Chapter 24
"Are you okay?" Leire asks as Kate gasps, trying to catch her breath.
The Australian still feels the aftershock of her orgasm rolling through her legs, small tremors rippling through her.
When she opened her eyes, Leire was watching her, lying at her side with a shy smile, trailing her fingers across her bare shoulder and tracing lines between her freckles.
Kate still struggles to describe what she felt waking up and finding her there.
She'd gone to bed restless, because every time she spent the night with Leire, anxiety knotted in her stomach at the thought of sneaking out in the middle of the night.
Last night she didn't have to. She could sleep without worrying about missing her alarm or about who might see her leaving, and she was so stunned by the idea that Leire noticed.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked, moving closer in bed.
"About tomorrow. About not having to…"
"Run," Leire finished, and the shadow crept back into her expression for a few seconds before she managed to push it aside — because after hours talking about so many things, they'd promised each other to focus on the future from here on out. "I really want to wake up with you."
Kate smiled and shifted her shoulders, because she knew she didn't need to say how much she wanted the same thing.
They didn't have sex last night, because that wasn't what they needed from each other — so they curled up together and fell asleep almost immediately. But this morning they had something different in mind, especially the Spanish woman.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked while Kate rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah, like a rock. You?"
"Amazing."
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kate's pulse sped up at her mischievous smile.
"Because I've always wondered what it would be like to make love to you in the morning, with no rush. And now I'm going to find out."
By the time the Spanish woman's kisses reach between her legs, Kate is so ready her first orgasm hits fast, barely a minute in — and because it feels too soon, she presses Leire's head to keep her there until she comes a second time.
Leire crawls up the bed, kisses her shoulder, then her jaw, and lies back to look at her.
"We haven't talked about us," she whispers, tracing soft circles over Kate's chest, still heaving.
"I thought we cleared everything up yesterday," Kate says.
"Yesterday it became clear that you don't hate me and that you're willing to give us a shot. But we didn't talk about what actually happens with us from here on out."
Kate pulls the sheet up a little and turns to face her, taking her hand and pressing it to the center of her chest.
"What do you want to happen, Leire?"
"I want us to have everything we never had.
I want to enjoy all the things couples do.
I want to go out with you, have a whole bunch of actual dates.
And travel," she adds, thoughtful. "Visit places we choose ourselves, without a schedule dragging us along that keeps us from seeing anything beyond the hotel. "
"I think that can be arranged. Only one of us will have a schedule now — I'm going to have a lot of free time."
Leire's brows pull together and she kisses her knuckles.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do now? There are other paths that could keep you in the tennis world, Kate."
"I know. But for now I'm going to take a few weeks — maybe a few months.
I don't want to rush anything, and I want to focus on recovering, on keeping up the work so my back doesn't hurt and I can live something close to a normal life while I figure it out.
So let's leave that for another conversation.
Right now let's get back to us. Keep going, please. "
Color floods Leire's cheeks all at once.
"What?" Kate narrows her eyes a little.
"I want us to live together," the Spanish woman says, watching Kate's reaction carefully. Kate can't stop her eyes from going wide. "Not right now. You have things to sort out and so do I. But I wouldn't want to wait too long, if you're on board."
"You seem pretty bold," Kate says, her lips curving into a wry smile.
"Yeah," she admits, flushed, "but like it or not, we've been together three years, Kate. Maybe we haven't been out in the world as a couple, but I love you, and I want to keep waking up with you every day. Honestly, I don't understand how I survived without this for so long."
"Let's say I'm open to it." Kate plays it cool, her eyes lighting up with that flicker of amusement Leire remembered from when she first knew her.
"I want to live in my house on the island.
It's peaceful and it has everything we need — I think you'd love it.
It could be our main home, and your place in Madrid the one we use when we're in the city. "
"And yours? Are you going to sell it?"
"No. My family stays there when they visit. We'll have two places in Madrid and that's that."
Leire laughs.
"So — is that a yes?"
"If you don't mind living on an island."
"I don't care where, Kate. I just want to be with you." She leans in to kiss her, and Kate's legs snap shut around her hand the moment she feels it sliding up her thigh. "We can keep going now."
"Wait, let me recover," she pleads through laughter, tilting toward her to take control. "Besides, I still haven't heard you moan without holding back — and I'm dying to."
"You want me to scream your name when I fall apart?" Leire's smile turns crooked, but the smug look fades the second Kate pins her hands above her head and hovers over her on all fours, looking down at her with those green eyes going dark.
"It won't be because I asked you to. It'll be because you're going to beg me to stop — or to keep going. We'll see."
Leire's whole body clenches with need at the thought.
"God, baby, I think I'm going to beg you right now."
The corner of Kate's mouth curves slightly and she leans down to whisper in her ear.
"Turn over. I'm going to take you apart."