
Fuck.

She turned her
head, it was too late. Kerry was giving her a curious look from
behind the waist high fence. Jean supposed that was reasonable, she
did have messy bed hair and was wearing an old shirt of Joanne’s.
At least she’d worn pants.

“Kerry. Hi.
Uh..how are things?” She asked quietly as she made her way over,
dandelions bending between her toes.

Jo’s neighbour
was looking her up and down, blushing. Kerry turned, trying to
focus on her task at hand, watering her new garden. She cleared her
throat. “Pretty good Jean. So..you’re here early?”

She tried to
seem casual, despite how suspicious her appearance must seem. “Jo
had a really difficult day at work yesterday, we’re friends, I
wanted to see if she was OK.”

Kerry released
the value on the hose, shutting off the water for quiet. Her lips
pressed together, her focus changing. “Is she all right?”

Jean crossed
her arms over her chest, shifting her weight on her feet. “I think
so, she had to be on scene for a bad accident. She can tell you
more about it.”

“Oh. But she’s
OK?”

“I think
so.”

Kerry nodded, a
pause, watering flowers. “She has a difficult job to do, I couldn’t
do it.”

Jean shook her
head. “Me either, she’s very brave and doesn’t give herself
credit.”

Kerry looked at
her quietly, her eyes flitting over Jean’s unruly hair. “Jo keeps
to herself, but I know things have been difficult for her. She
needs people that care.”

It was hard for
Jean not to respond with some assurance, wanting to reassure the
protective young woman of her good intentions. Instead she just
nodded. The blonde was still getting used to the newness of their
relationship. It wasn’t her place to announce it to the world.

The dimpled
brunette looked at her with piercing eyes. “So you two
are..close?”

Jean nodded
slowly, the question made her wary. “As you know she’s a very
private person. I’m lucky to be her friend.”

Kerry nodded,
turning back to the task at hand. “I worry about her sometimes..”
Jean found herself on the receiving end of a pointed look. “She has
a big heart.”

I know. I’ve
seen it.
“She does.”

The mother
resumed her watering, eyeing her. “Funny though..she’s seemed
really happy the last couple months..I can’t figure out why?” She
was giving Jean a sly grin. Joanne had said that she’d met someone,
but as far as Kerry could remember, no new suitors were knocking at
the door.
Now it made sense.

“Must be the
weather.” Jean looked around, doing her best impersonation of a cat
not caught with the canary.

The smiling
face looked back at her. “Yeah..must be.”

A last flicker
of Kerry’s eyes over her as there was a sound from across the yard.
The young mother’s little boy accompanied by the bounding puppy,
they both turned to look.

Jean smiled at
her, edging toward Jo’s front door, the younger woman gave her one
last knowing glance. “OK, well I’ll let you get back to it. Say
hello for me OK?”

“I will.”

Kerry called to
her when she was almost back at the door. “Jean, I hope to see you
around more often, OK?”

Jean smiled
back, waving.
Shit, did she just wink at me?

A click of the
door closing and she made her way back inside. Soft footsteps over
the tiles, deep in thought, tapping the paper against her thigh
absently as she walked. She found Joanne in the kitchen, spreading
jam across lightly buttered toast for her daughter.

The blonde
looked at her and smiled. “Got what you needed?”

“Yes, clean
change of clothes..but..Kerry noticed me.”

Jo leant her
hip against the bench top, crossing her arms defensively, her eyes
worried. “What did she say? Did you talk to her?” She looked down
at the floor, blinking, realising that Kerry would have seen Jean’s
car.
The car that had been parked there all night.

“Just that you
had a bad day yesterday, I was here supporting you as a
friend.”

The tall
blonde’s brow arched up. She nodded, tensing her lips. “I really
don’t want things to be awkward. Shit. Did she believe you?” Her
grey eyes searching her.

Jean reached
out and rested her hand on her arm. “I’m not sure how convincing I
was. Even though I wasn’t lying, I am here to support you. But, she
didn’t seem to care, she was more concerned if you were OK..and she
winked at me.”

The blonde’s
long fingertips drummed softly on the counter, a naked, vulnerable
look on her face. “Damn it. I should have thought about this more.
I could have asked you to take a cab.” Insecurity seeped through
into her voice.

The brunette’s
lip quirked, she huffed softly. “You’re kidding right?..Jo, are you
ashamed of me?”

Jo tensed, then
shook her head, still sorting through her thoughts. “Jean..I’m not
ready for the judgemental looks, the stuff behind my back. I live
here, she’s going to make this weird.”


“She won’t. She
cares about you Jo, you’re her friend.”


She shook her
head. “Jean..it’s easier for you.”

The older woman
leant against the counter, watching the blonde pick up the plate
and take it to her daughter.

“Easier for me?
How is it easier for me?”

The blonde
joined her again by the sink. “It’s easier for you because..well.
You probably don’t get too many confused looks. People might assume
you’re well..a lesbian.”

“Didn’t you
once tell me that it annoyed you when people thought they had you
figured out? Even before you opened your mouth?”

“That’s
different, people presume I’m dumb, not gay.”

The brunette’s
deep brown eyes were thoughtful. “You’d rather people thought you
were dumb, than not straight?”

The policewoman
sighed. “Maybe. At least it’s easy to prove them wrong, and less
awkward.”

Jean blinked
slowly.
That was a revelation.
“So who do you want me to be
Joanne?”

The tall woman
stopped her tidying to look at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I care
about you. I want to spend time with you, do I always have to worry
that I need to hide it?”

Joanne sighed
softly. “Jean, you knew this was going to be difficult for me. You
said no strings? Remember?”

Can’t turn
off these feelings.
“I do. I do. But that was before Joanne. A
lot’s happened since then.”

The grey eyes
were looking back at her intently, emotions shifting, bleeding.
“Jo, sweetheart, what are you so scared of?”

Blonde brows
furrowed. “Being treated differently. Being labelled. You don’t
understand. I thought you did, but you don’t.”


Jean reached
out to take her hand, wanting to soothe her concern. “Honey, I
hardly said anything to her, I know it’s not my place. I don’t want
anyone to treat you differently.”

Jo shook her
head. “But they will. Kerry probably thinks all kinds of things
about me now.”

Jean closed the
distance between them, resting her hands on her lover’s hips.
“She’ll think that you have someone in your life that cares about
you. Whether she thinks I’m your friend, or your lover, that
doesn’t matter. I can be both. Sweetheart she doesn’t care,
otherwise she wouldn’t have said I should come around more often.”
She rubbed comforting circles with her thumbs.

“She said
that?” Jo was giving her that worried look again.

“Yeah. She’s
very protective of you Jo, she cares about you a lot. Made that
clear when I was over there.”

Jean felt the
blonde relax a little under her hands, watched her take a breath.
Jo spoke softly. “I was afraid this might happen.”

“Joanne, I
don’t know her like you do, but I’d put money on the fact that it
wouldn’t bother her.”

“We’ll
see.”

There was a
timid knock at the door. Jo looked and sighed, rolling her eyes.
“See?”

Long strides
took her down the hallway. She unlatched the door to see her
neighbour standing in front of the security screen. She opened the
last door slowly, bracing herself, putting up her cool facade.

Kerry looked at
her concerned. “Jo, I hear you had a bad day, it just so happens my
garden is full of these gorgeous flowers.” She handed a small
bushel to her across the threshold. Jo took them, not sure what to
say.

“Uh,
thanks.”

“You’re
welcome. Tell Jean the yard looks great by the way. Seeya.” Kerry
smiled, turning on her heel and heading back across the lawn.

Jo stood still
for a few moments, looking down at the flowers in her hands.

Chapter
33

An uneventful
few days, a couple more evenings of nightmares disturbing her
sleep, and the weekend had finally arrived. Despite her fears, her
neighbour still smiled and waved at her when she left for work in
the mornings.

Jo had driven
up to Jean’s property Saturday afternoon with young Annabelle on
the back seat. They were welcomed as always with a hug, a kiss on
the cheek for her small daughter.

They stood
under the eaves shortly after the pair arrived, Jean studied Jo’s
expression as she watched the rain, the blonde turning to smile at
her.

“What?”

The brunette
smiled back. “Nothing. Just you. Here.”

Jo smiled to
herself, her grey eyes taking on the silver of the clouds. They
stood together on the porch. Jean reached out, rubbing Jo’s upper
arms to stave off the cold. Feeling her tall companion shiver.

She decided to
go one better, slipping off her own jacket and laying it over the
blonde’s shoulders. Jo looked down at her and raised a tapered
brow. Shaking her head as she tugged the warm fabric around
herself.
So old fashioned.

Annabelle had
been playing nearby near the outdoor furniture. Jean felt a tug on
her leg, it was becoming a familiar gesture. She looked down to see
the little blonde toddler holding something up to her. Crouching so
she was eye to eye, she turned the small smooth shape over in her
hand. Jo watched the two of them with mild amusement.

“Do you know
what this is Annabelle?” Little blue eyes watched her curiously, a
shake of a blonde head.