Chapter 17
by invitation
Jess tugged on Callie‘s hand as they walked through the family room, then to the hall leading to the stairs. Callie was content to drag a little, savoring the moment, the absurdly teenage moment of being taken upstairs with the idea of having sex already established. Jess kept looking back at her. First, a nervous grin, then a more lustful glance, and they stopped at the foot of the steps to embrace.
Callie could feel Jess’s shoulders trembling, not from desire alone, and she gave out a breathless whimper of her own, “It’s okay to be nervous,” she said softly, though she directed Jess to move up one step, giving Callie a lips-level view of Jess’s breasts, and she took full advantage.
Jess shuddered as Callie nibbled gently, spending equal time on each nipple until Jess put her hand behind Callie’s head and held her against her chest, “Please don’t tease me too much,” Jess said, almost whining. But Callie misinterpreted, “With my tongue?” she asked, squeezing Jess firmly, “Don’t think I can comply.”
“Mmmm, not what I meant,” Jess groaned, “Tongue, teeth…lips, do whatever you like.” Already panting, she pulled Callie up the steps, “Like I said, I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
They stopped at Jess’s bedroom door. While she reached for the knob, Jess hesitated to turn the handle. It had been closed for years in more ways than one. Closed against memory, but she had also closed it off to possibility.
No one else had crossed the threshold since Zach.
This wasn’t just a room. It was a line.
Callie put her arms around Jess to steady her, but stayed silent. This was a moment for Jess only, and she turned the handle and opened the door.
Callie gasped.
The room glowed. Not with magic itself but with Jess’s effort. There were dozens of LED flickering candles set wherever they would fit. Shelves, her dresser top, the nightstands, and the windowsill in front of the closed blackout curtains were lit and waiting. The soft amber hue softened the sharp edges of reality.
Then Callie saw the bed. The covers were turned down on both sides of the king-size mattress. Pillows banked on the headboard. The bedroom's fragrance suggested jasmine and vanilla.
Callie saw the dark linens; she could only imagine Jess’s body spreading out in front of her. But she could sense Jess’s nerves as well. They ran deeper than Callie’s. Jess was going to perhaps leave an essential part of her world behind.
Callie took Jess’s hand, “Sit with me for a minute?”
Walking to the bed, Callie ran her hand over the smooth sheets, “Whoa, new? For me?” she grinned.
Jess nodded, “For you,” then shrugged, “but for me too. I didn’t want it empty anymore.”
Callie turned to Jess, “I’ve imagined this,’ she confessed, pulling Jess down beside her, “Not just the night. Not just you, but what it means for you to let me in. You haven’t let anyone close since Zach.”
Jess swallowed; her throat tightened, but she was grateful for Callie broaching the subject, understanding yet another one of the layers she used to protect herself or smother herself.
Callie moved closer, whispering, “I know. I know what Zach meant to you. What he was to you. I see how you talk about and remember him, and I want to honor that. I don’t want you to ever think you should push him away.”
“Callie…” Jess attempted, and Callie rescued her, “But …there’s a part of me that needs to say this because I want us to have our space, Jess. In this room, in our life together. I don’t want that worry hanging over us. Not in this room.”
“Not now,” Jess finished, then kissed Callie. Though a tear fell on Callie’s cheek, Jess smiled, agreeing, “We’ll build something that’s….” Jess paused, then smiled brightly, “That’s ours, you and me…it feels so good to say that.”
After a soft moment, Jess seemed renewed but still hesitant, “I don’t know where to start,” she said shyly, “maybe…what you like to do? How would you start?”
“Yeah?” Callie grinned, then bit her lower lip, but her eyes never wavered, “First,” she began, tucking a loose curl behind Jess’s ear, “I’d lay you down. Make sure you’re comfy.”
Jess obeyed, leaning back into the plush sheets like she was exhaling years.
“I’d look at you,” Callie offered, “because I know you want me to.”
Jess gave the slightest nod, already undone.
Callie leaned in, ghosting her lips over Jess’s collarbone. “I’d start with your throat. Just here,” she whispered, her mouth brushing warm skin. “Because your pulse gives you away.”
A sigh escaped Jess, unbidden.
“My hands would move next,” Callie murmured, fingers tracing down Jess’s arms, then over her side, “Light at first, I’m calling for goosebumps. It’s a promise of pleasure, not a demand.” She scraped her fingertips along the side of Jess’ breast, catching both Jess’s breath and the rise of a nipple to the sensory overload.
There was a gentle pinch as Callie rolled the swelling nub between her fingers, earning a gasp, “Ahhh.” She smiled, “thought so. It’s about sound,” she leaned close, flicking her tongue over the taut tip. “When we first started at the gym, I used to track whenever you nipped out. It wasn’t ever very cold in the place, so I used to fantasize about what you were thinking about me.”
Jess blew out a long breath, “I have sensitive, overly sensitive nipples,” she said softly, “I used to be embarrassed by it. They’re also direct-wired elsewhere.” That earned another nibble and a thrumming with Callie’s tongue, “Mmmm, my God.”
“I like to pay attention to rhythm as well.” Jess’s hand clenched the sheets. Her body followed every suggestion like a song she already knew.
Callie moved lower but slowly, knowing she was building momentum, her voice only pausing to press kisses, licks, and warm breath along Jess’ inner thigh, “You like being watched,” she said softly, “And I love watching you unravel.”
When her mouth found Jess completely, she hovered, her warm breath unable to compete with the heat of Jess’s vulva. It was like Callie had opened the final door. Jess moaned, deep and broken, her legs shifted wider to invite Callie closer.
Callie didn’t rush. She mapped Jess’s contours like a scholar and kissed them without mercy. Her fingers joined her mouth, slow and deliberate, until Jess began to rise, hips lifting, breath ragged, one hand twisted in the sheets and the other holding Callie like a lifeline.
Now, it was taste and shared knowledge as Callie moved with certainty, her fingers parting her gently, drawn to the place that made Jess tremble beneath her.
Then, with fingers, tongue, and rhythm working in perfect harmony, Callie brought Jess over the edge. She came, gasping, trembling, her whole body caught in the storm of it. It was with a cry that only Callie would ever hear.
Afterward, silence. Not awkward, possibly sacred. As the rushing sound in Jess’s head cleared, she became aware of the music again. A gentle cascading piano, undercut by a steady beat of synthesized strings and drums, Jess could still feel the echo of Callie’s fingers flexing to the beat.
Callie crawled up beside her, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, and pressed a soft kiss on Jess’s temple. Jess blinked slowly, then sat up with a grin that bordered on wicked.
“I was taking... mmm, notes,” Jess whispered, then shuddered with an aftershock and giggled, “Give me a minute or two.”
Callie’s head rose off the pillow, her lower lip in her teeth, interrupting a sly grin, “Yeah?”
Jess chuckled, low and velvety, her brow arching, “Oh yeah.”