Page 11 of Crossing the Line
Carmen captured Hailey’s lips in a kiss, then slipped her tongue in Hailey’s mouth as she ran her hands over her shoulders and down her arms. Hailey moaned quietly through the kiss, and it only spurred on Carmen even more. She lowered Hailey down on the mattress, hungry to leave kisses all over her body and taste her. Carmen kissed down the slope of Hailey’s neck, over her collarbone that slightly jutted out, and down her chest. She captured one of Hailey’s already pert nipples into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it, as she ran her right hand up from Hailey’s thigh to the curve of her hip, up to her other breast where she gently squeezed it before pressing the nipple between her fingers. Hailey wriggled underneath her, and her breathing quickened.
“I want you,” she whispered, her voice husky with desire.
Carmen felt a twinge from deep in her core, and she licked Hailey’s nipple before planting a tiny kiss on it and trailed kisses down her stomach, noticing how creamy and soft Hailey’s skin was.
She reached the middle of Hailey’s legs and repositioned herself before looking up at Hailey, though she knew she didn’t need more permission. Hailey stared back at her, and Carmen felt something shift inside her at Hailey’s confidence. She could’ve looked away or closed her eyes, but she didn’t. Hailey met her gaze straight-on and didn’t waver.
Carmen couldn’t resist any longer, and she lowered her head to run her tongue over Hailey’s clit already swollen with need. She flicked her tongue across it, pressing down gently for added pressure, and her hand found their mark between Hailey’s legs. She was so wet for her already, and Carmen slipped in one finger then another, feeling Hailey’s walls clench around her fingers.
“Oh my god,” Hailey said, and Carmen saw her lean her head back.
Carmen smirked and curled her fingers upward, instantly finding Hailey’s tender G-spot and quickened her pace while still lapping her clit.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes,” Hailey cried out. “Keep going, just like that.”
Hailey tangled her fingers in Carmen’s hair, pulling gently, as she raised her hips to match Carmen’s rhythm. Carmen kept pumping her fingers inside Hailey, feeling Hailey’s juices soak her wrist and trail down her arm. She moved lower to lick between her folds, savoring her taste and letting the heady scent wash over her. When she was satisfied she lapped up the juices and got a good taste of her, she reinserted her fingers and went back to work on Hailey’s clit with her other thumb, not stopping until Hailey’s entire body tensed and she cried out as her orgasm washed over her. Only when Hailey’s body stopped shudderingdid she remove her fingers, lick them, then lie down next to Hailey.
“That was…” Hailey said.
“Yeah. It was,” Carmen said, not taking her eyes off the beautiful stranger she couldn’t imagine was in her bed.
Carmen lay still in the darkness, her body humming with a satisfaction she'd forgotten existed. Hailey was curled against her side, one arm draped across Carmen's stomach, her breathing deep and even. The weight of another person in her bed should have felt foreign, invasive even. But it wasn’t. Instead, it felt completely natural, like they had always shared a bed together.
Moonlight filtered through the bedroom windows, casting silver patterns across the sheets. Outside, a fog horn sounded its lonely call across the harbor, grounding her in place and time. Phoenix Ridge. Her bedroom. A stranger in her bed who didn't feel like a stranger at all.
"You're thinking too loud," Hailey murmured against her shoulder.
Carmen's lips curved despite herself. "Occupational hazard. Surgeons are trained to analyze everything."
"And what's your analysis of this situation?"
The question hung in the darkness, inviting honesty Carmen wasn't sure she could give. She was hyperaware of every point where their bodies touched: Hailey's breath warm on her neck, the silk of her hair against Carmen's arm, the way their legs tangled beneath the sheets.
"Unprecedented," Carmen finally said.
Hailey's soft laugh vibrated through both their bodies. "That's very clinical."
"Would you prefer 'extraordinary'? 'Unexpected'? 'Completely outside my usual parameters'?"
"I'd prefer honesty."
Carmen turned her head to find Hailey watching her, eyes dark and patient in the moonlight. There was no demand in that gaze, just genuine curiosity and something that looked dangerously close to affection.
"Terrifying," Carmen admitted. "And wonderful. And I have no idea what to do with either of those feelings."
"You don't have to do anything with them. Sometimes feelings just are."
"Spoken like someone who doesn't live their life by protocols and procedures."
"Did you want to be something else when you were younger, besides a classical pianist?" Hailey asked, the subject change so smooth Carmen almost missed it. "Before you decided on surgery?"
The question unlocked something Carmen rarely accessed. "When I was very young? An astronaut. I liked the idea of absolute silence and infinite space."
"And instead you chose controlled chaos and intimate spaces."
"Hearts don't fix themselves in zero gravity."
Hailey's fingers traced abstract patterns on Carmen's stomach, light enough to be ignorable but present enough to be maddening. "Do you ever regret it? Playing classical piano and being in space are very different from what you do now."
