Page 12 of The Fires of Longest Night
Ria considers removing the skirt, then shoves it upward. As the scent of Nissa surrounds her, she draws a deep, steadying breath. Desire is everything, and part of her wants to press her mouth immediately to that hot, sweet wetness.
But playing with her own desire is playing with Nissa’s, and anticipation will only make the fulfilment sweeter, she knows. If this is, as she suspects, the first time that Nissa has released her desire with another person, moving slowly will slowly shred any uncertainties she might have. And Ria wants to see Nissa stripped of fear, given over to pleasure.
So, she kisses the soft warmth of her hips, grazing teeth over the bones surfacing in the round curve. Nissa moans again, pressing towards her, and Ria kisses down her thighs, appreciating the twitch of muscles grown tense with desire beneath her lips.
She kisses soft against the curls gone damp with desire, and then hovers, her breath cascading against the slick hot center between Nissa’s legs. Nissa’s breath is coming in short gasps, and Ria can’t help but grin in delight. She pauses just a little longer, feeling the rhythm of Nissa’s breathing, of the waves of desire, and then presses a hard, open-mouthed kiss to Nissa’s clit.
Nissa’s body bows, her cry a sweet jag into the darkness. Ria moves her tongue gently against her. As much as Ria wants to slide her fingers deep into the warmth between Nissa’s legs, she knows that the next climax will be even more intense if she holds that back now. She fixes her mouth against Nissa’s clit and works it, slowly speeding up, attentive to every tiny message the woman’s body sends. Every breath, every twitch, every movement, every moan and cry. Every delightful, building promise.
Nissa’s hands close against her hair, fisting amongst the loose strands, and Ria thinks she might come just from this touch as Nissa’s breathy cries begin to escalate. Nissa’s thighs shake, and Ria drives her tongue against the slick warmth of her clit, tilting her head so her chin presses against her entrance.
And Nissa explodes against her.
The cry into the night is ecstasy writ in starlight.
Ria keeps her tongue moving slowly against Nissa as the woman’s body shifts into the languid fluidity of the aftermath. She pauses a moment, knowing she wants to catch the flow and take it into a second moment of undoing. But she glances up and can’t resist crawling up Nissa’s body to kiss her mouth.
“You taste like…” Nissa’s gaze is soft, unfocussed.
“Like you, love. Like heaven itself,” Ria whispers. “Are you ready?”
“Ready?” Nissa blinks at her, and Ria slides back down her body, readying for a second round. “Oh. Oh! Yes.”
And the certainty in her voice makes Ria smile.
CHAPTER 8
NISSA
Breathless and emptied of energy, Nissa’s chest heaves as she hauls in air.
“Enough,” she begs, half-laughing. “That is enough, Ria.”
Ria grins down at her, that confident smile drifting into a delicious smugness that is so delightful that Nissa starts making plans about how to keep it on her face. “It’s not nearly enough, Nissa,” she whispers, kissing along the length of her neck.
“Oh, I meant only for this moment, this one, right here,” Nissa replies, playful and silly, poking one finger down into the earth emphatically. “Give me a few minutes, and you can see whether I have the strength left to…”
“Yes, love?” Ria’s words are arch, teasing as she settles on her side against Nissa, her head resting on her shoulder. “Left to…?”
Nissa can’t hold back the laugh, and it comes with a snort. “Take yet more of your attentions?” she says questioningly.
It’s Ria’s turn to snort. “I’m sorry. I just made you come your brains out beneath the stars and you’re still being coy? My ‘attentions’ indeed!”
She catches a blanket and a fur and yanks them up over the two of them.
The quiet of the night expands between them, and Nissa stares up at the stars in the cold night sky. Ria smooths a strong, rough palm across Nissa’s stomach, and Nissa, glancing down, thinks she’s never seen so beautiful a sight as the contrast between Ria’s skin and her own. She shivers under that touch, enjoying the possessiveness of it.
Does Ria even know how entirely I am hers?she wonders. The sensation and even the thought is so strangely unfamiliar: she is more herself, and yet given over to Ria. She glances up and swallows hard as the thought of the next morning opens a pit of dread in her stomach.
That thought is enough to send her fleeing back into sensation. She rolls towards Ria, turning the other woman onto her back.
“Actually, come to think of it,” Nissa says, echoing Ria’s arch, playful tone. “There’s something else I can do while I catch my breath…”
She wriggles down, kissing in against Ria’s neck. The other woman gasps, her hands gripping at Nissa’s waist, and Nissa bites her earlobe none-too-gently. Ria makes a noise somewhere between pain and pleasure, and Nissa grins in delight. “Oh yes, I think perhaps this is a much better use of my time than just lying around…”
She slides down, getting her knees under her between Ria’s legs, then kneels up above her. For a moment, she just looks at her, her heart feeling like it’s expanding until it’s as big as the sky above. Her breasts are soft curves, the nipples just starting to harden in the cold. Her strong, stocky frame is soft with relaxation, the muscles of her uninjured shoulder only working because Ria grips Nissa’s waist, sliding her hand down the curve into her hip over and over. Nissa glances up at Ria’s face, meeting her gaze.
Nissa’s mouth falls open almost in disbelief. The cockiness, the confidence, the smugness… all are gone in this moment of being perceived. It makes Riashy. Nissa tilts her head, wanting to chase back the thread of uncertainty in her gaze.
