Page 40 of Petting Penelope
“It really is,” said Penelope. “Best ice cream I’ve ever eaten.”
Guilia’s answering smile was pleased. “I am teasing Tay,” she explained. “I am more than happy for you to eat some ice cream. Youbene? You good?”
“Better for having eaten this ice cream and chatted with Tay. They’re easy to talk to.”
Guilia leaned over and kissed Tay. “They really are.”
That resulted in a flustered Tay which was really very amusing indeed. Penny finished her ice cream, offered to wash it up—an offer which was vehemently rejected by both Tay and Guilia—and then decided to head back up to the suite to see if Rachel was awake yet.
CHAPTER 34
Rachel
She heard the door open, sitting as she was on the couch, breakfast eaten and washed up. “Penny? Is that you?”
“Who else are you expecting?” teased the blonde as she entered the room and flomped down on the sofa next to Rachel.
“Just you,” said Rachel, and leaned over and kissed her. She tried to infuse it with all the care and affection she held for the other woman, and when she drew back, Penelope moved in to kiss her again.
“I like kissing you,” Penny murmured against Rachel’s lips.
Rachel liked kissing Penelope too, and she gave Penelope a final firm kiss before moving back. They both knew that they could get carried away far too quickly, and she’d been gearing up for this conversation ever since her call with Elisabeth and Lyra. She wasn’t going to bottle it now.
“So,” she said, releasing a sigh.
Penny leaned back against the arm of the couch and let out a sigh that echoed Rachel’s.
“How about I start?” Rachel suggested.
The other woman nodded.
“So I said ‘my love’ last night.”
“You did.”
“And I imagine that you’re wondering what that means about how I’m feeling, what this means for us, etc.”
“It had crossed my mind.” Rachel watched as Penny shuffled in her seat, before smiling shyly at Rachel. “It’s okay, Rach. I promise.”
“I’ve liked you for a long time, probably had a bit of a crush on you since the moment I met you, if I’m honest. But I figured that you weren’t looking for anything more than scening, and I was determined to respect that.”
Penelope nodded.
“And then you asked me to come here, and we started… expanding our repertoire, kink-wise.”
“You mean, you started calling me your Strawberry Moo and indulging my breeding kink.” Penny was pink as she spoke, but she didn’t mince her words.
Rachel huffed a laugh. “Yes, all of that. And it’s been… Penny, it’s been fucking awesome. You make me feel things I could only have dreamed of, and the fact that you’ve been trusting me with your wants and desires… well, it means a whole lot to me.” She took a breath. “So yeah, when I said ‘my love’ last night, it was a casual term of endearment, but I don’t mean it casually. I’m falling for you, and I know that might be scary, and I’m so terrified of fucking it all up. But I’d like to learn to love you, if you’ll let me.”
There was a long silence that felt excruciating. Rachel was tempted to try and speak again multiple times, but instead she tried to calm her pulse and wait for Penelope to gather her own thoughts.
“I like you too. I don’t think I can really pinpoint when that started, but I suspect it might be earlier than this week. And yes, having someone fall for me again is scary. I’m not perfect; I’m fallible, human, and I don’t want to be put on a pedestal andthen tossed on the ground when I don’t live up to some great expectations. But I like you too. That’s the thing I keep coming back to, over and over again.”
“I know what my expectations are,” said Rachel. “That we’re honest with each other, and we respect each other’s boundaries. Everything else, I think we just kind of work out as we go along. Kind of like we have this holiday.”
“I can do that,” said Penelope.
Rachel’s heart felt like it might burst out of her chest and go on flying down the street.
