Chapter 2
“I love how you talk,” Celeste said as they caught their breath.
“What do you mean?”
“You have this drawl that pours over my skin like sweet syrup,” Celeste replied.
“Oh!” Esse’s eyes widened. “It might be fun to lick that right off your body, but I don’t have anything like that in my room.”
Celeste chuckled. She raised up and pushed Esse onto her back.
“It’s my turn to find out how you feel.” Her lips covered Esse’s in another heated kiss.
Celeste could feel Esse’s fingers in her hair and slowed the kiss giving them both a chance to savor and explore.
Esse’s quiet moan showed Celeste she was right.
She took her time to nibble Esse’s luscious lips then opened her mouth to allow Esse’s tongue entrance.
It almost felt like Esse was making love to her mouth.
Celeste let her hand trail down between Esse’s breasts and let her lips glide over Esse’s neck.
“Oh, yeah,” Esse moaned.
Celeste took her time letting her fingers roam over Esse’s nice, God-given breasts then her mouth followed, sucking in her hardened nipple. Esse’s body responded to every touch, kiss, nibble and lick. Celeste’s hand found Esse’s wet center and she groaned along with Esse.
With the chorus of their moans, groans, and strained breaths playing like music in the background, it didn’t take long for Esse’s muscles to stiffen again as Celeste’s fingers were buried deep inside her.
“Good God, woman!” Esse panted. “You are good at this.”
Celeste smiled, kissed Esse softly on the lips then propped her head on her hand. Esse’s eyes were closed and Celeste’s finger slightly and gently moved against her clit.
“Easy,” Esse whispered, putting her hand over Celeste’s and stilling her motion.
Celeste smiled when Esse’s eyes fluttered open and she met her gaze. “Do you want to sleep?”
Esse scoffed. “I thought we both knew what this was. Why would we spend time sleeping?”
Celeste chuckled. “I can sleep on the plane.”
“Exactly.” Esse raised up and began to once again kiss down Celeste’s body. “I haven’t tasted all of you yet.”
Celeste stirred as tinny music began to play from Esse’s phone on the bedside table.
She vaguely remembered Esse setting an alarm on her phone so Celeste wouldn’t be late for her plane.
Esse’s arm was snaked across Celeste’s side and she was holding her hand to her chest. She didn’t remember falling asleep.
They were taking a break and talking, but neither could keep their hands still for long.
They must have closed their eyes and now soft music filtered around the room.
Just a little lovin’, early in the morning,
Beats a cup of coffee for starting off the day.
Celeste heard Esse yawn behind her and slowly rolled onto her back.
This old world
Wouldn't be half as bad
It wouldn't be half as sad
If each and everybody in it had
Just a little lovin'
Early in the mornin'
That little extra somethin'
To kinda see them through
“Mmm,” Esse groaned. “It can’t be time to get up.”
Celeste kissed her on the shoulder and got out of the bed. She found her clothes over by the door and slid into her panties. “What’s that song playing?”
Esse opened her eyes and found Celeste getting dressed. “It’s called Just a Little Lovin by Dusty Springfield,” she said, yawning again.
“I like it,” Celeste replied, putting one leg into her pants.
“It’s old,” Esse said. “My grandmother loved it. She’d play me old songs when I’d spend the night with her as a kid.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Celeste said, reaching for her bra. Esse’s eyes continued to watch her and Celeste was surprised that she liked it.
“Uh, sorry, not sorry about that,” Esse said, nodding at Celeste.
Celeste followed Esse’s gaze and looked down at her chest where a red mark with the hint of turning blue peaked out just above her bra line. She smiled and chuckled.
“I told you your soft smooth skin tasted too good,” Esse said. “I hope whoever you’re with tonight doesn’t mind it.”
Celeste scoffed. “There won’t be anyone. Don’t you remember what you said last night?”
Esse smiled. “I said a lot of things last night.”
“You are quite a talker.” Celeste chuckled. “You said I wouldn’t be forgetting you anytime soon. How could I be with anyone else tonight.” Celeste shrugged.
“I didn’t mean to mark you,” Esse said.
“Oh, you marked me in ways you don’t even know.”
Esse smiled.
“You may want to check your own skin when you take a shower,” Celeste said, pulling her shirt over her head. Esse’s eyes were still on her.
“Before I go, tell me something about yourself,” Celeste said, putting on her shoes. “I know you said we don’t have to share things about our lives,” Celeste said. “Just give me one thing.”
“I just told you about my grandmother.”
Celeste raised her brows and smirked.
Esse exhaled and narrowed her eyes. “My name is Estelle, but I go by Esse.”
Celeste tilted her head and her face softened. “That’s a beautiful name.”
Esse scoffed. “There you go with that word again.” She shook her head. “It’s an old lady name.”
“No, it’s not,” Celeste protested. “Come on,” she urged her.
“More?” Esse blew out a breath. “My favorite color is green.”
Celeste’s eyes brightened. “Green, huh.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Esse said, sitting up on the bed. “What’s yours?”
“Black,” Celeste stated.
“Really?”
Celeste nodded. “To say I had a great time would be the understatement of the universe.”
“Yeah?” Esse raised her brows. “It was pretty damn fantastic for me, too.”
“God, I love that drawl of yours.” Celeste said, slipping into her coat.
“You’ll be hearing it in your sleep, sugar,” Essie said, with a little extra flair.
“Oh, God.” Celeste giggled. Is this how a one night thing was supposed to end.
“I’d ask you for your number, but I’m going back to my little town in the middle of nowhere and you’re going to do big things,” Esse said earnestly.
“Big things?” Celeste furrowed her brow.
“Yeah, I can tell.” Esse smiled. “You're a city girl with big things to accomplish. This was fun.”
“So much fun,” Celeste said, walking over to the bed.
Esse was naked stretched out on her side smiling at Celeste. She had no idea how hard it was for Celeste to resist taking her clothes back off and diving back into the bed.
Celeste leaned down and softly pressed her lips to Esse’s. This kiss was warm with a hint of regret that it would be their last. “Thanks,” she whispered as she pulled away.
“It was my pleasure,” Esse replied softly.
Celeste smiled. Oh, you have no idea.
She opened the door and looked back one more time. Celeste knew Esse was right, she wouldn’t be forgetting her anytime soon. She wanted to take a mental snapshot of the beautiful brown-haired woman with the sugary drawl that made her body sing.
Esse smiled, gave her a wink and Celeste quietly closed the door.
Esse sat in the restaurant of the hotel staring down at her phone.
She knew she had a dreamy look on her face because she wasn’t looking at the screen; she was thinking about last night.
It might have been Esse who said she wouldn’t be easily forgotten, but in truth she couldn’t get Celeste out of her mind.
When Celeste softly closed the hotel door Esse almost jumped up and ran down the hall to the elevator. It wouldn’t hurt to give Celeste her number, would it?
All she had left of their night of—what was it—passion? Hot sex? Something else? Esse sighed. She’d found a faint love bite on her shoulder this morning while she was in the shower. A smile played across her face as she recalled just how she got that particular mark.
Celeste’s pretty, strike that, beautiful face was burned into Esse’s memory, just like all the things they did last night. Yeah, that tiny bruise will fade, but not these memories.
Esse took a sip of her coffee and sat back in her chair. What was wrong with her? She sounded like some hopeless romantic who’d just spent time with their one and only instead of having a one-night-stand with a hot woman and sharing incredible sex.
There wasn’t a romantic bone in her body. The years of responsibility to her family and living in a place people came to visit, but not stay, ran the romance right out of her heart. She couldn’t remember how many times it had been broken.
Esse inhaled a shaky breath and looked over to the bar.
When her plans had changed last night she intended to come down to the bar, have a drink and that’s it.
Esse had never invited anyone up to her hotel room before.
Sure, she’d had one night here and there, but she knew them, they weren’t complete strangers.
There was that one time she’d made out with a hot woman in the bathroom at a gay bar.
As far as a one-night stand in a hotel room, her hotel room, nope, never, nada.
Esse smiled thinking back to last night when she’d looked up from her phone and caught Celeste staring at her. It was like she became someone else when she stood, walked over and sat next to Celeste. Knowing she wouldn’t see Celeste again gave her a certain kind of freedom and boldness.
Celeste mentioned how talkative Esse had been while they were having sex. She figured this was one night, why not ask for what she wanted. And did Celeste ever deliver.
“Mmm,” Esse moaned quietly, reaching for her coffee.
She smiled thinking maybe she should’ve come clean and told Celeste it was, indeed, her eyes that had drawn Esse across the bar. For the hundredth time that morning Esse wondered what Celeste was doing.
Her attention was drawn to a blond-headed woman strolling into the restaurant. Esse could hear her bangles clanging together on her wrist from where she sat. She smiled as her best friend, Periwinkle Wiggins Wright, waved and headed her way.
They had met on the first day of kindergarten as bright-eyed five-year-olds.
Thirty two years later they were still best friends and saw one another every day.
Peri had married the county judge, Dale Wright, who was the opposite of her carefree, whimsical ways.
Her curly blond locks did exactly what they wanted and bounced around her head with every step.
Peri was the definition of a free spirit and often dressed as if she was a child of the sixties.
People called her a hippie, but folks around town thought of her as simply, Peri.
“Hey, love,” Peri said, sitting in the chair opposite her.
Esse smirked at the term of endearment Peri often used with her.
“I hope Dale surprising me last night didn’t spoil your night,” Peri said.
“Not at all. Where is your usually deliberate, rarely spontaneous husband?” Esse asked, glancing at the entrance to the restaurant.
“Well, he’s a little tired from last night, if you know what I mean,” Peri said, wiggling her eyebrows.
A few days ago, Peri had asked Esse to come along on an impromptu road trip from their hometown of Ft.
Davis, Texas to Dallas. They were delivering a tricked-out pickup truck to a dealer outside of the city.
Their friend, Tony, was always looking for a reason to log more flight miles.
He’d borrowed a four-seater single-engine plane from one of the wealthy landowners who couldn’t stand the drive to the remote area of the Davis Mountains.
They were doing another friend a favor by driving the pickup to the dealer and had planned to have a girls’ night out in Dallas before Tony flew them home the next day. Dale had surprised Peri and come along to keep Tony company on the flight from Ft. Davis.
Esse went down to the bar to have a drink and that was it, until she looked up and saw Celeste. She knew exactly what Peri meant about being tired from last night.
“He’s with Tony, making sure everything is ready with the plane,” Peri added. She tilted her head and studied Esse. “You look different. What’d you get up to last night?”
“Uh—” Peri looked up and saw Dale walking towards them. “There’s your hubby now.”
“Hey,” Dale said, kissing Peri on the head and sitting down. “The plane is ready when we are.”
“Aren’t you going to feed me breakfast first?” Peri asked with a raised brow. “I did show you a very good time last night.”
Dale chuckled. “That you did.”
Esse cleared her throat and smirked.
“Sorry, Ess,” Dale said, straightening in his seat. “I didn’t mean to wreck your girl’s night.”
Esse smiled. “You didn’t wreck anything. I’m proud of you, Judge.”
Dale raised his brows and coughed. “Well.”
Esse chuckled. Dale was such a good guy and took his job to serve the people seriously. She loved to call him Judge on occasion, just for fun. “Let’s eat.”
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