Chapter 27 - Mary
Mary
The soft orange hue of the streetlights flashes over Cat’s face in a rhythm.
She is focused on the road ahead of us, but glances over every now and then.
Her shoulders seem tight, but every time she looks at me, her mouth twitches in something resembling a dreamy smile.
I haven’t seen this look from her yet, but it makes me feel warm and wanted.
She lets her hand slide from the console onto my thigh, and I nearly melt into the seat as she starts to rub small circles with her thumb.
My lips part slightly, filling the small space with a soft smacking sound, and her eyes instantly dart back to mine.
Even in this dim light, I can see her pupils dilate, and the warmth turns into a sharper heat.
“Have I told you that you look amazing?” Cat asks, her voice a little rougher than usual.
“Once or twice,” I chuckle.
She hasn’t been able to stop saying it since she came to pick me up. As soon as I opened the door and she saw the silky green dress, she became flustered. Dragging her eyes slowly over my body while she got a little pink in the face. I chuckle again at the memory.
“Well,” she says in a very serious tone, “that’s because you do.”
Cat gives me a crooked grin and squeezes my thigh just a little, before she takes a sharp right.
I slide a bit in my seat, making her hand land even higher on my leg.
The blush creeping up my neck and chest is almost instant, and I can hear her inhale sharply.
Her fingers curl lightly, pressing into my flesh, before she exhales again.
“Dios,” she whispers so softly that I almost miss it.
I would love to say something witty or even tease her a little, but my mind is too busy trying to process how close her hand is to where I want it to be to cooperate. Instead, I inhale a wobbly breath of air and press myself deeper into the cushion.
“Katherina,” I murmur, and her head instantly flicks to the side.
“?Cómo?” she demands as she jerks hard on the wheel and hits the brakes.
The car comes to a rough stop at the side of the road, and my seat belt snaps tight to hold me in place. I whimper at the sudden motion, and have to take a moment to process what happened. The hell?
I feel Cat’s gaze on me. It’s almost as if she is burning a hole through my skull, and I am afraid to meet her gaze.
I didn’t mean to say it. It just came out.
Somewhere during the last few weeks, she became Katherina in my mind.
Maybe because of the way she calls me Maria, or maybe because I see it every time I text her.
Or maybe it is as simple as it being her birth name, which I can appreciate.
As long as she doesn’t start calling me Marilouise.
I feel something dark coil around my sternum, and my eyes fly wide open.
I lift my chin and very slowly turn toward her, scared that what I’ll see will confirm my current thoughts.
But when my gaze finally lands on her, I don’t see loathing.
No. Her eyes are wide, glistening, and soft. She liked it.
“W—was that…” I trail off, but she just stares at me. “Okay?”
It’s not really a question, but not a statement, either. It is something we are discovering together.
“That was…” She pauses, and I know she is searching for the right words. “It was more than okay. It felt…” She looks at me now. “It felt right, coming from your lips.”
“Ye—yeah?” I stammer, and she bobs her head so hard that I’m almost afraid she might hurt herself.
“Yes, very much, yes.”
Her hand comes up to cradle my jaw, and she leans over to press her lips against mine. She trembles slightly, but I can feel her smile against my mouth. I instantly return it and let out a relieved chuckle.
“It’s the dress,” I tease her, and she groans softly.
“It’s very much the dress.”
Her hand hovers above my thigh, but she retracts it, a flash of regret crossing her face.
I bite my lip and grab her wrist before she can start the car again.
With my other hand, I lift the hem, and Cat’s breathing instantly stutters.
When I guide her fingers to the warm skin on the inside of my knee, it stops altogether.
I look at her out of the corner of my eye.
She is looking forward, her jaw tight, and her lips pressed together.
She doesn’t move for what feels like the longest time, and I feel my stomach flutter with nerves.
The good kind, the wrong kind. I am not even sure.
Then she inhales a slow, controlled breath before trailing her hand a little higher.
I gasp softly when she slides it between my thighs, and I shift a little to give her more access.
Her face doesn’t change. Her gaze is still aimed at the road, but her middle finger gently caresses along the edges of my underwear.
My lip, on the other hand, starts to quiver, and my back arches slightly forward.
It is as if I’m fighting the featherlight taunting while my body screams for more. That earns a small smirk.
“I see.” The words come out soft but razor-sharp. “Mírame,” she commands, and I turn my head to look at her as instructed.
Her finger slips past the fabric, and the contact of her skin against my core sends electricity coursing through my body.
I know we shouldn’t be doing this. Not here, at the side of the road.
But right now, I couldn’t care less. And apparently, neither can Cat, who’s slowly dragging the pad of her finger upward.
Her eyes bore into mine as she pauses, and I am barely able to nod.
“Say it.” Her voice is clipped, but her eyes betray her. There is a storm going on within her.
“Please…” I beg.
Her breathing instantly becomes shallower, and she traces her tongue over her bottom lip.
“Please what?”
“Please touch me.”
“Say it again.”
It isn’t a question. Her eyes are too focused for that.
“Please, Katherina…” I squeak, my voice high and strained.
Cat’s skin ripples as the hairs on her arms stand up. The exhale that follows is loud and nearly uncontrollable.
“Sí, keep your eyes on me,” she growls.
Her finger dips, and I mewl as she slides inside me. I immediately want to close my eyes, but Cat pins me with her gaze. My throat bobs, and my mouth falls open as I press myself harder against her, looking for more contact, more friction, more of her. Always more of her.
Her lips curl up now, and she nods, almost as if she can hear my thoughts, and presses her palm against me.
My hips jolt up, and the seat belt snags at me again.
I desperately try to hold her gaze while she increases and decreases the pressure.
The sound of my panting slams into the windows until I can no longer hold it and throw my head back with a soft cry.
“Cat, more… please.”
She gives it to me, but brings her lips close to me. They brush the shell of my ear, and somehow, that feeling is even more electrifying. I grip the car seat and pull my bottom lip between my teeth to keep from crying out at her whisper.
“Katherina,” she growls softly, almost a warning.
The next press hits me just right, and a tear slides down my cheek as I start to shudder. Her name falls from my lips like a prayer.
“Kat—he—ri—i—ina,” I comply, and I feel her grin against the strained muscles in my neck.
“Así, así, mi amor.”
***
My dress is a little rumpled when I step out of the car. I do my best to smooth it out, but unlike my makeup, which I touched up in the car, there is no quick fix for wrinkled fabric. Cat just gives me a smirk that is somewhere between proud and fond, and offers me her arm.
She looks absolutely stunning in her tapered black slacks, a creamy blouse that falls wide, showing a bit more of her chest and neck than usual, and her signature heels.
But my favorite part is that her hair is cascading down over her shoulders.
The dark strands are soft against her skin, instead of in her usual tight bun.
And even after our unexpected adventure earlier, not a single hair is out of place. Rude.
“You are staring,” she mumbles under her breath as the valet takes her keys.
“You are gorgeous,” I whisper back, as if that settles it all.
There is a little scoff, but when she looks at me, I see her cheeks have a little more color than usual.
We walk toward the entrance, and when we reach the door, she holds back a little so that I can go in first, her hand dropping from my side to the small of my back.
Her touch is an anchor, and I lean into it when we enter the venue.
It is almost luxurious. There is soft carpet on the floor, crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and there are large round tables with crisp white linen.
Soft music plays in the background, but it is nearly drowned out by the droning of voices.
The ballroom is already spilling with people.
Each and every one of them looks like they stepped right out of a magazine.
Sharp suits, thick cotton dress shirts, and soft flowing fabrics move around us like a sea of fashionable choices.
I reach for Cat’s hand when I notice that most women wear plain colors like black, indigo, tan, and the emerald green of my dress stands out like a sore thumb.
“You—you didn’t tell me the dress code was—”
“Gala. The dress code is gala, and you are looking the part.”
Her lips are close to me, reassuring me.
“But the other women, they—”
“They aren’t you.”
She stops now and turns me so that I face her. Her thumb softly brushes my cheekbone.
“Maria, you are not like them.”
She pauses for a moment to let the words land.
They do. A little sharper than I know she intends them.
I’ve heard I’m different my whole life, and people have done nothing other than try to make me conform to what they thought my life should look like.
It’s only brought me misery and heartache.
So I shake my head. No, I’m not. Cat dips her chin.