Chapter 15
Emma helped Natalie down from the counter, hands steady on her hips.
For a moment their bodies pressed together, warm through their clothes.
She took Natalie’s hand and led her down the narrow hall, heart pounding.
The house was quiet except for their footsteps.
Her bedroom waited at the end, door slightly ajar the way she always left it.
Thank god she had made the bed that morning, and her room was tidy.
Everything looked normal, but nothing felt real.
She still could not believe this was happening.
The words Natalie had spoken in the kitchen kept circling through her.
I’ve been with women before. Quietly. Carefully.
But never like this. Never with someone who knows me the way you do.
They should have stung. Five years of imagining Natalie as inexperienced had shaped Emma’s fantasies.
But the confession changed something. Her shoulders relaxed, and her grip on Natalie’s hand tightened.
She didn’t need to be so careful. Natalie knew what she wanted.
It showed in her kisses, in how her hands moved along Emma’s skin.
They crossed the threshold together. Emma turned on the lamp by the bed, light spreading across the floor. She turned to speak, but Natalie kissed her again and the words disappeared.
Emma’s hands found the hem of Natalie’s shirt and pulled it upward. The fabric slipped free and fell behind them. Clothes fell away. Jeans pushed down, tops discarded. They both paused when they were down to their bras and underwear.
Emma backed toward the bed until her legs hit the mattress and sat, pulling Natalie with her. Natalie climbed into her lap, knees on either side of Emma’s thighs, weight warm and solid.
Their mouths met again, deeper now. Emma ran her palms up the bare length of Natalie’s back, tracing the delicate knobs of spine, the faint tension that lived between her shoulder blades.
The skin felt impossibly soft under her hands.
She mapped every inch she could reach while Natalie’s fingers explored her collarbones, her neck, the sensitive spot just below her ear that made her breath hitch.
Natalie’s touch carried confidence. No hesitation.
Only deliberate strokes that left trails of heat behind.
She broke the kiss just enough to speak against Natalie’s lips, voice rough. “Tell me if it’s too much.”
“It’s not.” Natalie’s answer came quick, breath warm against her mouth. Those blue eyes had gone dark, pupils wide. “I’ve wanted this for so long, Emma. You have no idea.”
The words landed like a match to dry kindling.
Emma kissed her harder, one hand sliding into those dark waves to hold her close.
Their bodies rocked together in a slow rhythm, their bras and thin underwear the only thing separating them.
She felt the heat between Natalie’s legs pressed against her own thigh, felt the way Natalie’s breath grew shallow every time their hips shifted just right.
Her free hand roamed lower, cupping the curve of Natalie’s backside through cotton, squeezing gently.
The soft sound Natalie made against her mouth sent fresh want spiraling through her.
Emma felt a strange fierce pride that Natalie had found pleasure before, even if it had been hidden and careful. Those experiences had shaped the woman in her arms into someone who knew what she wanted and reached for it without apology.
Emma let her hands learn the shape of Natalie’s breasts through the fabric of her bra, thumbs brushing over hardened nipples until Natalie arched into the touch.
The response pulled a low groan from Emma’s throat.
She wanted to memorize every reaction, every catch of breath, every way Natalie’s body told her what felt good.
Natalie trailed kisses along Emma’s jaw, down the column of her neck, teeth grazing the sensitive spot where shoulder met throat.
The scrape sent electricity racing straight down Emma’s spine.
She tilted her head to give better access, fingers tightening in Natalie’s hair.
Outside, a light rain began to patter against the window.
Emma’s hands kept moving, reverent and hungry at once. She traced the freckles scattered across Natalie’s shoulders, followed the faint lines where her bra pressed into skin.
She pulled back enough to meet Natalie’s gaze, chest heaving. “Stay with me tonight,” she whispered, the words carrying every unsaid thing between them. Her fingers brushed a stray wave of dark hair behind Natalie’s ear, lingering at the warm skin there.
Natalie’s answer came soft against her mouth, breath warm where their lips still touched.
“I will. I’m not going anywhere tonight.
” The words sank straight into Emma’s bones, loosening the last tight knot of worry she had carried for five long years.
Then Natalie kissed her again, deeper this time, and Emma forgot how to think.
Natalie’s hands moved with quiet purpose along her back, fingers finding the clasp of her bra.
A quick twist, a slide of fabric, and cool air met her bare skin.
She shivered once, not from cold but from the way Natalie looked at her now, eyes tracking every new inch revealed like she had waited a lifetime to see it.
Emma reached for Natalie in return, palms skimming up her sides until she found the hook of her bra. The clasp gave way easily. She eased the straps down Natalie’s shoulders, letting her hands follow the path, learning the warmth of bare skin, the faint rise of gooseflesh under her touch.
Natalie moved then, guiding Emma back until she lay against the sheets.
The mattress dipped as Natalie settled over her, knees on either side of her hips, her weight pressing Emma into the bed.
Dark hair fell around them like a curtain, brushing Emma’s collarbones and sending tiny sparks across her nerves.
Emma’s hands explored the curve of Natalie’s waist, thumbs stroking the soft skin just beneath her ribs, then higher to cup the weight of her breasts. Natalie arched into the touch, a quiet sound escaping her that made heat pool low in Emma’s belly.
Their mouths met again, kisses turning hungry.
Tongues slid together, slow then urgent, while their bodies rocked in a rhythm that felt as natural as breathing.
Emma ran her palms down the length of Natalie’s back, feeling the flex of muscle, the faint dampness where sweat had begun to gather along her spine.
She traced the dip at the base of Natalie’s throat with her fingertips, then lower, learning every sensitive spot that made Natalie’s breath hitch.
Natalie’s own hands stayed busy too, stroking Emma’s sides, her stomach, the outer curve of her breasts until every inch of skin felt alive and aching.
The rain outside picked up, soft patter against the window glass matching the beat of Emma’s heart. Natalie shifted her weight lower, hips settling between Emma’s thighs, and the new pressure drew a low moan from Emma’s throat, but it didn’t last long.
Natalie’s fingers hooked into the waistband of Emma’s underwear, slow and deliberate. She didn’t rush. Instead she kissed Emma’s stomach first, while her hands eased the fabric down inch by inch.
Emma lifted her hips to help, breath coming faster now. Cool air met heated skin as the cotton slid past her thighs, past her knees, until Natalie tossed it aside. Naked now, Emma felt exposed and cherished at once under that steady blue gaze.
Natalie’s palms stroked up her legs, thumbs pressing into the soft flesh of her inner thighs, spreading them wider with gentle pressure.
She took her time, mapping every curve, every tremble, fingers brushing close but never quite where Emma needed them most. The teasing touch left trails of fire across her skin, made her hips twitch with anticipation.
Natalie watched her face the whole time, eyes dark and focused, like she was committing every reaction to memory.
Emma reached for her, fingers threading through dark waves, pulling her back up for another kiss.
“Natalie,” she breathed against those lips, voice raw with everything she had held back for years.
Natalie answered by sliding one hand higher, still avoiding the center of her need, instead stroking the crease where thigh met torso, learning the shape of her, drawing out the ache until Emma thought she might come apart from wanting alone. “Touch me. Please.”
Natalie’s fingers found her with devastating patience, the first light stroke skimming over Emma’s clit like she already knew exactly how sensitive it would be.
The touch landed warm and sure against slick skin, pulling a sharp inhale from Emma’s lungs.
She felt herself flush everywhere at once, heat blooming across her chest and down her thighs where Natalie’s weight pinned her to the mattress.
Natalie hovered above her, dark hair framing her face, those blue eyes locked on Emma’s like she needed to watch every flicker of reaction.
The second pass came slower, Natalie’s fingertip circling with deliberate care.
Emma’s hips lifted without permission, chasing the contact, her body already so wet that the slide felt effortless and obscene.
She knew she was dripping. The awareness only made her wetter, made her stomach tighten with fresh need.
Natalie’s mouth found hers again, the kiss deep and unhurried, tongue stroking in the same lazy rhythm as her fingers.
Emma tried to stay still under the onslaught but failed completely.
Her hips rocked up in tiny desperate movements, grinding against Natalie’s hand, seeking more pressure, more friction, anything to ease the ache that had lived in her for five long years.