Just Three Words (Soho Loft Romances) (29 page)

“Perfect,” Libby said quietly, her eyes still fixed on Sam, who did a great job of looking casual and laid back when Hunter knew she was feeling anything but. As men and women filed in all around them for the next class, Hunter grabbed her bag and handed Samantha hers. Time to hit the road. “I guess we should let you guys get ready for class,” Hunter told them. “Have a great night.” As they passed, Libby placed a hand on Samantha’s arm, stopping her progress.

“It was really nice seeing you, Sam.”

“Yeah. You, too.” Her eyes lingered on Libby, and Hunter felt her stomach tighten in reflex, because there was clearly a depth to the feelings Sam carried for Libby. Maybe Hunter had purposefully chosen to ignore that fact, but it was hard to deny when they were clearly on display for her now. She couldn’t fault Samantha for that. She’d never been anything but straightforward about what was happening between her and Hunter. No-strings-attached was the name of their game. Only, Hunter felt the strings quite forcefully in this moment, and they were tugging aggressively at her heart.

She and Samantha didn’t speak as they made their way out of the gym. Sam had a faraway look in her eyes, and Hunter felt a bit like she’d been punched in the stomach. It was unrealistic to think that Samantha could be over Libby. After all, Sam saw her as the perfect girl, the one that got away, and maybe she always would. But seeing it play out up close and personal, especially after she’d just had the best time with Sam, well, it was a little hard to take.

As they crossed the street to the subway station, Sam stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Clearly, the encounter had taken a toll. Hunter looked back at her. “Hey. Are you okay?”

Samantha nodded, but she was clearly emotional. It took her a moment to speak. “I just need to say thank you. What you did was…well, thank you.”

Hunter walked back to Sam and pulled her by her hand under the awning of a store closed down for the night. “You don’t have to thank me. It was a rough situation. But, hey, you survived. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. It was a lot easier because of you. You were there for me. Again. You always seem to be there for me.” Samantha shook her head slowly, and tears crept into her eyes.

“And that’s not gonna change.” She took Samantha’s hand in hers. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

The train ride home, while short in theory, felt like one of the longer rides of Samantha’s life. She played back the events of the evening beginning with the end of her workday through the conversation she’d just had with Hunter on the sidewalk.

She was a little rocked by the whole thing.

Seeing Libby again—standing there with Tanya, no less—had been a surprise, but what had blindsided Samantha more was the gesture from Hunter, the way she’d been there for her, no questions asked. It hadn’t been the first time either. And while she should be sitting here, traumatized by a post-breakup Libby run-in, she wasn’t. She was fixated on Hunter and how much they’d laughed together at yoga. And how she went out of her way to cheer Sam up when she was down, how she brought out so much in Sam that even she didn’t know she was capable of. And then there was the way they fit together so perfectly in the bedroom, hot and tender at the same time. Suddenly, everything Hunter barraged her at once, and it was as if someone had turned on a light in a dark room.

Maybe it had been Hunter all along. She just hadn’t been willing to see it.

As they walked the remaining blocks home, her thoughts took a darker turn, because this wasn’t a good thing, these feelings that blindsided her. Here she was, yet again, falling for a woman who didn’t love her back. What the hell was wrong with her? This was heartbreak by design.

Hunter was attracted to her, that part was clear. But she didn’t do relationships. She’d said as much for as long as Samantha had known her. Hunter hated the very idea of coupling up, and even if she didn’t, it wasn’t like anything real could come of what they had going. They couldn’t jeopardize Savvy with complicated emotions. Mallory’s words from the coffee shop rang loud and clear in her head, and Mallory was someone she knew she should listen to, someone who saw things for what they were.

When they reached the loft, Sam walked straight to the fridge without preamble, took out the coffee ice cream, and went to work on it. Because everyone knew, when you were in a difficult spot, coffee ice cream soothed your soul.

Hunter and Elvis watched her curiously, almost as if they were a little unsure how to proceed as she set about her task of hardcore avoidance by way of creamy snack. And that made sense, because she wasn’t sure of anything right now herself either. The world looked rather new and problematic, and she had to find a way to gain traction.

“You gonna share some of that?” Hunter asked, watching her from one of the bar stools across the island. She was doing the adorable puppy-dog eyes, which no living human could resist. Samantha passed Hunter a small spoonful of ice cream and watched as she slid it into her mouth. God, that was an awesome visual. Hunter ran a tongue across her bottom lip, capturing the residual ice cream, and then came around the island to Sam. “I had fun with you today.”

Samantha flashed to their after-class session and had to smile. “It was definitely memorable.”

When Hunter’s hands came to her waist, she inhaled, savoring the touch. She stared into those big brown eyes and lost herself. And when Hunter’s thumbs moved across Sam’s stomach, a prickle of heat started in her center and moved outward. God, she wanted to be kissed. It wasn’t smart, but that didn’t stop her from craving that closeness with the woman she’d begun to see in a new light.
Kiss me already.

“Remember when you told me not to get attached?” Hunter asked.

“I do.”

Hunter leaned and kissed her softly then, and Samantha melted into it. “That this was just sex?” Another kiss. She could do just this—kiss Hunter all night and never get bored.

“Yeah. I remember. Our deal.”

Hunter pulled back enough to meet Sam’s eyes. “That still true?”

Sam blinked, understanding for the first time that maybe Hunter didn’t want it to be. She knew her feelings for Hunter were real. New and terrifying, but real all the same. She also understood that an
admission
of those feelings was something else entirely. And she didn’t know if she could go there with Hunter, not after the way things had turned out with Libby. No, she should enjoy what it was they had and not be greedy. Keep her world balanced and even, where she was most comfortable.

Samantha slid her hands up Hunter’s forearms, needing to feel the warmth of her skin beneath her fingertips. “Don’t worry. Nothing’s changed.” She slipped her arms around Hunter’s neck and went up on her tiptoes, capturing Hunter’s mouth in a hungry kiss. Hunter reciprocated but something felt off, like Hunter’s heart wasn’t really in it. It was only a moment before she pulled back and stepped out of Samantha’s touch entirely. Her eyes searched the room, the walls, the couch, as if she didn’t quite know what to say.

“I’m sorry…I just—” Hunter sighed. “I can’t do this. I thought I could, but I was wrong.” The look of hurt in her eyes was unmistakable as she walked into her room, closing the door behind her.

Sam stood there in her kitchen, grappling to understand. She stared after Hunter, at the door that was closed to her now, as a tidal wave of regret overcame her. Her heart lodged in her throat. Had she actually just let Hunter walk out of there thinking it was just sex between them? She didn’t know how long she stood there doing her best to work it all out in her head. How was it possible that one person could evoke so many emotions in her? Excitement? Definitely. Hunter had her doing things she never would have done on her own. She made life interesting. Lust? Double check. The urge to shake her sometimes? Big-time. Hunter could infuriate her like no one else. Happiness? She closed her eyes, and the answer was there. Yes. She was really starting to think so. Hunter made her happy. But that didn’t necessarily outweigh the risk. She covered her mouth with her hand and stared at the ceiling, willing some sort of divine knowledge to strike her, to set her on a course for what she should do.

But she knew.

Beneath it all—the fear, the worry about upsetting the balance—she knew where she wanted to be. She turned off the kitchen light, locked the loft door, and walked the short distance to Hunter’s bedroom. She didn’t knock. She slipped into the darkened room, illuminated by slashes of moonlight from the window on the far wall. The bed dipped when she sat on it, and Hunter turned over and stared up at her. She’d been crying, Sam realized, and the knowledge shook her. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Hunter cry—in fact, she knew she hadn’t. She had always seemed so unaffected, so tough. But that so wasn’t the case.

Without a word, she slipped into bed, pulled Hunter against her, and just held on. And it felt like they were the only two people in the universe. She stroked her hair and felt the warmth from her body, comforted just by the sound of her breathing.

Hunter turned in her arms finally, her gaze questioning. With her thumbs, Samantha wiped the remnants of tears from Hunter’s cheeks. “It’s not just sex,” she whispered finally. “It’s so much more than that.”

Hunter stared at her. “The truth?”

Samantha nodded. “I shouldn’t have said what I did in the kitchen. I was scared. This is not something I’d planned on.”

“Me neither,” Hunter said quietly. “But it’s hard to turn away from it.”

Samantha wrapped her arms around Hunter’s waist, easing a hand under her shirt, to the small of her back and the warm skin there. “I don’t know what’s happening between us, but let’s just take our time to figure it out together, okay? Because what I’m feeling right now is new and scary, and I don’t want to rush to any conclusions.”

Hunter touched her cheek. “I just need to know that I’m not in this alone.”

“You’re not.”

“Because this,” Hunter said, placing Samantha’s hand over her heart, “is you.”

The sentiment was overpowering. Something shifted in Samantha’s chest and she was kissing Hunter, unable to hold back any longer. They’d kissed before, many times in fact, but never like this. It was the kind of kiss that communicated so much, that carried the kind of depth that Samantha would never really forget.

They made love that night. For the first time.

Slowly, tentatively.

Each touch carried more weight than ever before, each caress much more tender. When Samantha reached the point of release, it was thoughts of Hunter she clung to. And when they lay tired and sated in one another’s arms, Samantha didn’t move to her own room this time. Instead, they fell asleep together, wrapped around each other in the pale, moonlit room on the eleventh floor. The world was still out there, waiting for them with all of its complications. But inside, tucked away, the night was theirs.

And it was perfect.

Hunter awoke to the sound of running water and took a moment to figure out why she felt so damn good. She glanced around her bedroom at the clothes that had been taken off her last night. Instead of lying on the floor where she remembered them landing, they were now folded into a nice, neat little stack on top of her dresser. She smiled at the gesture she knew Samantha couldn’t help herself from making.

Order came first.

She stretched. Her body felt loose and relaxed and sore in the most wonderful way. She glanced at the clock, which read 7:14, and knew that she had a few minutes to play with before getting ready for work. And damn it, she wanted to play.

The bathroom door wasn’t locked and there was music playing from the shower radio. She pulled the shower curtain open enough to slip in behind Samantha, who turned to her in surprise. “Whoa.
Whoa
. You’re in the shower with me.”

“Is that okay? I can leave.”

Sam smiled and grabbed her arm. “Don’t you dare.”

“Bossy. But okay.”

The water ran down Samantha’s shoulders as she looked up at Hunter. “It’s strange. I’ve thought about you in this shower. A lot.” Her eyes moved across Hunter’s body in appreciation and her hands followed eagerly, settling on her now-wet skin. Totally okay with Hunter. “And now here you are. With me. Good morning, by the way,” she whispered and went up on her tiptoes for a steamy kiss.

“
Best
morning,” Hunter murmured against her mouth, arousal hitting her fast and hard. She increased their connection until it was an intense tangle of tongues that only served to awaken more in Hunter. “Turn around.”

Samantha traced the outline of her jaw. “I’m going to be late for work.”

Hunter shook her head. “I don’t know how you’ll keep your job.”

“In this moment, I’m not sure I care.” Her breathing was already quick, her eyes heavy with heat.

“So what are you waiting for?”

Samantha eyed her, but did as she was told.

Pooling her hands with the wonderfully fruity shower gel, Hunter went about lathering Samantha’s body, relishing the soapy, slickness of her skin coupled with the hot water. It wasn’t long before the steam in the room came from more than just the faucet, however, as Hunter’s touches turned more intimate and Sam’s labored breathing indicated the hoped-for response.

“You’re good at this,” Sam murmured, closing her eyes as Hunter covered her breasts with soap, massaging and lathering generously, moving her thumbs around Sam’s nipples and then across them.

She didn’t linger, though; she kept her hands moving, active, never stopping in one place too long. As her hands dipped between Samantha’s legs, Sam braced herself against Hunter’s shoulders. But again she moved on. Teasing at its finest.

“Okay, you’re also a little cruel,” Sam breathed, but she was smiling in spite of her condition. “Hand me the soap.”

Sam paid Hunter back and then some, moving her hands across every inch of Hunter’s body, taking away just as quickly as she gave, until Hunter was in a rather desperate state, turned on and throbbing, and needing so much more.

Samantha traced the very subtle curve of Hunter’s hip with one hand, the outside curve of her breast with the other. “God, I love your body.”