Page 36 of Partridge in a Bear Tree

Penny hummed but didn't delve any deeper, her tongue tracing over the delicate flesh, tasting slick wetness and teasing the creases as Ashley's voice lifted in whining demand. She still wasn't ready when Penny parted her cleft and drove her tongue deep. Her knees buckled, and Penny, anticipating it, caught some of Ashley's weight and helped her drop to the couch without falling. Then she pulled Ashley's hips forward, pushing her thighs wide, and explored her throbbing clit with the same attention to detail Ashley had used on her nipples.

Only it was better, or maybe worse, because that soft strong tongue and all that heat came so close, over and over again, to making her come, bringing her right up to the edge and then faltering as Ashley cried out and squirmed, knotting and loosening her hands in Penny's hair. "Come on come on fuck me make me come I need it, you're fucking teasing me oh godgodPenny!"

Penny's soft laughter vibrated through her, and Ashley knew she was right, her matewasteasing her, and it was phenomenal.She babbled again, getting so close to release, pleading for it, and then, desperately, dropped her voice and said, "Fuckingnow, Penny, make me come now!"

That was what her mate was waiting for. The command. All at once Penny's fingers were inside her, curving hard against the sweet spot on the pubic bone, and Ashley orgasmed so hard she saw stars. Her, "Yes, yes, again,doit, Penny!" was hoarse with pleasure, and it got what she demanded, staggering waves of pleasure slamming through her until she was quivering and exhausted with release. Clumsy, sated, thrilled, she dragged Penny back up onto the couch and wrapped her arms and legs around her, clinging and murmuring pleasured nonsense. Penny fumbled for a blanket from the back of the couch, and a little to Ashley's surprise, very quickly, they both slept.

CHAPTER 20

"You," Penny rasped, quite a long nap later, "have got aserious'lady in the streets, sex fiend in the sheets' thing going on here. I didnotexpect that."

Ashley, who was astonishingly comfortable to sleep on, made a small, almost embarrassed sound. "Too much?"

"Jesus, no, it was incredible, just not what I imagined." Penny squished around enough to steal a kiss, then, seeing Ashley's blush, kissed her jaw, too. "I loved it. I've never really been with a dom woman before. I've only dated women who are into the whole 'short and bossy' thing. I didn't knowIhad it in me. It's good," she promised. "It's incredible."

Ashley shivered. "Okay. I don't usually come on that strong, I'm—" She shook her head. "I'm too big, too tall, too strong. I don't want to scare anybody. But I like to take charge."

"In everything," Penny said with a grin. "And you're good at it. And it seems to me like your fated mate is the perfect person to come on strong with. Fate must mean we're compatible, right? God," she added, distracted by her own thoughts. "Yeah, read me the phone book and then dothatto me. I'm all in." She stole another kiss, then sighed contentedly. "I could stay here forever."

Ashley laughed quietly. "I thought we were going to come up with something better to read than a phone book. And yeah, I could too, except I think I might already be late for work."

"No. No way. Really? You?" Penny looked for a clock, then laughed and nuzzled at Ashley again. "I'm a bad influence. Letting your inner dom out and then making you late for work. But maybe you could use being a little less responsible? Just a little bit," she promised. "Let your hair down a bit and relax. Just a tiny bit."

Ashley, sounding offended, said, "I'm not uptight, am I?"

"No," Penny said, surprised. "Just dedicated to the task at hand." She shivered all over. "For the record, I'm ahugefan of being dedicated to this kind of task. But if you're late to work maybe we should shower. And I should try to get your clothes back from wherever missing shifter clothes go."

Ashley blinked, then laughed, and, sheepishly, said, "I forgot that's why we got naked in the first place."

Penny, firmly, said, "That isnotwhy we got naked. It was just a really good excuse."

Ashley laughed again and pulled her up for a kiss, murmuring, "It was. And yes, shower. Together?"

"That will not get you to work anything like on time. Absolutely." Penny climbed off the couch and pulled Ashley up as well, and they managed to get through a shower withouttoomuch delay. Ashley dried her hair while Penny sat and concentrated on shifting to a partridge and then back again with the clothes she'd lost, but several tries netted her absolutely nothing.

"It's okay," Ashley said. "The dress was panic-levels of important. My skirt and shirt are not."

Penny wailed, "But!" and her partridge, startled, said,Butts?

Do partridges even know what butts are?Penny demanded.

The bird gazed at her with a distant, confused expression, then began scratching around in the landscape of Penny's mind like it was looking for bugs.

Maybe, Penny thought helplessly, it had thought she'd said 'bugs' to begin with. She dragged her brain away from bugs and said, "But your clothes," to Ashley, who came over to steal a kiss.

"It's honestly fine. I'm going to drive you back to your hotel so you can put your own clothes on, and then bring you to the pub so you can get your van, which is probably frozen solid, and after you've thawed it you can bring Karina's dress back to her and that'll be one thing less that you have to worry about."

"Do I have anything else to worry about? Besides finding your clothes?"

"Just Christmas Eve with five thousand Torbens," Ashley promised.

"Oh, that. It'll be fine." Penny grimaced, then widened her eyes. "But oh, wait. Are we telling them? Can I tell Gwen, at least? And she'll tell Bill, but will Bill tell anybody?"

"Not if Gwen tells him not to," Ashley said, sounding almost like she believed it. "But it's up to you, in general. If you want to tell them, we can. They'll be thrilled. But if you want to have some more time to come to terms with being a shifter yourself, that's also incredibly understandable and totally okay."

Penny held her breath a moment, then nodded. "Let's start with Gwen and Bill. See how that goes. I'll think about the other Torben hordes after that. T-horde-bens?"

Ashley laughed. "T-horde-bens, yeah. T-hordens. I like it."

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