Chapter Eighteen
Marin was flushed and flustered as she invited Charlotte into her house.
The champagne was long gone from her system, but she felt drunk as she faced Charlotte.
Her heart pounded, and her head spun. “I don’t have much furniture or anything else to offer yet, but I do have a lasagna I was about to eat if you’d like to join me? ”
“You don’t have furniture, but you baked a lasagna?” Charlotte followed her toward the kitchen, taking off her coat as she walked. Then she froze, her gaze locked on the wineglasses on the counter. “Do you have company?”
“Audrey and Michelle stopped by earlier to welcome me to the neighborhood, so to speak,” Marin said. “They brought the lasagna—and the champagne—although they couldn’t stay for dinner, so I was faced with eating the whole thing myself.”
Charlotte stared at the lasagna, then at Marin. “Oh.”
So this was what had become of them . . .
constant awkwardness. Marin hated it. As much as she had enjoyed the kiss in the moment, she could see now that they would have been better off if it hadn’t happened.
Marin would have eventually found chemistry with someone from the dating app, and she and Charlotte would still have their friendship.
Instead, Marin had to try to pretend she hadn’t experienced the most intense passion of her life with Charlotte, like that kiss hadn’t absolutely rocked her world. Charlotte clearly regretted it, and Marin was stuck in this awful purgatory with the woman who had been her best friend.
Ember dashed into the kitchen, cutting the tension between them. She had her favorite purple dragon in her mouth, and she dropped it at Charlotte’s feet, then bounced adorably, inviting her to play. Charlotte crouched to pet her, then squealed as Ember promptly launched at her face.
“Watch out,” Marin warned. “She’s been mouthy lately.”
“Ember, what’s up, girl? Why are you trying to bite my face?” Charlotte laughed as she scooped the puppy into her arms and stood. Ember took this opportunity to give toothy kisses all over Charlotte’s cheeks until Charlotte realized her error and put her down.
“It’s a phase,” Marin said. “Or at least I hope it is. We start puppy class in a few weeks, thank goodness, because I obviously need some help with her manners.”
“I think you’re doing great with her,” Charlotte said. “All puppies like to bite, especially while they’re teething.” She paused, looking down at her hands. “Marin . . .”
“Yes?” Just like that, the tension in the room rose again. Marin’s chest grew so tight she could hardly breathe.
“I need to know . . .” Charlotte took a hesitant step forward, and Marin’s pulse started to rush frantically through her veins.
“Yes?”
“I need to know how you felt about that kiss,” Charlotte said quietly.
Marin inhaled roughly, crossing her arms over her chest. “No. That’s not a fair thing to ask of me. You know better than anyone how long I’d been anticipating that moment, not with you, but with someone. I never expected it to be you.”
“But did you want to kiss me?” Charlotte persisted, her eyes locked on Marin’s.
This felt like a trap. Marin had no idea how to answer, and suddenly her discomfort morphed into anger because how dare Charlotte put her on the spot like this?
“You’re still not playing fair. You initiated that kiss, then refused to talk about it.
Now everything’s weird between us, and I think .
. . whatever happens next, it has to come from you. ”
“I started it, yes.” Charlotte nodded, tears welling in her eyes. “I just wondered if you wanted to kiss me, too, but I get what you’re saying. I just . . .” She inhaled roughly, and then she flung her arms around Marin. “I need to fix things with you, and I don’t know how.”
“Just be honest with me.” Marin’s hands were on Charlotte’s hips, and everything about this moment felt too intimate. Their faces were only inches apart, and Marin was about to hyperventilate. She needed to either return some space between them, or—
“Honest?” Charlotte’s gaze dropped to Marin’s lips. “The honest truth is that . . .” She searched Marin’s face, her blue eyes intense.
Marin had no idea what Charlotte was looking for, and although she tried to keep her expression neutral, Charlotte had to feel Marin’s pulse racing. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath, and there was no hiding that.
Charlotte licked her lips. “I want to kiss you again.”
Marin didn’t even recognize the sound that came from her throat.
Her lips were parted, but she didn’t remember opening them.
Her grip had tightened on Charlotte’s jeans-clad hips, and her breathing was even more out of control now.
“Then kiss me,” she managed, her voice low and rough. “For the love of god, please kiss me.”
Charlotte pressed her lips to Marin’s, and it wasn’t a gentle kiss.
It wasn’t tender or hesitant. This kiss was hunger and passion and desperation.
Charlotte’s lips crushed against hers. Her body pressed into Marin’s until her back met the kitchen counter.
Marin clutched Charlotte against her as she savored the heat of her lips.
She traced the shape of them with her tongue, and Charlotte moaned.
Then Charlotte’s tongue was in her mouth, and it was Marin’s turn to moan.
She’d closed her eyes at some point, and while she wanted to see the look on Charlotte’s face, she couldn’t seem to focus long enough to open them.
Charlotte’s tongue thrust against hers, and Marin felt something clench deep inside her body.
For now, she just needed to feel. The warmth of Charlotte’s body, the softness of Charlotte’s fingers where they cupped Marin’s cheeks, the firm press of Charlotte’s breasts against hers.
Where their hips met, she felt only the gentle slope of Charlotte’s stomach.
No hard bulge like she’d become accustomed to in her marriage.
This was what Marin had longed for, and it felt so right.
Tears filled her eyes. She was nearly overwhelmed with relief to feel a woman’s body pressed against hers, to finally have the validation that this was exactly what she’d been wanting all these years. And it was better . . . so much better than she’d anticipated.
Charlotte’s fingers traced Marin’s jaw, then swept down to cup Marin’s breasts over her shirt. She arched her back, pressing her breasts more firmly into Charlotte’s hands as a guttural sound of pleasure tore from her throat.
Marin had been gripping Charlotte’s hips, but her hands had drifted upward without her knowledge, and now they rested against the bare skin above the waistband of Charlotte’s jeans.
Marin traced the dip of her waist and the swell of her hips, enraptured by her feminine shape. It was perfect. Charlotte was perfect.
Charlotte’s lips were on hers again, kissing her like she couldn’t get enough.
Neither could Marin. Charlotte nipped at her bottom lip, and Marin felt it in her clit.
Her hips surged forward, pressing into Charlotte’s.
She pulled Charlotte closer, instinctively seeking pressure where she ached for it, but their hips lined up too perfectly for her to get any friction.
Then Charlotte was sucking at the delicate skin below Marin’s ear, and her brain promptly short-circuited. Charlotte nipped and kissed that tender spot, and Marin’s awareness distilled to the sting of Charlotte’s teeth and the hot, wet trail of her tongue as it explored Marin’s skin.
Marin had read about this kind of pleasure. She’d read about it and thought yes, that’s what I want. She’d spent so long anticipating it, and yet she’d still underestimated just how aroused she would be once she finally experienced it, because this kiss was everything.
Marin’s knees shook. Her core ached, and she could feel that her panties were soaked. Her pulse roared in her ears, and she felt so breathtakingly alive. If she could feel this much from a kiss, imagine how incredible it would be if they ever had sex?
Charlotte pinned Marin against the kitchen counter, clutching at every part of her she could reach. As she pressed closer, one of Marin’s thighs slid between her own, and she let out a surprised gasp when it pressed into her right where she ached.
Marin’s hands were on Charlotte’s ribs, tracing up and down in a way that lit Charlotte’s body on fire.
She leaned forward, bringing their mouths back together.
Their thighs were interlaced now. They were touching almost everywhere, and it was sensory overload.
She loved kissing Marin, and who cared that she was a woman?
Charlotte certainly hadn’t come here intending to kiss Marin, but here they were, and .
. . she just couldn’t seem to stop. She didn’t want to stop.
Charlotte sank her hands into the silky depths of Marin’s hair.
She’d known plenty of passion in her life, but this was different.
Everything felt softer in the most literal sense, but also, this was Marin.
This woman meant the world to her, and that made kissing her even hotter.
Marin had confessed to Charlotte how she’d yearned for this kind of passion, how many years she’d spent holding herself back. Now her hands were on Charlotte’s body, and Marin was making the sexiest sounds, gasps and whimpers, as if she was so turned on she was about to lose her mind.
Charlotte wanted to give her even more pleasure.
She had no idea what she was doing, but kissing was kissing, right?
And a woman’s body, well . . . Charlotte knew what she liked.
So she palmed one of Marin’s small breasts as she licked her tongue into Marin’s mouth, leaning her body into Marin’s.
Marin’s eyes fluttered shut, her head falling back to expose the pale skin at her throat.
That skin already sported a few blotches where Charlotte’s mouth had been, and she intended to leave even more before they were finished.