Discovery Read online

  We’d danced together before, but never had I been so aware of the breadth of her shoulders, her firm thighs brushing mine, or the commanding way she guided me around the floor.

  I noticed more than one envious stare in our direction. “Every woman in the room is trying to figure out how to get me out of the way so they can have a crack at you.”

  She scanned the room slowly. “Actually, you’ve got that wrong. All eyes are on you, or more specifically, that dress. The femmes are wondering where you got it and if they would look this great in it. And the butches are imagining what they would do to get you out of it.”

  Trying for cool, I slowly raised an eyebrow. “Present company included.”

  Her quick blush was charming, but to her credit she kept her composure. “Sweetheart, I already know how to get you out of it.”

  Did she hear my heart thumping against my ribs? “Really?”

  She pressed her palm harder against my back, bringing our bodies flush, and I imagined I could feel her nipples through our clothes. Her mouth next to my ear, she said, “All I have to do is bring you a pint of Cherry Garcia and a sappy chick flick and you’ll be out of that dress and into your flannel pajamas in no time.”

  I slapped a hand lightly against her shoulder and pushed her back, restoring the space between us. “Very funny.” The flash of disappointment was surprising. We had flirted before, but until tonight I’d never felt let down at the inevitable reminder that we were nothing more than buddies.

  She laughed and tugged me close again. “Are you having a good time?”

  “I couldn’t have written it better.”

  We moved together in silence for several more minutes before I felt her sigh.

  “Something wrong?”

  She was quiet for so long I started to worry, but when I would have pulled back to look at her, she held me tight.

  “I have a confession,” she whispered against my temple. “My date didn’t get sick.”

  “What?” Now I did draw back and found embarrassed amusement on her face.

  “I told her I had a family emergency and couldn’t make it.”

  “Why?”

  When she took a deep breath, I suddenly got nervous about her response. “Because I knew if I came here with her, I would spend the entire night wishing she was you.”

  If I were the swooning type, that definitely would have been the place for it. I stared at her, trying to comprehend what I’d just heard. At some point we’d both stopped dancing and now just stood in the middle of the floor with our arms around each other.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “You’re my best friend and I would never want to screw that up. Besides, I didn’t think you’d take me seriously, given my reputation.”

  “So what changed?”

  “I couldn’t face another stupid fund-raiser with some random woman. And then when I saw you in that dress—you were so beautiful. Sometimes when I look at you, I forget to breathe.” Alex smiled shyly. “Does that sound corny?”

  It did. But I liked it.

  “Didn’t you notice that I kept finding reasons to touch you?” Tentatively, she stroked my cheek as if still afraid I would reject her. We’d touched each other often, in many ways, through the course of our friendship, but this was the first such reverent caress. “And I’ll admit, your crack about me not being romantic stung a bit. So tonight, I wanted to prove you wrong.”

  She’d opened a few doors, brought me a drink, and danced with me as if I were Cinderella. Taken separately, none of these things was terribly original. But standing amid the fairy tale with my dashing escort, I was swept away.

  Alex wanted me, I could see that clearly in her gaze, and it made my heart race. The only thing stronger than that desire was the love that had been the foundation of our friendship for years. And as I watched, it grew and deepened, forged like the strongest steel in her gray eyes.

  Ironically, while I spent hours a day trying to figure out how to put a new twist on the same old story, she had made that old story perfect, simply by being Alex.

  My mind was still spinning her words around, but my body was already reacting. My nipples tightened and when I flexed my thighs to relieve the ache between them, the muscles in Alex’s jumped in response. I framed her face in my hands and studied her for a moment, seeing the visage of my friend as if for the first time.

  “Cote, please say some—”

  I slid my hands to the back of her neck and pressed my lips to hers. Silky soft, the hair at her nape curled around my fingers. She opened to me, freely allowing my exploration of her mouth. Fingers dug into my hips and one of us moaned. Her body was taut beneath my hands and vibrating like a bowstring pulled too far.

  “You’re shaking. What’s wrong?” I held her tighter as if I could stop her trembling.

  “You make me nervous.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Because. It’s you.”

  I smiled and kissed her neck. “I’m no different than anyone else.”

  “Yes. You are. You’re special.”

  “I get that you respect me, but,” I took her hand and pressed it to my chest so she could feel my heart pounding, “you don’t need to put me on a pedestal. I’m flesh and blood.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Ah, yes. You are.”

  Her palm against the bare skin between my breasts, she slipped her fingers under the edge of my neckline. When she brushed against my nipple, I gasped as pleasure chased through me. She circled over it again and again, making me wet. Her slow smile let me know that her confidence had returned, surging back to restore the swagger in her hips as we began dancing again.

  But she wasn’t the only one who could tease. Steering her toward the darkened edge of the dance floor, I swept my hand inside her jacket and when I cupped her breast, felt her sharply indrawn breath.

  Throbbing with need for her, I murmured, “Alex, if you’ve made a sufficient appearance at this event, I could use your help with something.”

  “Hmm?”

  “When you came to my house earlier, I was working on a scene that was giving me some trouble.” Under her jacket I tugged her shirttail free so I could touch her skin. “So I thought maybe you could come home with me and help me work out some of the—kinks.”

  “Kinks, huh?” She took my mouth aggressively, her tongue sweeping inside my mouth, and sucked my lower lip. Lifting my hand from her breast, she squeezed it and led me toward the door. “I’ve definitely got some ideas for you.”

  Seeing Kate - Meghan O'Brien

  MEGHAN O’BRIEN is a twenty-nine-year-old software developer who lives in Northern California with her partner Angie, their son, three cats, and one dog. A native of Royal Oak, Michigan, she is thoroughly enjoying the weather in her new locale.

  Meghan is the author of two previous novels, Infinite Loop and The Three, and of Thirteen Hours (Bold Strokes Books, May 2008). She has had selections included in the BSB anthologies Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments, Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love, Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions, and Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games. Meghan is extremely excited to have joined the Bold Strokes family and plans to continue writing for as long as humanly possible. Look for her new Ebook version of The Three from Bold Strokes Books in 2008.

  Seeing Kate

  Meghan O’Brien

  Leah quietly unlocked the front door to their new house and crept inside. Kate’s car was parked in the driveway, two hours before she was supposed to be home from work. Of course, she was home early, too, since her hard drive had crashed and graphic design was a lot less feasible without the benefit of technology.

  She hoped like hell Kate hadn’t come down with something. Getting sick on a Friday afternoon would be a tragedy, especially when they were both looking forward to the weekend and all they could accomplish on their home projects list. Maybe Kate was napping—they’d spent a lot of late nights working on the house recently.

  Leah climbed the stai
rs as quietly as she could. If Kate really was sleeping, she wanted nothing more than to take off her clothes and slip in bed beside her. Even after ten years together, the feeling of skin on skin with Kate was enough to make the rest of Leah’s world disappear. And she desperately needed the escape right now. She was tired, and greedy for the chance to relax with her partner. Smiling at the thought of surprising Kate with a midafternoon cuddle, Leah opened the bedroom door and stepped inside.

  Kate was in bed, but she wasn’t napping. Leah stared for a moment before understanding what she had interrupted. Sprawled naked on the comforter, Kate had her legs spread wide and one arm thrown over her face. Her other hand worked sensuously between her thighs. Clearly she hadn’t heard Leah’s entrance, because she never faltered in her self-pleasuring and kept her eyes covered, thrusting her hips into her hand.

  Shocked, and hit with a warm wash of arousal at the unexpected sight, Leah hesitated, uncertain what to do. Kate never masturbated in front of her, and Leah suspected that being discovered like this might embarrass her. But could she just walk out of the room and pretend like she never saw Kate touching herself? Should she offer to help?

  Frozen in place, Leah was almost glad when Kate took the decision out of her hands. As though sensing Leah’s presence in the room, she uncovered her face and turned toward the door. For a moment Kate stared blankly, then she gasped, quickly pulling the comforter over her body.

  “Hey,” Leah said softly, offering an apologetic smile. Her heartbeat picked up at Kate’s obvious distress. “It’s just me.”

  “Hey.” Kate clutched covers over her bare breasts. She sounded slightly out of breath. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting—”

  “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in on you, sweetheart. I thought you might be sleeping, so I was trying to be quiet.”

  Kate’s face was fiery red and she couldn’t seem to meet Leah’s eyes. “I needed some mental health time, so I told my boss I was leaving at noon.”

  “My laptop died,” Leah said.

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  They fell into awkward silence as Leah tried to decide how to proceed. Kate was clearly uncomfortable, and that was the last thing Leah wanted. Crossing to the bed, she sat down and leaned in to plant a gentle kiss on Kate’s neck.

  “Don’t be embarrassed,” Leah murmured. “You looked beautiful.”

  “I’m sorry, I…didn’t want you to see me like that.”

  “Why not?” Leah asked, perplexed. They had always been very sexually open with one another, and Kate sounded far more upset than she could understand. “How many times have I seen you naked, honey? Or made you come?”

  “You’re right, I know.” Kate’s eyes filled, and her lower lip trembled slightly. “I’m sorry, it’s silly.”

  Leah sat back on the bed and studied her partner, feeling her stomach turn over at her obvious embarrassment. There was something Kate wasn’t saying. Uneasy about Kate’s reluctance to share what was wrong, Leah murmured, “I know you masturbate. I hope you realize that I’m not immune to that particular temptation, either.”

  Kate looked like she wished she were somewhere else. “I know that.”

  “Tell me what you’re thinking, darling.” Leah stroked a finger across Kate’s jawline, trying to bring her back. “Since when are you embarrassed about sex?”

  “I’m not embarrassed about sex,” Kate mumbled.

  “You seem pretty embarrassed about something.”

  “I’m fine.” Taking a measured breath, Kate smiled and scooted to the side, still under the blankets. “How about you get in here and we take that nap?”

  A shiver crawled down Leah’s spine. What could be so terrible that Kate couldn’t talk about it? They had been together too long for this.

  “Katie?” Leah asked tentatively. “Please talk to me. You’re making me worry that something is really wrong.”

  Kate exhaled, and Leah could see it all over her face, that she was waging some kind of internal battle. After a moment, she straightened and met Leah’s eyes. “I feel awkward because we haven’t made love in a while, and I wasn’t sure how you would feel about me…you know.”

  “How did you think I might feel?” Leah’s throat went dry when a startling thought occurred to her. “Guilty?”

  “I don’t know,” Kate said quietly. She broke their gaze, looking toward the window, which let in broad stripes of late-afternoon sunshine. “Weird, or something.”

  “Has it really been that long since we made love?” Leah searched her memory and found she couldn’t remember exactly when the last time was. Surely within the past few weeks. That didn’t seem so bad, given how busy they were.

  “A couple months,” Kate said quietly. “Almost three.”

  “I can’t believe that.” Leah felt a sense of dread. How could she have not noticed something like a three-month lapse? “It can’t possibly have been that long.”

  “On my birthday.”

  “Oh,” Leah whispered. That was right. After a birthday dinner at Kate’s favorite restaurant, they came home and made slow, sweet love. It had been wonderful, and as Kate pointed out, it happened almost three months ago. “Wow.”

  “It’s not that big a deal,” Kate said softly. “I was just…in a mood today. I thought I would scratch my itch before you got home.”

  Leah studied Kate’s face, troubled by how cautiously she tried to brush off her observation about their sex life. Kate was obviously keeping track of something Leah hadn’t even noticed. And that meant Kate’s discomfort was her own damn fault.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Frustrated and guilty, Leah knew her tone was accusatory. “I wasn’t not having sex with you on purpose.”

  Kate’s eyes flashed with alarm. “Honey, I don’t want to upset you.”

  “You’re not upsetting me.” The denial sounded ridiculous, and Leah stopped, trying to rein in her emotions. In a marginally calmer tone, she repeated, “I’m not upset. I just don’t understand why you didn’t say something sooner.”

  “I just figured that if you didn’t want to make love—”

  “It’s not that I didn’t want to.” Leah knew she was lashing out at Kate for something that wasn’t her fault, but she just felt so damned ashamed. “I just…didn’t think about it.”

  “And I didn’t want to push you.”

  Leah blinked back hot tears and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “That’s not pushing me. It’s talking to me about how you’re feeling.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” Kate said in a shaky voice. “But I didn’t want you to have sex with me just because I asked you to.”

  The comment hit Leah like a punch in the stomach. How could she have neglected Kate for so long that she could even think that? “You’re my partner. My best friend. Sex with you could never just be about fulfilling some kind of duty.”

  “I believe you, but I was trying to respect your limits, too.”

  “You should never be afraid to ask for what you need.” Leah watched Kate’s throat work, and finally met her gaze. “I want you to be happy.”

  “I am.” Kate caressed Leah’s shoulder and grinned a little. “Masturbating doesn’t make me unhappy. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon.”

  Leah almost smiled, but she was still too focused on her obvious failure. “I feel like a complete asshole. I really had no idea that I’d been ignoring you like that.”

  “You’ve been stressed out. I understand, darling. I really do.” Kate took Leah’s hand in both of hers, letting the comforter fall down to pool around her waist. “I keep telling myself that we’re just so busy. I figured that was what was going on.”

  “What else would it be?” Leah tried to meet Kate’s gaze but got distracted by the sight of her pale skin, the dark pink of her nipples. So different from her own brown skin and even darker brown nipples.

  “It was hard not to worry that maybe it had something to do with me.”

 
; “That I wasn’t interested in sex because I didn’t want you?”

  “Yeah,” Kate whispered.

  “Don’t I always tell you how beautiful you are? How brilliant, how funny?” Leah touched Kate every day, cuddled her every night. She thought she was doing everything right. How could Kate not know? “I love you. I’m crazy about you, still.”

  “Even though?” Kate said, cracking a smile at their familiar refrain.

  “Even though.”

  Kate brought Leah’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles. “I love you, too. And I do know you love me. Really.”

  “You’ve been worrying about this a lot?” Leah hated to think that Kate could have kept this a secret from her, this fear she carried around. How terrible that Leah had been too busy to notice.

  “A little bit.”

  “Well, I’m glad my laptop died.” Leah squeezed Kate’s hands. “Because we needed to talk.”

  Kate seemed to notice for the first time that her comforter had fallen, and she gathered it back up. Leah watched the bashful gesture with a profound pang of regret. She reached out and stopped Kate’s hand before she could cover her breasts.

  “Don’t,” Leah whispered. “Please.”

  “Sorry.” Kate left herself uncovered, but a deep flush rose on her chest. “How about I go wash up and then we can cuddle?”

  Leah nodded, studying Kate as she crawled out of bed. As her partner strode naked toward the bathroom, Leah found herself paying attention in a way she hadn’t in a while. Kate really was a beautiful woman. Leah’s breathing hitched as she watched the rolling of her hips and the gorgeous fullness of her ass. She knew from experience that Kate’s creamy skin was silky smooth and that her curves fit perfectly against her when they curled up in bed. Now that she was taking the time to notice, she felt like she was falling in love all over again.