“Shut up. It was Julian in São Paulo and Gerhard in Amsterdam.”
They walked into the locker room shedding their sweat-soaked T-shirts.
“You’re just jealous,” Fran said proudly. “Because I’m getting some and you’re too busy training to have someone’s hands on your butt instead of a bike seat.”
Caroline opened her mouth to rebut her comment but closed it when she realized it was true. When was the last time someone had their hand on her ass? When was the last time she wanted someone’s hand on her ass, or any other part for that matter?
Caroline wasn’t a virgin, but she wasn’t getting anywhere near the action Fran was. When she wasn’t training, she was studying for her Ph.D. in astrophysics. Other than Fran, she had a few friends but most had given up on her ever going out with them. A wet shirt landed on her head drawing her attention back to the conversation.
“Hey, CD, you with me?” Fran asked using the nickname she insisted on calling Caroline after watching her race for the first time.
Caroline was too hard a name to scream in encouragement, and her last name of Davis was too butch, so Fran settled on Caroline’s initials instead.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Caroline tossed the stinky garment back at
• 21 •
JuliE CaNNoN
her. Suddenly feeling like she owed Fran more than simple thanks for sticking with her, she stripped down to her birthday suit and dashed toward the showers. “Last one out of the shower buys the drinks at Maloney’s.” She heard Fran shriek as she shut the curtain behind her.
v
Fran was on her second Cape Cod when Caroline finished her third bottle of water. She was never much of a drinker and certainly not two weeks before the first race of the series. Maloney’s was the only lesbian bar in Stockton, a little more than a wide spot in the road fifty miles due west of Colorado Springs. Caroline had been training there for the past six months getting acclimated to the high altitude as well as honing her skill on the dozens of downhill courses in the area.
Caroline glanced around the room. It was a typical bar with two pool tables in a room to the right and high tables scattered around a square dance floor where she had scooted her boots with a few local girls. Even though she was in training, Caroline wasn’t dead and one of the first things she noticed when she moved to Stockton was that more than just the countryside was breathtaking.
“Go talk to her.”
Fran nudged Caroline in the side. “What?”
“Go talk to her.” Fran nodded toward a woman sitting at the end of the bar.
“Who?”
“Who, hell, Caroline. The woman over there you can’t stop looking at.” Fran lifted her head and nodded in the direction of the woman sitting three tables away. She had long blond hair, and what drew Caroline’s attention were the firm, tanned limbs jetting out from cutoff jeans and a yellow tank top. God, she loved summer in the Rockies.
“Go on.” Fran nudged her.
“I’m not leaving you here. We came to have a drink, not for me to pick up a woman.” Caroline took another sip of her water. The woman was striking, Caroline thought as she glanced over quickly. “And for God’s sake, Fran,” Caroline looked at her watch, “it’s three in the afternoon.”
“You’re here, she’s here, who gives a shit what time it is? I’d
• 22 •
Descent
dump you in a heartbeat if I had someone like that looking at me like I was dessert.”
“What are you talking about?” Caroline looked up as the bartender placed another bottle of water in front of her.
“You know what I mean. I’ve dumped you on more than one occasion in just this situation when some guy caught my fancy. And she’s looking at you as much as you are looking at her and you both know it. I’m a big girl. I can find my way home. Now go.”
Fran elbowed her off the stool. Caroline had a decision to make.
She could either go over and introduce herself or be harassed by Fran for weeks about this missed opportunity. The last thing she wanted was the latter and she wasn’t sure she was up to the former. It had been a long time since she had started a conversation with a total stranger and even longer since she had been touched by one. Fran was right; she did need a time-out from the nonstop training schedule she had been on.
Maybe a little R&R would give her the break she needed before the long trek of events began. Once the first race began, it would be nothing but pressure and competition for the next twelve weeks. The woman looked her way, and even though Caroline was out of practice, there was no mistaking the look of invitation in the woman’s eyes. Caroline didn’t need to be asked twice.
v
“Shit,” Shannon exclaimed into the neck of the woman in front of her. It was her favorite word when she couldn’t think of anything else, and the way her orgasm had just rocketed from the tip of her toes through the top of her head, there was nothing else she could think of.
Jackie was every bit as adventurous as Shannon had hoped she would be. A few minutes earlier when Jackie rounded the corner of the trail, Shannon stepped out from behind a wide pine tree and without saying a word they both disappeared into the thick forest. They had only gone about thirty yards when Shannon was grabbed from behind and pushed up against a large boulder. In an instant one hand was under her shirt, the other inside her bike shorts, and warm, wet lips were on her neck.
She was more than ready, having thought about taking the ride
• 23 •
JuliE CaNNoN
operator out here in the open, under the bright sunshine. Outdoor sex was her favorite and the anticipation had her primed. Jackie had an exquisite mouth and talented fingers. She licked, sucked, and fondled Shannon until she exploded and fell limp, squeezed between Jackie and the hard rock. She let herself be taken away a second time and a third before stilling Jackie’s hand with her own. Between the high altitude and the blazing orgasms, Shannon’s head spun. She gave herself a few moments to enjoy the sensation then, catching up quickly, had Jackie’s shirt over her head and her shorts down around her knees in seconds.
She reversed their positions pinning Jackie to the smooth face of the rock. She didn’t waste any time on kissing her, but went straight for the luscious breasts that had tormented her thoughts during the eighteen-minute ride to the top of the mountain. She licked and sucked her way around one large breast, then the other without touching the erect nipples. Jackie grabbed her hair and pulled her closer.
Shannon concentrated on evading the tempting peak and slid down her body planting hard kisses and quick nips on the exposed flesh. She was tempted to linger and tease Jackie’s clitoris, but when she realized that her entire pubis area was fully exposed, she could not stop the overwhelming desire to bury her tongue in the pale flesh.
Jackie willingly spread her legs allowing Shannon the access she wanted. She opened her eyes and looked up. Jackie’s hands were on her own breasts, her head thrown back as if worshiping the sun riding high in the cloudless sky. Shannon’s own desire sparked again as she devoured the scent and taste of Jackie. In a matter of minutes, Jackie grabbed the back of her head and shuddered against her mouth.
Shannon tasted the orgasm and with her own trembling hand brought herself to climax again.
• 24 •
Descent
ChaPTER ThREE
Caroline woke in her own bed with only a vague recollection how she got there. It was still dark and she sat up to see the clock. “Three a.m.? Oh God.” She flopped back on the hard mattress.