Twenty-One #2
She tried to laugh, to mock or scoff, but the sound only came out like a low hum. What was this woman doing to her? And more importantly, why was it working?
Sure, Gillian was stunningly beautiful in literally every setting, from business formal to bundled up for the snow to dressed all the way down in long jogging pants and a soft Cornell sweatshirt.
And yes, she’d ingratiated herself by being chill and charming all evening.
Also, she smelled amazing in a combo Daphne now knew was orange blossom and bergamot.
Daphne also knew for sure how commanding Gillian’s mouth could be, which didn’t help her resolve.
Still, she’d been too much of a pushover last time.
She had to at least try to hold her own in her own home.
“I can’t believe this is the first real chance we’ve had to talk about the other night, and you’re discussing sex with me like some lab experiment you can’t trust until you replicate the results. ”
Gillian smiled and eased forward another step, placing a hand passively on Daphne’s waist. “Take it as a compliment.”
“You’re bad at compliments.”
She smiled. “Maybe. But I’m very good at research, and I enjoy it immensely. And while I’m at it, I also like you in much the same way.”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“Because I am.” Gillian laughed lightly.
“Everything about what’s happening between us is surprising to me.
Generally, I hate being caught off guard, and yet, as I mentioned, I like you.
Confusing, conflicting, complicated, this shouldn’t work for me, but here I am, wanting so deeply to taste you again that I’m willing to set aside every concern to be near you. ”
Daphne finally leaned into her touch. “I take it back. You’re also good at compliments.”
“Yeah?” Gillian arched her eyebrows. “And kissing, right?”
Daphne sagged into her. “Damn you, but also, yes.”
Gillian hooked a finger under Daphne’s chin and tilted it up until their eyes met, lips close. “We’re even on that count.”
Then lowering her head as if she intended to prove the point, Gillian pulled every ounce of willpower Daphne had left in her to say, “Not here.”
Gillian paused, ever the good consent-seeker, but the confusion in her green eyes spoke volumes. “You said I could stay.”
Daphne pressed into her more fully, enjoying the last hint of power she was likely to exert for quite some time before tugging Gillian toward the door to her apartment. “Upstairs.”
The minute the latch clicked behind them, they were off.
Kissing, stumbling, groping, they felt their way upward in the dark. Bumping off the walls and clinging to each other, they tumbled into Daphne’s space already kicking off their shoes.
Gillian shed her own sweatshirt quickly, then pulled Daphne’s hoodie over her head.
Mouths collided again as they kissed deeply. Gillian’s hands were in all the right places, her waist, her ass, her hair. God, how many hands did this woman have? She managed to caress and undress and direct her through the entryway, pausing only for a second, seeming unsure of which way to go.
Daphne used the momentary lapse to take a little more agency.
Grabbing hold of the waistband of Gillian’s sweatpants, she tugged her forward through the darkness into the dining area, but as they passed by a lamp she’d left on, she caught a better view of Gillian, the creamy skin of her chest and torso covered only in a gray sports bra, her red locks already tousled, eyes filled with hunger, and she couldn’t take another step.
Pivoting on a heel, she turned Gillian around and backed her toward the table until she bumped the edge lightly.
Then, without a word, Daphne sank to the floor, taking Gillian’s sweatpants and underwear with her in one pass.
She kissed her way back up over those endless legs, pausing briefly at their apex to breathe in the rich scent of Gillian’s readiness before continuing all the way up to nip at one hard nipple stretching through the sports bra.
Gillian groaned at the contact and cupped the back of Daphne’s head in her hands, gently guiding her to the other side.
This time Daphne bit a little harder and relished the tightening of skilled fingers against her scalp.
She wanted to undo her in a way she’d never needed anything else in her life.
Slipping her hands under the bra, she pushed it off, then returned to circling Gillian’s breast with her mouth, sucking, kissing, raking her teeth across every inch of sensitive skin. With a bit of added pressure, she pushed forward and eased Gillian onto the table.
Part of her was surprised when she acquiesced, but as Gillian regarded her under heavy lids, there was no mistaking the message.
She wanted her. Gillian wanted Daphne with the same pulsing need she felt between her own legs, and they were both desperate enough for each other to accept almost anything … and everything.
Placing a hand on each of Gillian’s thighs, she spread them apart and ran a thumb through the pool of her need, eliciting a moan.
“Lie back for me,” Daphne said in a voice so low and authoritative she barely recognized it as her own, and miracle of miracles, this glorious creature complied.
The sight of her body, long and lithe, waiting to be devoured on Daphne’s dining room table overwhelmed her so completely, it felt like something inside of her broke.
Gillian, proud and strong and completely open, completely vulnerable, aroused her in a way she’d never experienced.
Lowering her head, she licked her way up slick thighs and buried her face between them. She was ravenous for this woman, but not just the perfection of her physical form. An even deeper desire welled up in her. Daphne wanted to do more than simply consume her.
She wanted to possess her. She wanted a part of Gillian she could keep with her always. She wanted to become something similar to Gillian as well. She wanted to become the woman who captivated her, who wrecked her, who held her tightly and never let her go.
The thought and its ferocity scared Daphne, but she was too far gone to stop.
As she licked and sucked, she realized she might be too far gone, period.
She’d been hungry for Gillian all night, but if she were being honest with herself, and she might as well be at this point, she’d thirsted for this woman for as long as she could remember.
Even at the earliest reaches of Daphne’s awareness, there had always been Gillian.
“Daphne.” Gillian gasped the name as she caught hold of her shoulders, pulling her in. “I need, I … need you.”
Her head swam with power and lust even as her heart cracked open with the fulfillment of a longing she’d yet to acknowledge. Tonight, she would let herself feel it all.
Tomorrow she could be angry at Hugh for letting her get this close, or maybe at herself for not being stronger, but tonight, Gillian wasn’t the only one with needs.
Easing back enough to slip a hand into the same wetness currently running down her chin, she pushed two fingers inside Gillian, sinking herself fully into the slick surround of her body.
Every muscle tightened immediately as their pounding pulses became one for a few reverberating beats. Then Gillian made the most beautiful sound of release Daphne had ever heard.