Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Angelica stripped down in front of a stunned Hope.
Her heart raced. This was her giving in, didn’t Hope see that?
This was Angelica’s response to the ask that Hope had made.
Was she comfortable with the situation? Absolutely not.
But at the same time, she wasn’t sure she could give up what she’d found between them.
Reaching into the shower, Angelica turned the water on, tested it with her hand, and then immediately stepped in. She ducked her head under the spray, letting the hot water sluice over her body and ease the stress of the last week.
Everything was coming down around her. Or at least, it’d seemed that way for a while there.
But with Hope—and she had to admit, with Rex and Josef at the end—they’d managed to find even ground again.
When she popped her head out from under the water and pushed her hair back from her face, Angelica stared at Hope through the glass.
But she said nothing.
She just simply waited.
Hope pulled at the snaps on her jacket and dropped it to the floor.
They maintained eye contact the entire time.
Angelica’s breathing quickened as anticipation built.
Hope’s fingers at her waist as she pulled the button and zipper on her black jeans, the way she slid them down over her hips along with her underwear.
Angelica’s lips curled upward as Hope reached behind her back and flicked the clasp of her bra, the last bit of fabric on her body falling to the floor. As Hope stepped toward the shower, Angelica reached between her legs and dipped her fingers inside herself. She was wet, sticky, hot.
Playing with herself, she stepped back as Hope walked under the spray and through it to reach her, to touch her and tease her.
Their mouths connected in a deep embrace.
The kiss was messy. Hope’s teeth scraped her lip on accident, adding an edge of pain to what they were doing.
Angelica flicked her clit back and forth swiftly between two fingers, as Hope pushed her against the shower wall and palmed her breast.
Humming, Angelica gripped onto Hope with her free hand and sought more touch, more kisses, more heat and passion.
She’d wanted this to happen again. The moment it had happened the first time, she hadn’t wanted to admit that it was only going to be the once.
But she hadn’t seen a way around it. She hadn’t known how to get here again without losing everything she’d known.
Hope kissed along her jaw to just behind her ear and then down her neck.
She reached Angelica’s collar bone and scraped her teeth along it.
Angelica sighed, tilting her head back into the cold tile and letting her eyelids flutter shut as she focused on every physical point of connection between them.
The heat from the water and the steam from the shower made her head feel so much lighter.
She was nearly floating when Hope’s lips covered her nipple, when her tongue flicked across the hard little nub.
Angelica gasped, picking up the pace of her fingers and rocking her hips into the motion.
Hope continued to tease her nipple with light sucks and scrapes of her teeth, massaging Angelica’s other breast with her palm.
Then Hope’s fingers were between her legs.
Angelica cried out as Hope slid two fingers in at once, keeping enough space for Angelica’s fingers to swish back and forth at the same time.
Her hips jerked unexpectedly, and she pushed her toes into the floor to keep herself upright.
Hope curled her fingers, pressing and not letting up.
Angelica crashed.
Her voice ricocheted around the small shower, wrapping them up in her pleasure and release.
She clenched her eyes hard as she grasped onto Hope with her free hand to keep herself upright so she wouldn’t fall.
Hope eased her kisses and teasing, nibbling her way back up Angelica’s chest and neck to her cheeks and lips.
“I love that you let me see this side of you,” Hope whispered into her ear, still holding her as Angelica settled.
Pulling Hope’s lips to hers, Angelica kissed her briefly.
And then again, deeper. Then a third time, sliding her tongue along Hope’s damp lips and waiting for Hope to open to her completely.
Angelica pressed her fingers against the back of Hope’s neck and into her hair, which was still pulled back behind her head and completely dry.
Angelica sighed, slowing the kisses. “I needed this.”
“I think we both did,” Hope said with a quick laugh. “Did you actually want to shower or are we going to move elsewhere?”
Angelica hummed and pulled Hope back in for another kiss.
All of the stress from earlier that day had already vanished.
Hope was magic that way, it seemed. Angelica was about to step under the spray when Hope raised her fingers and put them between her lips, sucking and licking.
She moaned at the flavor, and Angelica was completely entranced.
“I want to lick you,” Hope whispered, her cheeks turning a deeper red than the heat from the shower had made them. “I enjoyed that so much last time.”
“Really?” Angelica asked, sliding her hand down Hope’s arm to rest at her elbow.
Hope nodded and leaned in for a quick kiss. “You taste so good.”
Angelica surged forward, pressing their mouths together in a heated kiss.
What was it about this woman that made her absolutely lose her mind?
She hated to admit that it might be love, because that was the last thing she needed in her life right now, but she certainly loved the way Hope made her feel and took care of her.
“Bed,” Angelica said.
She blindly reached for the handle on the shower to turn it off, missing it several times before her fingers finally collided with the cold metal. She kept Hope close to her as she walked swiftly straight from the bathroom to her bed and sat on the edge of it, pulling herself backward.
Hope didn’t wait either. She pressed her knee in between Angelica’s legs and kissed her hard, pushing her back into the mattress. Angelica went willingly, diving her wet fingers into Hope’s damp hair. She pulled out the claw clip and tossed it somewhere. She didn’t care where.
She wanted Hope as bare and as free as she was. Because that’s exactly what she felt. Free, and comfortable. Supported, and dare she say it, hopeful. Angelica parted her lips, sliding her tongue against Hope’s to tease her as she scooted back awkwardly on the duvet.
They made it to the middle of the bed, and Angelica laid on her side. “Turn around.”
“What?” Hope furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Turn around. I want to taste you while you taste me.”
Angelica waited patiently as the thought clicked in Hope’s brain and the realization hit her. Hope’s face burst into a grin as she shifted around and settled on her side. Angelica kissed the inside of her thigh, still damp from the shower.
Angelica propped her leg up, making space for Hope to slide in whichever way she wanted.
She was pleased when Hope looked down at her and then mimicked her pose.
Angelica moved in, scraping her teeth against the soft skin on Hope’s thighs, smiling to herself when Hope jumped a little.
She was going to tease this moment as much as she could.
She loved the taste of a woman on her tongue, the feel of her against her mouth as she came, the way that this was so intimate.
She breathed slowly, memorizing Hope’s scent.
Brushing her fingers through the damp curls, Angelica smirked when she saw that Hope had trimmed sometime between now and the last time they’d done this.
Not that Angelica cared, and she’d make that point to her dying day.
Finding herself between a woman’s legs, a woman who was as much herself as Hope on any day of the week, pleasured her no matter what.
It didn’t matter if she was shaved, waxed, or full of thick curls. Angelica just wanted to be here.
She nuzzled her nose deep between Hope’s legs, breathing in her scent and memorizing it. She should have done that the last time, but she hadn’t thought about it. But now, with a second chance, she was willing to take every second they had together as theirs.
Hope slid her tongue from Angelica’s clit to her core, and Angelica nearly jumped from just how pleasurable it was. She looked down their bodies and locked her eyes on Hope’s crystalline ones and gave Hope a half-smile. “Taste as good as you thought?”
“Better,” Hope answered, her eyes alight with mischief and joy all at the same time.
Angelica was her first. No matter which way they spun this, there was a pride there that Angelica wasn’t able to get rid of.
She’d been Hope’s first kiss, first fuck, first taste and feel.
And she’d take that to her grave. The pure quality of the joy and pleasure that Hope found in touching her and experiencing all of this was exactly what Angelica had hoped for her and more.
“Then have another lick,” Angelica said, holding her breath as she waited to see what Hope would do next.
Hope sent her a half-cocked smile before she pushed her tongue out between her lips and licked Angelica in the most over-exaggerated way possible.
Laughing, Angelica turned her hips slightly into Hope and then pressed her face against Hope’s cunt.
This was going to be good. She knew it without a doubt.
Angelica parted her lips and covered Hope’s clit.
She sucked gently at first and then added more suction and pressure.
She wrapped her arm around Hope’s leg to hold her steady as she started to work her up.
She wasn’t going to stop until Hope was grinding against her face and coming so hard that she screamed.
Hope seemed like a screamer. They hadn’t gotten to that point the last time they’d done this, but perhaps this time would be different.