Page 18 of Loving Her

Never, not even during her very first kiss, had any kiss ever felt like that. Sparks, crackles and fireworks had shot through her at the first touch of her lips to Sasha’s, and it had taken everything she had to not absolutely melt into the kiss and let it take her wherever it went. Only knowing that all of her siblings were there andwatching—ew—had kept her tethered to the world around her.

The kiss was everything she had ever written about, read about, or seen in movies. The quicksilver thrill, the warmth radiating from her heart with each beat, the butterflies taking flight—oh, she’d felt it all in that single heavenly minute.

And all she could think about for the rest of the night, in the club, on the train and Uber rides home, sitting next to Sasha the whole time, oh, all she could think about was chasing that delicious high again. Just like she had that afternoon on the motorcycle.

Without words, she’d indicated she wanted to get ready for bed first, and Sasha had nodded. Ruby rushed through her nighttime routine, washing off all of her makeup, brushing her teethandusing mouthwash—to hell with flossing, though—moisturizing, braiding her hair out of the way. After a moment of thought, however, she took the braid down.

With what she had in mind, she wanted her hair down.

Now she was tucked up in her teenage bed, wearing loose cotton capri pants and a skimpy tank top, hair falling around her shoulders, and she wasplotting.

Was this what it was like to be the lead in a romance novel? There was desire, and fizzing excitement, and something that Ruby was very, very tempted to describe asyearning.

ForSasha. Her best friend. In all the years they’d known each other, she’d never felt like this about Sasha. Or was it that she’d never allowed herself to?

Ruby had written thousands of words about love and romance and relationships. A few days ago, she would have gleefully proclaimed herself an expert on the topic.Bullshit, she thought now. An actual expert might have a fillip of self-awareness, whereas Ruby? Ruby clearly knewnothing, not of love, not of herself, not a thing.

She did know that she wanted more of whatever this was.

The bedroom door creaked open and Sasha slipped through, closing it behind her. She was in her battered old Melissa Etheridge tour t-shirt and a pair of baggy boxer shorts, just as she’d been all week. There was a new uncertainty in her eyes, though, as she lifted her head to look at Ruby.

Ruby patted the pink bolster. “C’mere, Sash.”

Warily, Sasha stepped over to the bed and climbed in under the layers of warm, cozy blankets. They both slid down to face each other across the bolster. “So,” Sasha began, but Ruby reached over and placed a finger over her lips.

“No talking,” she whispered, and then she turned off the bedside lamp that was the only illumination in the little room.

Ruby groped in the dark across the bolster—she didn’t want to remove it from between them, that felt like a line she wasn’t ready to cross—and slid an arm around Sasha’s waist, pulling her in as close as possible, given the pillow. Lifting herself up slightly, she leaned over and went in for a kiss.

A tiny noise of surprise erupted from Sasha’s mouth, quickly muffled by Ruby’s. Her hair tumbled down around them and she hoped beyond hope that…

Sasha’s hands slid up into her hair and gripped two handfuls at the nape of Ruby’s neck. Ruby broke the kiss off to allow a gutturalfuckto escape.

Goddamn, but she had always loved having her hair pulled.

Sasha kept one hand firmly in Ruby’s hair, and the other began to drift southward as Ruby dove back in for an ever-deepening kiss. Gasps and hitching breaths were traded between them, and when Sasha’s hand crept up under Ruby’s tank top, this time, Ruby didn’t pull away.

She wanted to see, to feel, what would happen. And she couldn’t before, not surrounded by so many people, not so public, but now? Now it was just the two of them and a pillow Ruby was finding it harder to resist the urge to hurl away.

Sasha’s fingers crawled up the sensitive skin of Ruby’s side, the edges of her short nails lightly grazing and scratching, leaving goosebumps and little burning lines in their wake. Achingly slowly, Sasha’s hand slid up, up, up until it was cradling Ruby’s breast.

Neither of them breathed as Sasha gently rubbed her thumb across Ruby’s nipple, which instantly went tight and pebble-hard. A dull electric shock went through her from nipple to her clit, making her clench her thighs tight together, clench and relax, over and over, her hips moving involuntarily as Sasha’s thumb kept stroking and stroking and stroking…

Sasha pulled away. Bereft, Ruby groaned in frustration.

“Sorry,” Sasha whispered. “Sorry, Rubes. I had to stop before Icouldn’tstop. We need to talk. Tomorrow,” she added hastily as Ruby took in a deep breath in preparation.

“In the morning,” Ruby agreed after a moment. Then, wound up and confused and frustrated and full of desire, she turned over to face the wall and prayed for sleep to claim her quickly.

8

Sunlight streamed through the window of Ruby’s bedroom, but it didn’t wake Sasha up.

You couldn’t be woken up if you never went to sleep, after all.

Sasha sighed and turned to face Ruby and the bolster pillow that separated them. She was greeted with Ruby’s back, red hair down and tangled in a puddle across the pillow. Remembering that she’d sunk her hands into those soft, silky strands and pulled, remembering how that had made Ruby gasp and whisperfuckinto the darkness… Sasha blushed. Slipping out of the bed, she grabbed her toiletry bag and some clothing and headed for the bathroom.

Sasha took her time with her morning routine, carefully taking the full dentist-recommended two minutes with her teeth. Her shower was a good hot one, leisurely yet attentive. She washed her face with care, then took the time to give herself a mini facial massage and a good moisturizing. Making sure every inch of herself was thoroughly dry, she pulled on a pair of soft black jeans and a gray henley before she meticulously styled her hair in the steamy reflection of the mirror.

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