Chapter 10 #3
Charlotte lifts her dress and pulls the waistband of her panties out to frown down at the short bush covering her mound. Other than a quick trim for hygiene, there hasn’t been any reason to keep up with the aesthetics of that particular part of her body for longer than she cares to admit.
She glances over at her cosmetic bag, which holds her trusted razor.
She only has a couple of minutes, but if she’s quick, she might at least be able to shape it a little.
Her chest flushes when her imagination presents her with Riley’s grossed out expression upon finding out Charlotte isn't cleanly shaven, but she quickly blinks it away.
When she imagines the alternative, the Riley in her mind mockingly smiles at her, pointing out the obvious expectation of sex.
Charlotte lets her waistband snap back into place and scowls at herself in the mirror.
They are both grown adults, and most grown adults have body hair, whether they shave it or not.
She’ll explain and possibly apologize when it comes up, and make a different decision next time if Riley so pleases. If there will even be a next time.
Instead of accidentally cutting herself open with the razor in her haste, Charlotte opts to brush her teeth before Riley’s arrival.
Just when she’s finished rinsing her mouth, there’s a knock on the door and her heart starts pounding.
A sense of relief washes over her when she’s greeted by Riley carrying two glasses of clear liquid and a large ice cube.
“Tequila?” Charlotte inquires suspiciously, and Riley gives her a smouldering look.
“A fantastic mezcal. Great for sipping.”
“Oh thank god,” Charlotte sighs, plucking one glass from Riley’s hand and taking a sip right away. She makes a face: toothpaste and mezcal are apparently an abominable combination.
“Hey Riley, nice to see you Riley, how kind of you to bring drinks Riley,” the woman standing outside her door playfully remarks. “Do you think you’re gonna invite me in at some point, or are you planning on sharing this with Shakespeare?”
Charlotte pretends to give it some thought. “You’re lucky he’s underage,” she eventually caves, stepping aside to let Riley in. When she enters, she pointedly clinks her glass against Charlotte’s before walking further in the room.
Charlotte shuts the door and leans back against it. She watches Riley, who wears a simple black shirt dress, taking in her room and the variety of items on the vanity.
“Where is he anyway?” Riley asks, turning on her heel. Charlotte nods at the bathroom door.
“He’s very fond of his privacy.”
“As he should be.”
Charlotte shakes out her free hand, manually trying to expel some tension. Within two strides, Riley is back right in front of her, smiling reassuringly. Without breaking eye contact, Riley sips her drink. Charlotte copies her.
“Your texts have been everything I could think about today, but I still like to hear you actually say it,” Riley murmurs while coyly pressing the cold glass against her own cheek.
Charlotte tilts her head up in teasing defiance.
“Which text?”
“Both of them.”
Charlotte’s heart rate picks up again; she feels it in her throat and the artery in her neck. This is what they’re both good at, what they will exploit until one of them gives in. Or succumbs to the gay panic, she muses. And by now, she knows how to trigger Riley’s.
“Yeah, but which one did you like better? The one where I told you I was ready? Or the one where I told you that I wanted you?” Riley clearly tries to hide her faltering, but Charlotte notices anyway. “Just so we avoid any confusion,” she adds with a smirk.
Riley rolls her tongue against her bottom teeth, impressed by Charlotte’s statement.
“I’m glad you remembered how much I value healthy communication,” she says in a low voice, sipping her drink again.
While she licks a stray drop of mezcal off her bottom lip, her eyes briefly flick towards Charlotte’s mouth.
Charlotte promises herself that she will be the one licking up any droplets if the opportunity rises again.
While Riley’s tone has been playful, she appears to be dead set on making sure Charlotte knows there’s an honest truth behind it.
“If we’re doing this...” she says, letting her eyes skim over Charlotte’s face for any sign of reservation. “Can I trust you to tell me whenever you want to stop? Or take a break? Or if you want something specific?”
Charlotte wants to reply without thinking, but she stops herself and takes a moment to really consider the request. Can Riley trust her to do that? Does she trust Riley enough to be that honest?
She thinks back to the countless moments of shared vulnerability between the two of them.
The way her annoyance has turned into admiration, just because of what a thoughtful person Riley is.
Sharing stories, good and bad, while Riley was thousands of miles away.
And while Riley still has the ability to drive her insane with her endless taunting, Charlotte is helplessly attracted to her.
What matters even more in this moment, is that on top of her physical attraction and interest, she considers Riley to be a friend too. And she wouldn’t be friends with people she doesn’t trust.
“When,” Charlotte corrects her. At Riley’s questioning look, she clarifies: “When we’re going to do this. Not if. I promise to be honest, Riley. I trust you. You and all your infuriating little quirks.”
Riley answers her promise with an endeared smile, leaning in to press a kiss to the apple of her cheek.
“Do you?” Charlotte whispers when Riley’s face is still next to hers. “Do you trust me? And promise me to be honest about what you want?”
She needs to ask her this, she needs the playing field to be equal. Riley seems to understand that.
“I promise to be honest, and I promise to try everything within my power to make both of us feel good,” is Riley’s husked answer.
Charlotte shivers. Leaning back, Riley adds: “If you do get uncomfortable at some point, or you can’t speak for whatever reason, let’s agree you tap me three times. We’ll stop immediately.”
At that, Charlotte scrunches her face and chuckles. “I didn’t know you were gonna bring your kinks into this.”
“There’s nothing kinky about wanting to be careful and safe,” Riley says with a smile, but her tone is genuine. “And like I said before: I’m not bringing up my kinks with you in the foreseeable future anyway.” Her smile turns into a grin.
Even though she didn’t necessarily want Riley to, she can’t help but feel a little rejected. “Why not?” she asks defensively. “Don’t think I can handle it? I may have never slept with a woman before, but I’m neither a virgin nor a prude.”
Riley shakes her head, leaning in to kiss Charlotte again. This time she puts her lips to her temple, murmuring: “Not everything is about you, mi pequena bola de fuego. There are some things I need more time for because they make me vulnerable.”
Charlotte presses her lips together in guilt. She hasn’t considered that before. “Sorry.”
She doesn’t know what else to say, so she takes another sip of her drink. The burning sensation of the alcohol in her throat makes her feel present again.
Then she remembers what else Riley said.
“Wait—what did you call me?”
Riley smirks and places kisses from her temple down to her jaw, changes direction toward her ear, and softly nips at the shell. “You can be a bit of a hothead, Charlotte.”
The kisses continue, this time just below her ear, until Riley finds a spot that makes her jump.
“Mi bola de fuego. My fireball.”
“I’ll show you a fucking fireball,” Charlotte grumbles softly.
Riley laughs, and latches onto the spot that makes Charlotte squirm again.
“No me amenaces con pasar un buen rato.”
Charlotte whimpers, and not just because of where Riley’s lips are. While she normally admires Riley’s perceptiveness, she wants to curse it now.
With a pleased look on her face, Riley steps back, taking Charlotte’s glass from her hand and turning to the vanity.
She takes one last sip of her own before placing both glasses down and walking back to Charlotte, whose back is still against the door.
She doesn’t press herself up against her, but extends a hand for Charlotte to take.
When she does, she reels her in with a surprising amount of strength, making their bodies collide in the middle of the room. Riley catches her by the hips and wastes no time leaning in for a searing kiss on Charlotte’s mouth.
Charlotte immediately feels something cold and wet against her lips. When she parts them in surprise, she realizes Riley is letting her taste some of the mezcal in her mouth. Gross.
No, wait. Shit, she thinks. This is kind of hot.
“Tengo suerte de que seas tan mala ocultando lo que te excita,” Riley says after swallowing and breaking the kiss, fingers digging into Charlotte’s hips.
“You need to shut the fuck up,” Charlotte counters cheerily, in between licking the remnants of the alcohol from Riley’s lips. Riley playfully tries to catch her tongue between her lips every time it peeks out.
“No, si te hace tener más hambre de mí.”
“Riley, I swear to god, I will—”
“What?” Riley teases her. “What will you do?”
Charlotte really just wants to keep kissing her, but she can only stare at her lips.
“Come on, sweetheart. You promised to tell me,” Riley continues, lifting Charlotte’s chin up. When they make eye contact again, an inviting grin is waiting for her. The desire in Riley’s eyes makes it so much easier to say what she wants.
“Kiss me,” Charlotte says hungrily, feeling a sense of relief wash over her when Riley immediately complies. They crash into each other with their lips already parted, tongues exploring the inside of each other's mouth.
She can’t get over how Riley’s kisses wind her up so much every time: this woman has a seriously skilled tongue. That thought makes Charlotte moan into the kiss, a feeling of pride washing over her because she, and no one else, gets to kiss Riley right now.
As the kiss gets more heated, they press their bodies more and more into each other, desperate for physical contact.
Upon a particularly well-aimed bucking of Riley’s hips, Charlotte gasps but quickly uses the distraction to put her foot between Riley’s legs.
With her hands tangled in her hair, she pushes her leg up, applying pressure to Riley’s groin with her thigh.
“Oh, shit,” Riley moans, and reflexively rocks back on the thigh between her legs. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have taught you that,” she mumbles before diving back into the kiss.
The scene sets Charlotte off like fireworks; having this effect on Riley, eliciting these sounds and reactions from her, is something she won’t grow tired of anytime soon. On the contrary: when she starts feeling a damp heat on her thigh, she wants to do more.
But before she can calculate how to do that, one of Riley’s hands starts slowly trailing upward past her stomach, coming to a halt on her ribs.
When Charlotte realizes what she’s about to do, even though the hand is still over her dress, a rush of heat spikes through her body, quickening her breath in anticipation.
Riley pulls her mouth away, but her body stays close. “May I touch you here?” she asks softly, tentatively stroking the underside of her breast with a finger.
“Yes,” Charlotte inhales, nodding encouragingly. She’s about to combust under the tension. “Please.”
Riley’s hand continues its journey upward, carefully cupping the entire breast in her palm. Charlotte tries to suppress a hiss when she feels her nipple harden through the fabric.
“Damn, Charlie,” Riley drawls, licking her own lips. “No bra? Couldn’t you go easy on me?”
Her playful tone relieves some of the tension, and Charlotte relaxes into the touch. As Riley gently starts massaging the skin through her dress, Charlotte replies: “Don’t try to convince me you hadn't noticed that yet.”
Riley leans forward, kissing Charlotte’s neck on the opposite side of where her hand is working her breast.
“You sound so surprised that I haven’t been looking at your tits,” she remarks, softly sucking at Charlotte’s pulse point. The palm of the hand on her breast starts rubbing against the pebbled nipple.
Charlotte throws her head back as the sensation sends sparks throughout her entire upper body. “You’re a criminal,” she hisses. “You’re a lying motherfucking criminal.”
“Hm, you got me,” Riley admits, switching sides, cupping and squeezing the neglected breast. But instead of pushing her palm against the nipple, this time she softly pinches it through the fabric.
Charlotte lets out a mewl that embarrasses her immediately, until she notices it invigorates Riley’s caresses.
The pinching turns into pulling, and Charlotte presses her lips together to not make any more noise.
“You feel incredible,” Riley says, the sound muffled against Charlotte’s neck. “I wonder if mezcal makes you take your clothes off too.”
“Are you hinting at something?”
“Not at all.”
“Riley?”
“Hm?”
Riley pulls back and Charlotte softens as she takes in the genuine, expectant look in her eyes. She gathers all her courage and places her palm against Riley’s chest. Her shy gaze drops to her own finger, lazily flicking the button on Riley’s dress.
“I want to touch you first.”