Chapter Twenty-two #2
Chase still struggled to hear her. Norah didn’t forgive and forget easily.
Then again, people do change. Chase had changed.
And she refused to question the gift she’d just been handed.
Afraid to say anything else and risk losing this moment she’d dreamt of nearly every night of forever, she put her thumb under Norah’s chin and tilted her face up to kiss her.
What started as a soft hum erupted into a symphony of energy that rivaled the cicadas outside.
Norah groaned sweetly into Chase’s mouth, and the muscles in Chase’s lower stomach tightened like an elastic band, white heat moving between her legs.
She shifted her hands to Norah’s sides as Norah sat upright, grinding into Chase’s pelvis.
Chase felt every sway, every lift of Norah’s hips.
She resisted the need to flip Norah onto her back and take everything she wanted from her.
But she also knew Norah had to be in control this time.
Norah sidled her body down the length of Chase’s, stopping to loop her index finger in the scout belt that kept Chase’s cargo pants up.
She pulled once, and the belt popped loose.
She gently slid the pants down and off, letting her mouth follow down Chase’s stomach, teasing her with just the edge of her tongue under the waist of her briefs.
Chase grasped Norah’s back, digging her nails in hard.
She felt the heat from Norah’s mouth as it hovered just between her legs, the steamy breath penetrating the layer of fabric.
She now held the back of Norah’s head, fistfuls of soft, thick hair twisting in her fingers desperately.
She pulled her closer, begging silently.
Norah wanted this more than anything—more than the Georgetown residency, more than her status as a captain, more than she’d wanted Chase the day she walked away from her years earlier.
She’d been wanting it since Chase walked back into her life, in spite of her months of denial.
What she had omitted was the why of that particular night.
Chase could have kept asking questions. They’d been here in Louisiana for a while now, had shared enough stolen moments and perfect kisses, so after endless protest, why was Norah finally willing to fold on her principles?
She assumed Chase was too afraid to ask.
And that was fine. Sometimes the why of it all didn’t matter.
Norah needed Chase that night in a way she had never needed before.
That was why she changed her mind. Though it wasn’t exactly changing her mind.
Norah had decided after their last-first kiss that she would end up falling back into Chase’s arms. Chase was the love of her life.
Norah hated the term, because it sounded so terminal.
It meant that once they’d ended, no one else would ever come close.
Now she accepted that fact as an inevitability, even embraced it.
Chase was here. And she was the love of her life. As if anything was left to debate.
Blood pulsated through Norah’s ears like a rush of warm water.
Her face was hot, and she panted for air as Chase’s entire body tensed under each stroke of her tongue.
She took a minute to look up at Chase, her eyes closed and her lips pressed in a tight line, head tilted back against the pillow.
She was the most beautiful thing Norah had ever seen, and for a moment, everything was perfect in the world.
There was no pandemic. Jamie was alive. And it was just Norah, with the woman she loved more than she had fifteen years prior.
Chase shuddered once, her entire body contorting as she called out for Norah. Norah held on as tight as she could, not stopping until she felt Chase melt underneath her.
Norah smiled and crawled back to the head of the bed, resting her head on Chase’s chest while Chase’s arms cradled her. She’d never felt safer.
Shock wasn’t quite the right word to sum up what Chase was feeling as the early dawn light poked through the crack in the zipper of Norah’s tent.
From the moment she saw Norah again she knew.
She knew they’d end up here, together, until the end of the world.
But the elusiveness of it all was rawer than she could have ever anticipated.
Norah was still asleep, her head softly propped against the nook of Chase’s arm.
Her breath came in quiet snores that Chase used to tease her about constantly, Norah always the first to fall asleep and Chase never hesitating to nudge her gently, saying, “Baby, you’re snoring.
” She did this mainly because she liked the way Norah would protest, arguing to the death that she couldn’t possibly be snoring because she wasn’t asleep.
God, how she wanted that playfulness again, in their own bed, in their own home, together.
Chase turned to face Norah, using her free hand to smooth the strands of stray hair that had fallen over her cheek.
Another feeling was taking over—awe or disbelief.
She’d become quite familiar with the feeling during their years together.
How could this strong, brilliant, stunning woman want her?
It was warmer in the tent than the early fall morning called for, but Chase wrapped her other arm around Norah’s middle and pulled her in tightly anyway.
Norah stirred just a little and let out a soft moan, her full, tempting lips curling into a sleepy smile.
“Good morning,” Chase whispered against her ear.
Norah turned over, finally opening her eyes. Her gaze met Chase’s, and for a second, Chase knew what she was thinking. They had woken up in each other’s arms, this time in some foreign land, after over a decade of missed mornings—mornings they could have back.
“Good morning yourself.” Norah placed both hands firmly on Chase’s face and kissed her, as if knowing Chase would need a reminder that there were no regrets.
They hadn’t talked more about what came next, and that was fine.
Chase wanted to spend the rest of the night wrapped up in Norah, their bodies saying enough.
They would have time for what came next.
“Do you think anyone else is up yet?” Chase glanced at her watch that read 5:56 a.m.
“I don’t think anyone slept much last night.” Norah sat up and wiped her eyes, briefly fussing with her hair, and Chase followed.
“Yeah. And John’s so old his bladder gets him up at four a.m. regardless of a pandemic.”
Norah chuckled and circled her arms around Chase’s waist, resting her chin on Chase’s shoulder and nuzzling into her neck.
“Chase. You know I hate to be the Baron of No Fun, but I think we need to talk about what happens next.”
“It’s actually Captain of No Fun, but whatever you want to be called is fine.” Chase offered her a teasing smile and placed her hands over Norah’s where they rested on Chase’s stomach.
“Okay. Hilarious. Can you be serious for, like, half a second?” Her tone was still playful.
“You’re right. Look. You’re the boss. You decide how we handle this. You lead, I’ll follow.”
Norah shook her head quickly, in seeming disbelief. “Really? I’m not going to say I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I mean it. Whatever you think is best.”
“I don’t really know how to handle this situation. I hope we get to go home soon. I do. But realistically we could be here for another month. Maybe more. I’m tired of keeping this thing between us a secret. I love you, and I’m damn proud to love you. But do we tell John? Do we tell the others?”
Chase couldn’t repress her smile. Not only did Norah want her, but she wanted the world to know she wanted her too.
“I mean it. I defer to you. I have no idea if there are rules about this kind of thing.”
“Technically, there aren’t. We don’t work together, normally. And we’ve been leading this project together, so there’s no question about power dynamics. But the optics might not be great.”
“Then we don’t say anything. Easy. We’ve been doing it for months now. And the people who already know just think they know.”
Norah sat quietly, appearing pensive. She rubbed the bridge of her nose like she always did when she was thinking hard.
“You know what? Screw it,” she said, tackling Chase back down onto the cot and tucking her head into the perfectly sized space under her shoulder.
Chase laughed and kissed her forehead.
“Screw it?”
“Yeah! Screw it. Screw optics. You and I have basically helped save the world together, right? If people don’t like it, they can fuck right off.”
Chase laughed harder now. She knew it wasn’t easy for Norah to let go of control in any way.
And that included control of people’s perception of her.
Even though it wasn’t “against the rules” for them to be together, Chase knew Norah worried about being seen as weak for needing to be loved, and for doing it in such a public way.
That was why Chase was fine with keeping things quiet for as long as Norah wanted—as long as she knew she had Norah again, and not just her body, but her commitment, her midnights, her boring Sundays—her everything.
“Screw it!” Chase threw her hands up enthusiastically.
“So it’s settled. We’re not even going to try to hide it anymore. I love you. I want to be yours. Let everyone talk.”
“It would be my honor, Captain Bishop.”