Chapter 16 #4
Drea ran her hand to Cassie’s lower back and Cassie rolled over to face her fully.
She searched Drea’s eyes, wishing this could be more, that they could keep having moments like this forever, but knowing it was a foolish thought.
So instead, she reached for her and pulled her into a kiss.
If this was all there would ever be between them, she would let her heart dance with Drea’s in the only way it ever could.
* * *
Cassie paced through her kitchen. Thirty minutes had passed since she got home and she still had no solid answer to the question. What in the actual fuck?
Except for a time or two in college, Cassie was not a one-night stand kind of girl.
Not that anything was wrong with one-night stands.
They just weren’t for her. The intimacy of a night of sex had to come with a connection, with vulnerability.
And definitely none of the excuses that accompanied her early twenties.
So how could she explain having a one-night stand?
And not any one-night stand. This was Drea, for fuck’s sake, a woman she happened to work with and thus could absolutely not escape.
And not even really a woman but, like, a force of nature wrapped up in the sexiest body on the planet.
A force of nature named Drea. Damn. Even her name was sexy.
Cassie felt a pang of arousal just thinking about her.
The night and the early morning had been incredible.
That was undeniable. And even waking up to Drea and opening up to her had been pretty great, but there was no way this was anything other than the aftermath of an emotion-filled romantic moment.
It was probably the rain. If it hadn’t rained, the romantic factor would have gone down by a hundred at least. It was a mistake and Drea was too kind or Southern or whatever to say so.
It would be fine. She had gotten caught up in the moment, the beautiful, sensual, crazy, sex storm of a moment, but she was an adult.
A professional. A professional adult. And she would go to work and be that, damn it.
Yep, this would all be okay. So fucking okay.
Drea fell back on her bed, physically exhausted in the best way possible, and stared at the ceiling as images from the past day and night with Cassie floated through her mind.
They all distilled into one singular thought.
She had met her match. Cassie lifted her spirits with her brightness and how she saw things in Drea that most people never could or would, and the way she called her out on the sidewalk last night, breaking through something deep inside her, something she never knew she could traverse.
It was unexpected. Everything about Cassie had been unexpected.
Drea had torn through her in a frenzy of lust like never before.
Gone were the light, fun times with all the others.
Something had burned deep, a desire that she couldn’t quench no matter how many times she tried.
There was always more. And Cassie had matched her, every touch, every kiss, every orgasm, pushing her and them for more.
Normally after a night with a woman Drea would be glad to have her solitude back, in the one place where she could be herself, alone with no one watching or criticizing or being disappointed because their version of her was an illusion, one that she would never live up to, and would never want to.
But she had learned to give them what they wanted.
It was easier than actually investing, putting herself out there only to falter when they saw something that didn’t match their fantasy.
She would have gone on like that forever.
There was no plan for a future or a happily ever after.
She had scoffed at the ridiculousness of the premise, having let go of those silly notions long ago.
Until one vibrant, intriguing girl drifted into her world and somehow managed to slip past all of the shadows within her and find a place to nestle inside her heart, warming it by merely existing.
She let out a slow breath, in awe at the wonder of this woman.
She stretched out her arm, running her hand along the soft sheets, the scent of lavender still hanging in the air.
For the first time ever, she wasn’t relieved to have her companion leave.
Instead, she found herself missing Cassie’s bold lips, the depths in her majestic eyes, the warmth of her laughter, and the way she could make her feel seen and challenged at the same time.
This thoughtful, strong, compassionate, beautiful woman.
She groaned at the number Cassie had done on her, as Pickles leapt up on the bed with a meow.
All she knew was that for the first time in a very, very long time, she wanted to try for something more. With the woman who made her feel like there was a more to have.
Pickles stared down at her and meowed again.
“Hey, it could happen,” she said, wanting to convince herself as much as him.