Chapter 10
From that night on, being in Riley’s near vicinity is damn near torturous.
And not just when taking in her gym shorts during breakfast, or when she unguardedly applies her sunscreen in the afternoon, but even when she spends an entire day locked up in her hotel room because of work and Charlotte barely catches any glimpse of her for the entire day.
It’s not that Riley’s not aware of it. She seems to have taken up casually touching Charlotte as a hobby: putting a hand on her arm whenever she asks her something, placing her palm on the small of her back when they pass each other, leaning into her when she laughs.
Even seeking as much physical contact as possible under the table when they all share a meal is not something she shies away from.
Every time something like this happens, Charlotte feels like Riley might as well have thrown a lit match into a gas tank.
At some point, Charlotte decides to fight fire with fire.
She makes sure to whisper innocent little things in Riley’s ear when they happen to cross paths, like “The croissants at breakfast were really good,” or “The weather is nice today,” or “My hand hurts from masturbating so often because I keep picturing you having an orgasm.”
So yes, this is torture: the best kind of torture. As neither woman is planning on tapping out soon, they’ve made it their secret little game to get under each other’s skin as often as possible.
This goes exceptionally well when the four of them spend an afternoon at the beach, which is at a walkable distance from the hotel and surrounded by beautiful rock formations and caves.
While they still have to be careful around Gabi and Lou, they have nearly free rein as the soon-to-be-married couple is so taken up with each other they barely register their surroundings.
Additionally, both Charlotte and Riley are highly skilled at making their sexually charged comments sound like they still want to rip each other’s heads off, just like old times.
When they all sprawl out on their beach towels and Charlotte accidentally kicks up a load of sand which lands on Riley’s stomach, no one bats an eye when she remarks that that’s what Riley gets for 'being too close' and 'ruining her view'.
And when they’re all up to their waists in the sea and Riley makes Charlotte trip, it’s totally accepted behavior when she catches her and brags about 'how lucky she should count herself to have such a handsome and observant lifeguard as a friend'.
The fact that Riley’s little stunt ends in them trying to pull each other underwater, which makes Gabi and Lou retreat to their towels to not get caught in the crossfire, is also very much in character for them.
It only takes a few minutes longer for Gabi and Lou to announce they’re going to go back to the hotel ‘to go over their vows’, which earns them a loud whistle from Riley and a “Suuuuuure!” from Charlotte.
It’s no surprise to them that, shortly after their friends leave, Charlotte finds herself pushing Riley up against one of the cavewalls near the beach, their hungry lips sealed against each other’s.
“Char…lie,” Riley sighs into her mouth, letting her hands roam over Charlotte’s teal one piece that puts her thighs on great display. “Shit, you’re gonna kill me before the wedding.”
“Don’t you dare die on me this week,” Charlotte growls, tearing her lips away from Riley’s to press hot, open mouthed kisses against her wet and salty neck.
It makes Riley bite her lip to stifle a groan, and she digs her fingers into the flesh of Charlotte’s ass where it peeks out from under her swimsuit.
“Because I’m not gonna direct the wedding by myself. ”
“Oh, but you’re fine if I pass away after the party?” Riley asks, trailing one hand up towards Charlotte’s neck.
“Yeah, don’t care,” Charlotte lies, nipping at Riley’s earlobe. She’s about to soothe it by swiping her tongue over the same spot, but Riley’s hand slides into her hair and gives it a firm tug.
In addition to her bodyweight and the hand that’s still on Charlotte’s ass, she now has enough leverage to flip their positions, pushing Charlotte’s back roughly against the wall.
Charlotte lets out a surprised noise but is immediately silenced by Riley’s mouth on hers. Riley slides her tongue in and curls it along the roof of her mouth, making Charlotte whimper.
“I don’t think you can live without me yet. We have a few lessons left,” Riley whispers in between kisses.
“So teach me,” Charlotte breathes against her lips.
Riley smiles and pulls away to trail a line of kisses along her jaw. “Alright,” she says, resting her hands on Charlotte’s hips. “Today’s lesson: how does a woman you’re making out with let you know that she wants more?”
“Mm, don’t know,” Charlotte murmurs, her mind hazy. She turns her head to steal a kiss, but Riley leans back, beaming.
Her expression transforms into a predatory grin when she places her foot in between Charlotte’s legs and effortlessly kicks them apart. Then she leans forward again, catching her lips in a searing kiss as she lifts her bare knee up to press against Charlotte’s core.
When Riley’s knee hits her right against her core, she lets out a filthy moan. For a moment she’s worried she might’ve scared Riley off, but the opposite turns out to be true when she feels her smile, and the kiss intensifies as she presses her knee up even more firmly.
The contact sends a jolt of electricity through Charlotte’s entire system, and it feels phenomenal.
The thin layer of her swimsuit is the only thing that separates the skin of Riley’s leg from her own pussy, and suddenly that’s the only thing she can think about.
It’s scary, it’s new, but it’s positively thrilling.
The first time she rolls her hips down on Riley’s knee, it’s purely a reflex. But when she feels a strong wave of pleasure crash through her body and her eyes automatically roll back, she grabs Riley’s face to suck at her lips and tongue with even more fervor and she grinds down again. And again.
“Fuck,” Charlotte draws out the vowel, losing all composure as her body takes over. It’s like she has no say in this at all. Her body takes what it wants—what it apparently has been wanting for a long, long time.
Of course Riley notices and she lowers her leg. At Charlotte’s needy whine, she cups her cheek in her hand and whispers: “That’s it for today’s lesson.”
“Ri…” Charlotte sighs and pouts, pulling her in by the waist.
Instead of giving into the invitation, Riley starts peppering kisses all over her face. “You still haven’t told me you’re ready,” she whispers against her skin. “And I doubt you are. I only want you when every part of you is ready, Charlie.”
Charlotte growls something unintelligible, and Riley chuckles as she brushes her thumb over her bottom lip. Charlotte tries to bite it, but she quickly pulls away.
“We’re not going to do something you might regret later because your body has hit second puberty before your mind has caught up,” she explains sweetly.
“Second puberty?” Charlotte frowns in suspicion. “What a load of bullshit. I’m well past my peak of fertility, as everybody and their dog likes to remind me.”
Stroking her cheek with a knuckle, Riley says: “What do you think will happen to your hormones when it realizes there’s a whole new world to explore?
New bodies, new dynamics, new actions, needs, preferences…
It’s all been locked away for decades, and suddenly everything becomes accessible.
And as opposed to teenage puberty it happens all at once.
Your libido is about to go through the roof. ”
Charlotte huffs. “You think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?”
“Yeah I do, but that’s not the point.” Riley grins and leans in to hover in front of her face.
“I think pretty highly of you. I have faith your body will try to give you everything you’ve been missing.
Even if it’s messy, and unbalanced, and delicious.
But hey, I will be here if you need to blow off some steam, and I will try not to complain about it. ”
Charlotte weakly punches her in the stomach. “And they say chivalry is dead.”
Back at the hotel, Charlotte is forced to keep checking in with herself.
She now realizes that what Riley had said about second puberty might’ve been true for a couple of days already.
There are very few moments during the day when her mind doesn’t drift to sex, kissing, or any other form of physical contact.
She tries to escape it by going for a swim, diving into her book, or hitting the hotel gym on the ground floor; but nothing stops the lustful fire that lies in wait in her stomach.
She avoids going to her room during the day because she doesn’t want to be persuaded to touch herself again. She avoids Riley too—not that it helps, because the second they run into each other anyway, Charlotte gets relentlessly distracted by one of their heated memories.
She knows it’s going to happen at some point, and she truly respects Riley for being so careful with her, but the anticipation is getting so bad that Charlotte keeps setting the bar higher and higher for herself.
She’s imagined it multiple times: how she wants to tell Riley she’s ready, how she wants to show her that she can take initiative, how she will kiss her and throw her on the bed.
In other scenarios Riley is doing the throwing, but her imagination stops when Riley takes off her clothes, just because she has no idea how to picture her naked.
She has seen and studied the visible parts of her body at every opportunity she’d gotten, so she knows what almost every little piece of skin looks like, except for the areas that have always been covered by clothes—or hands, as Riley had been topless at the strip club but Charlotte had only seen her with her nipples covered.