The Road to Glory (29 page)

The chilly sheet that was wrapped around RJ tickled the blonde’s chest for just a second before RJ let it fall to the ground and returned Leigh’s tender embrace. Blue eyes fluttered shut as their bodies came together in an explosion of sensation.
God,
I don’t think I can stop myself with you, RJ. I think it’s too late to even try.

The taller woman sighed and her voice dropped. "Leigh," she growled, loving the feeling of their bodies nestled tightly together. She pressed her face against Leigh’s head, her breath lightly scattering the tousled golden locks resting against her lips. "This is so nice."

Leigh nodded, helpless to do anything but agree. "It is." She leaned forward a little and kissed the lightly freckled skin on RJ's throat, feeling the wildly fluttering pulse against her mouth. "Mmm …" Greedily, Leigh drew in a deep breath, burying her nose in the crook of RJ’s neck. "You smell so damn good."
How can I want you this badly? I shouldn’t need you like this.
But Leigh pushed away any thought that didn’t revolve around the here and now, wanting to drown in the sensation of RJ melting in her arms. Of holding and being held, needing and being needed.

RJ sucked in a quick breath at the feeling of soft lips against her cool skin. She reached up and threaded her fingers in Leigh’s thick golden hair, tilting the smaller woman’s head way back, bracing her with her other arm. She peered into Leigh’s eyes and saw her own rising passion mirrored back at her.

The world around them began to fade away.

RJ ducked her head and their lips meet in a deep, languid kiss that stole her breath away.

Leigh groaned softly as she felt her position adjusted by RJ so that she was leaning against the balcony railing. She was still holding the blanket around herself and her lover, her breasts nestled firmly beneath RJ’s. Their lips barely separated. "Do you want this?" For a moment Leigh wasn’t sure whether she asked the question out loud or merely thought the words or whether she meant much more than necking on the balcony.

The taller woman’s hands slid down Leigh’s back to capture firm buttocks. She drew their bodies closer together and her lips slid to Leigh’s ear where she gently traced its wind-chilled edge with her tongue. Fire raced through her veins as the weight of her own arousal came crashing on her. "Yes," she whispered harshly, drawing the delicate earlobe into her mouth and sucking, earning a tiny gasp. Dropping her head further, she indulged in her lover’s tender throat, unable to stop her teeth from closing gently around a sensitive fold of skin. "Yes, I want this."

Leigh moaned, very aware of the increasing moisture between her legs and the firm nipples that slid lightly across her chest every time RJ took a breath. Her skin tingled in the wake of RJ’s touch and her heart began beating faster. She wanted to bring RJ’s lips back to hers, but she couldn’t move her hands without exposing RJ’s naked body to the cold night air. It took her several seconds of mounting frustration before she realized she could simply ask. Her tongue appeared and moistened her lips. "Kiss me on the mouth, RJ."

RJ’s head snapped up and she crushed her mouth against Leigh’s, responding instantly to the desire and desperation in the plea. Hot and wet, their tongues swirled around each other, warring for dominance in a demanding, primal kiss.

Panting, RJ sank to her knees, allowing them to rest on the sheet still pooled beneath her. There was a shifting of movement and shadows before her world went black and she was completely engulfed by the blanket as Leigh’s arms moved with her, covering her, though she was far from cold. The fragrance of Leigh’s skin and sweat and arousal was stronger here, and she moaned as it washed over her senses. "Leigh," she breathed thickly. She had been so wrong before, for all these years.

This was heaven.

She kissed the soft underside of a breast, barely touching the skin, its salty dampness sending a flood of heated blood low in her belly. Nipping and licking she drew a stream of incomprehensible sounds from Leigh’s throat.

Leigh closed her eyes as the sensation sent a shot of pure, pulsing desire to her groin. She felt as though she was being devoured. When lips closed around her nipple and bit softly, giving it a firm tug, she groaned loudly, and eyes dilated by arousal snapped wide. "God, yes," she hissed, giving in to the urge to pull RJ’s head closer, feeling silky, thick hair tangle with her fingers as she tried to maintain her grip on the blanket. She was already feeling the first stirrings of climax and they had barely begun.
What is she doing to me?

Deciding she would die if she had to go another second without touching RJ, Leigh grasped the ends of the blanket in one hand. Its edges were barely hanging on her shoulders as she raked her fingers through RJ’s silken tresses, caressing her scalp.

The gentle movement caused RJ to stop what she was doing and look up just as Leigh lowered the blanket, dropping it from her shoulders to her biceps and shifting so that RJ’s head was once again exposed to the night’s breeze. Their gazes locked and Leigh could read every emotion on RJ’s startlingly open face, every thought and desire. It was love, staring unflinchingly up at her, begging her to respond in kind and tugging at her spirit. Leigh’s heart clenched painfully and she found herself helpless under its spell. Her spell. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words would come. She blinked and was suddenly looking at RJ through a haze of shimmering tears.

Leigh gently cupped RJ’s chin and, with a tiny tug, sent her rising to her feet. The blanket nearly slipped from her grasp, but she caught it just as they moved back into a loose embrace.

"What?" RJ whispered.

Leigh shook her head, unable to answer. She looked away.

RJ frowned a little and drew a single finger up between Leigh’s breasts, along the side of her throat, and behind her earlobe where she paused and gave it a gentle tug. "Do you want me to stop?" she asked raggedly, consciously tamping down the excitement that was making her body hum and her heart thunder. "Because I will, lass." A tiny but serious smile worked its way across her face. "But I’d rather you let me have you completely."

There was a white flash of teeth as a smile edged with affection, desire and a raw want made Leigh gasp with fear and need. She felt the low-husked words rumble right through her, and she managed her own tiny smile in return, wondering if the soul-deep fear she felt shone clearly in her eyes. She swallowed and let herself fall a little further and impossibly deeper.

RJ’s warm palm cupped the side of her face and her thumb slid lightly over her cheekbone in a gentle, affectionate move that stole Leigh’s very heart.

The blonde woman abandoned herself to the touch and to RJ, offering herself up completely in every way she had to give. It was time. "I don’t want you to stop. I don’t want to stop," she said heavily as her blue eyes slid shut and she surged upward to capture RJ’s lips in a wet, hungry kiss.

RJ growled deep in her chest, reacting unconsciously to Leigh’s surrendering of her heart and body. Their kisses went from fiery to frantic as their excitement reached a fever pitch and the blanket fell away from RJ’s back. They surged together, groping and needy. This time when RJ dropped to her knees she didn’t stop her progression down Leigh’s body until her nose, then tongue were brushing through damp, fragrant curls. She groaned loudly and her hands convulsively clenched Leigh’s hips, roughly pulling her closer.

"Jesus!" Leigh threw her head back and wide eyes gazed unseeing into a million bright stars. Her thighs began to tremble and the blanket fell away from both their bodies, though it remained clenched in one fist. Cool air swept across hot skin, heightening every sensation. Leigh was truly surprised when steam didn’t rise from their bodies. Another surge of RJ’s tongue and her knees nearly gave out.

RJ lifted one of Leigh’s legs over her shoulder and pushed her back harder against the balcony railing as she supported most of her weight. She gave in to her every impulse to possess and consume and love completely as she feasted on Leigh. She had been wrong before.

This was heaven.

"God," Leigh hissed as her painfully coiled body released with so much force she was completely swept away. Her drawn out, rapturous climax was howled into the cool spring night.

RJ carefully lowered Leigh’s leg from her shoulder, making sure her arms were still wrapped tightly around the blonde, who was already swaying.

Leigh had just enough presence of mind to weakly swing the blanket around RJ’s shoulders. She still felt like she was on fire and didn’t even spare a thought for covering herself.

The auburn-haired woman rested her cheek against Leigh’s heaving chest. She tilted her head upward when she thought she heard Leigh say her name.

Leigh’s jaw worked, but she couldn’t make the words come. They had time
. Later
, her mind whispered.
There’ll be time later.
She let out a shuddering breath. "Never mind."

*  *  *

The clerk at the front desk of the Piedmont Suites Hotel hung up the phone and scratched his jaw, a puzzled look putting a deep crease in his forehead.

The night manager poked his head out of his office and, yawning, addressed the young man. "Another phone call?" They’d never had so many calls in the middle of the night.

"Yeah, it’s weird. Half the rooms on the eighth floor, but only on the side with balconies facing the Puget Sound, just extended their stay for the rest of the week. One man started crying when I told him we’d already booked his room to someone else for tomorrow night."

*  *  *

"Waaaahh!"

"It’ll grow back," she muttered half-heartedly for at least the hundredth time.

"When?" His lower lip poked out. "Can you tell me when?" The male squirrel burst into body-wracking sobs again. "Wahhh. Wahahahahaha!"

"Not soon enough for me. I’m never walking behind you," she grimaced, "or in front of you again." She plopped down next to her bald mate, wondering if female humans understood that Nair was simply antifreeze in disguise. She cringed when her beady black gaze drifted upward toward his head. As white human males had discovered, you really had to have a good head to be completely bald. Otherwise you just look stupid.

He buried his face in his arms and continued to wail. "Eternity! I’m going to spend eternity looking like a naked mole rat."
Oh, the humiliation!

"It could be worse," the female offered helpfully, kicking her feet out in front of her as she leaned back against their bed. They were safely hidden away from Flea in their nest.

"How? How could it be worse?" He sniffed pathetically.

"I dunno." She shrugged and smiled toothily. "I was lying to try and make you feel better."

Whoever said that females were the more nurturing sex was clearly a whipped male squirrel trying to get laid. There could be no other explanation. "Waahahahahaahaha!"

"Oh, stop. At least you’re sort of alive. I thought you were a goner when you tipped over face first into the antifreeze. Your bottle cap chest plate made you sink right to the bottom."

He wiped his tears away on a leaf. "You saved me?" His eyes were round with wonderment. "You? You’re nothing but a fat lazy sloth! You wouldn’t save me!"

True,
she conceded mentally, surprised by her mate’s moment of insight. She had just let the antifreeze puddle soak into the ground before poking him awake with a stick.

"I’m the master of this couple from now on. All the future plans will be mine," he declared boldly.

The female just smiled placidly. She would tell him later that the leaf he’d just used to wipe his cheeks wasn’t their normal toweling, but a poison oak leaf she’d collected for their war against Flea. Much later. Okay, never.

Just then the male grabbed the leaf and vigorously rubbed it against his butt. "Dang, being bald is itchy!"

"I’m sure it is." She nodded gleefully.
Call me fat …
"In fact, I’d imagine that when the wind brushes against delicate body parts that have never really seen the light of day, it makes them tingle."

"Tingle?" Nothing was really tingling now that he’d relieved his itch, but he liked the idea of tingling. Unconsciously, he crossed his legs.

"Oh, yes." She nodded. "I’ll bet delicate places not usually exposed to the elements would tingle as the cool air brushed over them, caressing them."

The male squirmed a little. "Del– " He paused and gulped, his mouth going a little dry. "Delicate places?"
Caressing?

The female nodded again, her voice taking on that sensual squirrel quality that called to her mate on a subconscious, primal level. "Very delicate, highly sensitive places." She glanced around casually. "Can’t you just feel the light breeze whistling through this place?"

The male instantly rubbed the leaf between his legs using quick, furious motions to relieve the insidious itch that came out of nowhere. "You’re right! I can feel it!"

"No. But you will later."

"What?" Something was vaguely unsettling about seeing that sweet cherub-like smile on his wife’s face.

"Oh, nothing important."

*  *  *

Leigh laughed, trying to hang onto all the little stuffed bears that threatened to tumble from her arms. "Good God, RJ, I can’t hold them all!" And true to her word, one of the bears plopped onto the cement beneath her sneakers.

The air was filled with the sound of laughing children, obnoxious teenagers, and game barkers. Better still was the delicious aroma of sugar, salt and grease that could only be found at a carnival. RJ was hard-pressed to think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

"Hey, watch it." RJ shot a little boy a grumpy look as she bent to retrieve the bear he’d almost stepped on. "Well then, lass, let me see …" she looked around at the various booths and stands to see if any of the vendors might have a bag for the twenty or so small, bedraggled-looking brown teddy bears she’d won for Leigh while playing games on the fairway. One stand had neon pink bags covered with pictures of some boy band hanging from its canvas roof. RJ cringed; she
had
planned on offering to carry the bears for the rest of the day, but there was no way in hell she’d be caught dead carrying around one of those big, ugly, hot pink tote bags.
I have my pride,
she thought a little indignantly
.
She was about to give up when she spied exactly what they needed. "C’mon, and we’ll get a knapsack for all your furry little friends."