33 Gemma
N o way!” I laugh when Celeste returns with her camera. I cover my face with my hands, suddenly feeling shy.
“Yes way,” Celeste says with a gentle smile. “You’re beautiful, Gem. And I realized I haven’t taken pictures of you with my DSLR yet. Other than for work, I mean.” She adjusts the lens of her camera, but then pauses to add, “Do let me know if you’re not comfortable with me randomly taking pictures of you, though. It’s totally fine.”
“I don’t mind at all,” I reply. “Thank you, Celeste. This is sweet of you.”
She takes a few photos of me, some with me looking at the camera, others not. When the waiter brings out our wine, he has an amused grin on his face.
“Would you like me to take a picture of you two, as well?” he asks. “I know a thing or two about cameras.”
Celeste hesitates for a split second before she says, “That’d be great. Thank you.”
She loops her arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek, and I laugh as the waiter snaps a photo.
“I don’t normally let other people touch my cameras,” Celeste whispers to me after he’s gone. “But I really wanted this picture of us.” She reviews the photo and smiles. “And he did a pretty good job. Nice!”
After safely storing the camera back in its case, Celeste pours me a glass of the pinot noir. “For you,” she says, handing it to me with a big flourish.
I laugh. “Oh, stop. You’re acting like we’re on a romantic date or something.”
Celeste raises her eyebrows. “I was messing around, but have you gone on a date where someone actually served you wine like that ? Mr. James Matheson, maybe?”
“Thankfully no,” I say, taking a sip of the rich, red wine. “Or else I’d die laughing.”
She gives me a teasing smile. “I can see you doing that.”
I shrug. “It’s not a good idea to try so hard to impress the other person. Dates should be about getting to know each other to see if you have genuine chemistry. Not putting up some front.”
If it bothers Celeste that I put my advice columnist cap on, she doesn’t show it. She takes a long sip of her wine, growing contemplative. “Fair. So then, I’m curious. What would you say our chemistry is like?”
There she goes again. It’s like Celeste can’t talk to me for long without flirting.
“Good,” I say truthfully. “Natural. I never felt un comfortable with you, not even when we first met in college.”
Celeste stares at me, biting her red-painted lips before she replies, “Same. Maybe it’s because you were a friend of a friend, but I don’t think I ever felt awkward with you, either. And I was way more socially anxious back in college, to the point that I could barely get myself to talk to other people. But I always felt like I could talk to you. Well, during the times we were still talking to each other, of course.”
I blink. Celeste was always one of the “cool kids” at our school who never seemed to have a shortage of friends around her at any given moment. When we lived together, she’d constantly have guests over at our apartment. To hear that she was socially anxious is a big surprise.
“Oh, I never knew that,” I say at last. “You did a good job hiding the anxiety.”
Celeste shrugs. “Just because people like me, doesn’t necessarily mean I like them back.” She laughs. “God, I sound like such an asshole, but I mean that in the least douchey way possible. I’m uncomfortable with most people, because I come from a family where my parents never let me be myself. And, because of the way I look, everyone always assumes I’m a certain way when I’m really not.”
I wince, and she laughs at my chagrined expression.
“It’s fine,” she continues. “Everyone’s a little miserably awkward inside, regardless of how popular they are. Especially in college. Some people are just better at hiding it.”
“I’ll drink to that.” I take another sip of my wine.
Celeste does, too. And after she swallows, she says, “With you… I never felt like I needed to be someone else. Living with you was one of the happiest experiences of my life.”
I meet her eyes, and her long lashes flutter slightly, as if she’s startled by the sudden eye contact. But then her gaze intensifies as it slides down to my lips.
I lean forward and kiss her. Celeste places her wineglass on the table to gently caress my face with her hands. To avoid falling to the ground or causing a spillage, I get off my stool and climb into her lap instead. All I can think about is her dark eyes and how good she feels against my skin.
“I loved living with you, too,” I say. “And I feel so comfortable around you, too. I still love—” I bite my lip, catching myself before I can go on.
Celeste’s gaze softens, like she knows what I was about to say.
“I love being with you,” I finally get out. That’s passable, right?
Celeste kisses my forehead. “I love being with you, too.”
She moves down to my lips, and we’re still making out when the waiter says, “Ahem, pardon me, your pizza is here.”
I yelp, causing someone at the firepit to cry out in surprise. I break apart from Celeste, barely managing to avoid knocking over everything. As I resettle into my seat, I keep my eyes on the ground and don’t dare look up, in case I make eye contact with the family sitting by the fire. God, I completely forgot about them.
Sounding like she’s trying very hard not to laugh, Celeste says to the waiter, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
When the waiter leaves, we both burst into giggles. Suddenly, it’s like we’re in college all over again.
“Okay, new rule,” I say. “No kissing or otherwise touching each other until after we get out of here. There are kids present!”
“That’s a great idea. I’m sure this food is amazing, but let’s eat as fast as we can so we can leave here ASAP.”
“Hey, don’t rush me! I plan on relishing every single bite.”
Celeste sits back in her seat. In a low, sultry voice, she says, “Fine, you can take as much time with the pizza as you want.”
“Okay…”
“And then, I promise you, I’ll take as much time as I want with you later in bed.”
I swallow. I can’t decide whether I like the sound of that or not.
By the time we drive into the garage of our Sausalito Airbnb, I’m so turned on that I hardly notice our surroundings. Getting our stuff from the car and entering the house seems to take a torturously long amount of time, but when Celeste finally locks the door behind us, I don’t know what to do in the sudden darkness.
I don’t have to wonder for long, though, because Celeste pins me against the wall, knocking the breath out of me.
“Sorry,” she says, kissing me along my collarbones before making her way down to the neckline of my dress.
I grab a hold of her hair, clinging to her as she unzips me and captures my right breast with her lips. “Don’t apologize. Just don’t stop.”
My dress drops to the ground, and she steps over it with an amused smile.
“It took so much effort for me to keep my hands off you all day, since I could hardly think of anything else except you in that dress. But I like you so much more without it.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “It didn’t seem like you were under that much temptation.”
She starts making her way down my stomach, the pleasant sensation of her soft lips on my bare skin making me shudder with pleasure.
“Well,” she says in between kisses. “I guess we should be glad you don’t read minds for a living. I’ve been thinking of fucking you all day.”
I moan. Just her words are enough to make me even more wet than I already am.
We move to the bed, and I gasp when taking off her clothes reveals an elegant, white lace bodysuit underneath. It beautifully cups her breasts, while the corset part is mesh and has interlacing white floral designs that elegantly contrast with the black flowers on her body. She looks so perfectly sexy and angelic at the same time.
“Were you wearing this underneath your clothes all day?” My core aches at the mere thought.
“I wanted to look good for you,” she says, making my heart skip a beat. “Although it did make work a little tricky at times.” She chuckles as she sits up. “I also have another surprise in my bag, if you’re up for it. No worries at all if you’re not comfortable with it, though. Just a sec.”
Feeling suddenly underdressed in my plain black underwear, I sit up in the bed while Celeste goes back out into the hallway. My mouth falls open when she returns holding three things: a red bullet vibrator, a black harness, and a hot-pink dildo.
“These are brand-new and clean,” she says. “I got them on my way to pick you up.”
I swallow. “Am I going to wear that, or are you?”
We’d tried using a variety of toys in college, but Celeste was usually the one to use them on me. At the time, I didn’t mind, since I’d always been too intimidated to use anything more than a rabbit vibrator on her. But now…
My lips part, and my heart beats faster at the thought of using the harness with Celeste. I want to try it, especially since I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to use it with her again.
Celeste laughs. “Gem… it’s clear from your face that it has to be you. You’re practically drooling.”
“I mean, I do want to try it, but I have no idea how to even put anything on. It’s like how I had no idea how to eat you out.”
“Well, you’ve certainly overcome that challenge, so I wouldn’t worry too much about this.” With a soft smile, Celeste beckons me over. “Come here, Gemma baby. I’ll show you.”
When I go to her, she helps me fit the dildo into the harness and step through the straps. She then slips the bullet vibrator into the pocket of the harness and helps me make sure everything is secure but not too tight around my body before moving away from me.
For a split second, I feel a little awkward with the bright pink strap-on hanging from my crotch. But then Celeste says, “Beautiful. Now turn on the vibrator and get inside me.”
Just her words are enough to turn me on all over again.
I slip my finger inside the pocket and flick on the vibrator, briefly closing my eyes at the soft, pleasant vibrations at my core. I ease into the sensation, steadying my breathing so I can fully stay present.
With a smile, Celeste sits back on the bed. I pull her toward me, starting to kiss her from the flowers on her arms, all the way down to her center folds. By then, I’m shaking, my entire body trembling with each tremor of the vibrator. I can feel my own wetness against my skin as it trickles down from the harness.
But after all she’s done for me today, I want Celeste to feel as good as she possibly can. I put all my focus into pleasuring her with my mouth until she’s nice and wet for me, alternating between flicking my tongue over her center and sucking her until she’s trembling and pulling at my hair.
“Gem,” she gasps. “Gem, please. I want you, desperately.”
I carefully reposition myself so the dildo’s head is lined up with her entrance before slowly, gently pushing inside. We both gasp, and I’ve restrained myself for so long that I almost come right then and there from the sight of the dildo sliding into her. It’s a moment straight out of my darkest fantasies, but somehow even better than I could have ever imagined.
“Fuck,” I say. “I love being inside you, Celeste.”
I begin moving, and her cries echo throughout the room. She claws my back, making me moan as I speed up my thrusts, losing all semblance of control.
I want to keep up the momentum, but since I’m not used to moving like this, especially not for long periods of time, I lose steam. Without missing a beat, Celeste moves away from me and breathlessly says, “Here, sit on the edge of the bed with your legs wide open. Make sure your feet can touch the floor.”
I do what she says. With her back turned toward me, she sits in between my legs, gasping with pleasure as she slowly lowers herself onto the dildo.
I bite my lip, somehow even more turned on than I was before.
Pressing herself up against me, Celeste moves up and down in my lap, and I follow her lead, using the bed to help me thrust into her. The best thing about this position, I find out, is that I can also play with her clit. When I start pleasuring her, she cries out, “Don’t stop! Just like that!”
We move together, and all I can think is, Yes, yes, yes .
“I’m going to come,” she says. “I’m so close.”
As she continues to ride me, I touch her until she unravels in my arms. Finally, I let go, crying out as white-hot pleasure shoots through me with the incessant waves of the vibrator. We fall back onto the bed, sweaty and panting, but also smiling blissfully at one another while we lie in each other’s arms.
“You’re a natural,” Celeste says.
“I have a good teacher,” I reply as I slip off the harness. “Thanks for guiding me through everything.”
She gives my forehead a kiss.
I close my eyes for what I think is a few seconds, when I wake up to the sound of the faucet running. It eventually stops, and the door to the bathroom opens to reveal Celeste wearing the harness.
I bite my lip. Holy crap.
A devilish grin playing on her lips, she comes to stand by the bed, smelling like water and jasmine-scented soap.
I have a very good idea about what’s going to happen next. But I still ask, “What are you doing?”
Celeste reaches out to take my chin in her hand. “Oh, Gemma baby,” she says slowly in a voice that’s so sexy my breath catches. “Who said we were done? Remember what I said back at the restaurant?”
I’m still smiling sheepishly when Celeste roughly grabs my hair.
“Get on your knees,” she commands in a way that makes my legs go weak.
Oh, dear God.
And Celeste shows me just how well she keeps her promises.