Chapter 35
“Fucking finally,” Haylee muttered as she shut the door behind Jackson.
She had never wanted so much for him to stay and leave at the same time. It had been fun to spend the day with him and Stuart, getting to know a whole different side of Cherish. But she wanted to be alone with Cherish more than anything.
They’d come back to Cherish’s apartment, arms full of alcohol and snacks, and binged with a sitcom on in the background while sharing embarrassing stories. It had honestly been the best time she’d had in the whole last year, including finally getting Febe to pay attention to her idea.
When Haylee turned back around, she groaned. Cherish stood in the middle of her living room, head down, thumbs typing furiously on her phone. “Who are you texting?”
“What?” Cherish lifted her head, her cheeks flushed and eyes wide.
“I swear if you’re texting Febe, I’m going to kill you.”
“She’ll want to know how everything turned out.”
Haylee snorted loudly and rolled her eyes. She walked straight to Cherish and snagged the phone from her grasp.
“Hey!”
“Nope.” Haylee dropped the phone onto the couch and pulled Cherish in closer. “I’ve been waiting all afternoon for five minutes alone with you, and I want them.”
“Do you now?” Cherish’s tone was full of teasing and delight.
It sent a shudder of pleasure through Haylee. They’d finally broken down that barrier. They’d finally pushed through the layers and found each other. Now they just had to go deeper in their relationship, and only time could do that.
“Yes.” Haylee swooped in, pressing their mouths together in a passionate kiss. Cherish melted against her, wrapping her arms around Haylee’s neck and tilting just so to make the angle perfect. Fuck, this woman was brilliant.
Haylee slid her tongue along Cherish’s, remembering the feeling of what this was like but also savoring the newness of it. Tonight was different than before. Tonight was purely about them in the place they were at now. Haylee put her hands on Cherish’s hips and started swaying in the middle of the living room. She wanted her full dance. She wanted the television lights to be the only light that guided them, the romance alive and burning brightly between them.
When had she become such a romantic?
Grinning, Haylee pulled away slightly. “I really do love you.”
Cherish smiled, pecking Haylee’s lips with a quick kiss. “I love you, too.”
“I want to make love tonight. Not just fucking, not just sex, but actually making love to each other—whatever that means for us.” Haylee slid her hand up Cherish’s back, feeling the warmth of her body through her shirt. “And damn, you’re sexy in jeans.”
Laughing, Cherish buried her head in Haylee’s shoulder. “Stuart said you’d say something.”
“I couldn’t stop staring at your ass all night. It’s like my eyes were glued to it.”
“Oh God.”
“Not yet.” Haylee chuckled low as she dove back in for another kiss. “What do you say, Cherry? Love me tonight?”
“I’ll love you forever,” Cherish whispered. She pulled Haylee in, sliding her hand through her hair and against her undercut, scraping her nails on the short hair.
Haylee groaned in satisfaction. She loved when Cherish touched her, when they were wrapped together like this. “Bedroom.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Cherish stepped backward, pulling Haylee with her. She took three steps before turning around and tugging Haylee by the fingers toward the bedroom.
Once again, Haylee found her gaze traveling down the line of Cherish’s back to her ass, her perfect ass in those damnable tight jeans. Her heart thundered. She just wanted to get down on her knees and take a bite, scrape her teeth along Cherish’s supple flesh.
When they got to the bedroom, Haylee spun Cherish around and pushed the backs of her thighs into the mattress. “You first, boss.”
“Don’t call me that.” Cherish ran her fingers up and down Haylee’s arms. “I’m not going to be above you for much longer.”
“Oh, yes, yes, you will. Just in an entirely different way.” Haylee nipped Cherish’s lower lip with a tease.
“You’re insatiable.”
“You don’t even know the half of it.” Haylee dropped her hands to Cherish’s waist. “Can I undress you yet? As much as I love these things, they’re in my way.”
“Don’t wait.” Cherish’s voice was breathy. She breathed heavily but didn’t move, as if she was waiting for Haylee to take the first step.
“Perfect.” Haylee tugged off Cherish’s shirt first, her breath catching as soon as Cherish’s beautiful breasts were revealed. Haylee bent down, trailing her tongue across the soft flesh while she dropped her hands to Cherish’s belt. It was harder to get the belt and button undone than it should have been, and Haylee clumsily worked away at it until Cherish finally pushed her hands away and took over.
Haylee scraped her teeth across the tops of Cherish's breasts, debating whether or not to leave her bra on for the time being. Oh, it would come off, but for now—nope, it had to come off. As if to make up for her fumbling earlier, Haylee flicked the clasp on Cherish’s bra in one second flat.
“Get on the bed.”
While Cherish climbed onto the mattress, Haylee ditched her clothes as fast as she could. She wasn’t going to want to take her time tonight, but she was going to have to train herself to be patient. After all, she knew that Cherish was going to struggle to get to her orgasm, that she was going to hold back like she always did. And Haylee wanted her to come first.
When Cherish got to the middle of the bed, Haylee sent her a wicked grin. She wrapped her hands around the backs of Cherish’s knees and dragged her to the edge of the mattress. “Oh, we’re doing it this way for now.”
“What?” Cherish leaned up and stared at Haylee, as if utterly confused.
“I’m wondering if you need some surprise in your life.”
“I’ve had enough surprises.”
“Hmmm. We’ll see.” Haylee dropped to her knees and put Cherish’s legs over her shoulders. She was finally right where she wanted to be. Without working Cherish into it, Haylee dove straight in. She pressed her mouth against Cherish’s clit with a hard suck, then she stopped.
Cherish cried out in surprise, her shoulders lifting off the mattress. Haylee grinned as she sucked again. This was perfect. She hoped Cherish would remember to close her eyes, to focus and feel and forget all the worries that she had running through her brain, or at least take the time to shut herself down one thing at a time.
“Do the same thing as last time,” Cherish breathed the words heavily, her hips already moving against Haylee’s mouth.
The same thing? What same thing? Haylee continued to suck and tease, falling back into her memory to each time they’d had sex to figure out what to do. Finally, it hit her. Haylee pulled back slightly, slipping two fingers inside Cherish to wet them. Then she switched hands.
“Yes…” Cherish hissed.
Haylee slid her wet thumb right against Cherish’s ass, that ass that she’d wanted to bite. She circled, teased, trying her best to hold back for a bit before she pressed into Cherish’s tightly puckered hole. But Cherish didn’t seem to want her to wait.
“Do it already.”
Haylee sucked in a sharp breath and pushed in. Cherish let out a groan of relief, as if this was what she had really been waiting for. Haylee smiled to herself, listening to the feel of Cherish’s body against her. She pushed and teased, using her mouth and her fingers. Cherish flung her arms up over her head, her shoulders pushing into the mattress so her chest jutted toward the sky.
Her nipples were hard, stunning. Haylee wished she had another hand, another body, so she could touch everywhere on Cherish’s body in an instant, so she could give her pleasure absolutely everywhere. Haylee kept her pace, dreaming about what that would be like.
Heat pooled between her legs, a wetness and tingling that she was so familiar with. But she wouldn’t touch herself, not yet. And she certainly wasn’t going to let Cherish do it. Not right now. Not when they were working together to bring Cherish over the edge of orgasm. And they were working together. Cherish slowed her breathing, and Haylee could tell that she was finally digging deep into her concentration.
This was what they’d needed.
Keeping the pace, the push and pull of her fingers, the sucking of her mouth, Haylee kept everything the same as much as she possibly could. Her back started to ache, her knees burned against the carpet. But she wasn’t going to move until she absolutely had to. Cherish started to slide against her, unable to control her movements any longer.
Haylee had been waiting for this. She took in a deep breath and pressed in a little harder. She waited, and waited, and waited. And finally, Cherish gasped and silently cascaded through the orgasm that had been building so deliciously.
When she put her hand to Haylee’s forehead, stopping any further movement, the satisfaction ran thick. Haylee had done it. She moved up swiftly, climbing on top of Cherish and pressing her wet mouth to Cherish’s in a sloppy but happy kiss. Haylee took Cherish by the arms, rolling them until they were in the center of the bed on a laugh.
“I love when you do that.”
Cherish gave a nervous little laugh. “I hate that it’s not easier.”
“I don’t care.” Haylee brushed her fingers against Cherish’s cheeks, pushing her hair behind her ear. “I really actually love it. Watching you concentrate, focus—that’s sexy as hell. I mean, I get to see it in the office every day, but this way? This is just for me.”
Cherish’s cheeks were red, tinged with a blush that was either from post-coital bliss or embarrassment. Haylee wasn’t quite sure which, but she knew which one she wanted it to be. Instead of assuming, she waited for Cherish to open up again.
“I wish it was easier.”
“I understand that.” Haylee softened her tone, hoping that she was being comforting and not adding in expectations that Cherish didn’t need. “But as it is, I still love that you allow me to do this for you.”
“Anytime.” Cherish rested next to Haylee, one leg over Haylee’s as she propped herself up on her elbow. Cherish walked her fingers along Haylee’s chest, over her breasts but not touching her nipples. It was a long tease. “I liked meeting Jackson today.”
“He’s a hoot,” Haylee mumbled. She really didn’t want to be thinking about her brother right now.
“He’s the perfect counterpoint to you.”
Haylee grunted. “No offense, Cherry, but I really don’t want to talk about Jackson.”
“Oh, I understand.” Cherish purposely flicked Haylee’s left nipple, hard.
Hissing as pleasure coursed through her and landed straight between her legs, Haylee sighed. “Do that again, and we might have to speed things up.”
“Fast isn’t exactly my pace.”
“God, is it ever?” Haylee laughed. She was tempted to flip on top of Cherish and start all over again. If Cherish wasn’t going to touch her, then she should at least be able to touch Cherish again.
“Sometimes it can be.” Cherish moved on top of Haylee, settling her thigh right in between Haylee’s legs. “Shall we do this one fast and the next one slow?”
Haylee groaned, but she had already lifted her hips to grind against Cherish’s smooth thigh. She shivered at the pleasure that slid through her.
“We’re going to be up all night,” Cherish whispered into Haylee’s ear before nipping her earlobe. Then she bit down Haylee’s neck, sucking as soon as she reached her collar bone.
Haylee clenched her jaw, trying to hold herself back. Cherish had essentially given her permission to ride her leg to a pinnacle, to go as fast or as slow as she wanted. But hell, she didn’t know what she wanted other than Cherish not to move off her.
“I wasn’t texting Febe an update about the donut shop.”
“You weren’t?” Haylee ground into Cherish’s leg, unable to hold back anymore. She started to move, finding the exact pacing that she wanted. “What did you text her?”
“I told her we’d be late tomorrow morning.”
Why was that the sexiest thing that Cherish had ever done? Haylee clenched her eyes shut tight as she rode Cherish’s leg into oblivion. Her ears rang as Cherish leaned down over her and added pressure. Haylee reached up and held onto Cherish’s sides, clenching her nails into them. She was never going to let this one down, was she? She never wanted to leave this bed.
“We’re going to be up all night,” Cherish added, clearly realizing that her words were doing something to Haylee. “I’ll buy us the biggest coffees possible in the morning.”
“Cherry,” Haylee groaned. Her heart thundered so hard, threatening to beat right out of her chest if it didn’t slow down. “Cherry, I’m going to—”
“Oh, you think so?” Cherish’s taunting was what did it.
Haylee crashed hard. Her vision went in and out for a brief second while her entire body tried to overheat. Cherish rained kisses on her cheeks and neck, holding her to the mattress until Haylee found her center again.
“Holy crap,” Haylee finally mumbled on a breath.
“Good?”
“Better than good.” Haylee laughed, rolling them over again. She bent down and melded their mouths together. She never wanted to give this up. Screw her previous fears, something about this made her believe that it was going to last. “Thank God the boys left.”
“Thank God,” Cherish echoed. “But they’re going to want the highlights tomorrow.”
“Not happening,” Haylee mumbled as she kissed Cherish’s neck. “You’re all mine.”