Once her strength returned, Claire kissed Tristan, teasing her by letting her tongue graze her bottom lip but not slipping it into her mouth. She sucked Tristan’s lip as she ran her fingertips over her swollen nipples. Tristan moaned and bucked against her, and Claire wasted no time. She slipped down and drew Tristan’s right nipple into her mouth. She sucked and teased until she had Tristan panting and clutching the sheets.
Tightening her legs around Claire’s, Tristan tried to prevent her from moving any farther down her body. “You can’t control me, Tris. I can kiss and nibble wherever I please,” Claire said playfully as she demonstrated by moving to the left nipple and treating it with the same care with which she had lavished the other one.
Feeling Tristan trembling under her touch, Claire began her descent down Tristan’s body again when Tristan clamped her legs tighter around her, preventing her from moving.
“Tris, let me go.” Sympathizing with her lover’s nervousness, Claire kissed the skin just beneath her. “I have been dreaming of this since we met. I want to taste you.”
Tristan slowly relaxed her legs, letting Claire slide lower down her body. Claire had no intention of delaying one of the things she wanted most. She nestled her shoulders between Tristan’s thighs and tasted for the first time the woman who had stolen her heart.
Tristan gasped at the touch, making Claire desire her more. She circled the sensitive clit slowly, enjoying the way it made Tristan’s hips move. Claire wanted to be inside Tristan when she brought her to the same heights of ecstasy. She slid a finger inside and met resistance. Claire froze.
Tristan’s voice was tempered with emotion. “Claire, please don’t stop. I want it to be you.”
Unprepared for the revelation, Claire took a moment to recover from the surprise. She continued to stroke Tristan with her tongue, distracting her from the discomfort she knew was to come. She slid a second finger into Tristan’s opening, testing the membrane 92
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with her fingers. As the pace of Tristan’s hips became more insistent, she buried her fingers deep inside, tearing through the soft barrier, causing Tristan to cry out in pain and surprise. Claire did not stop her movements, and soon, Tristan matched her pace again.
Unaccustomed to the things Claire was making her feel, Tristan was lost in the sensation of it all. Claire’s insistent tongue swirled over her, making her body convulse uncontrollably. The pain she initially felt when Claire entered her was now replaced with a feeling of ecstasy she could hardly fathom. Helpless to stop the tidal wave of pleasure that Claire was drawing from her, she succumbed to the most intense orgasm she had ever experienced, leaving her emotionally and physically exhausted.
Only when Tristan’s body went limp did Claire pull away from her. Moving up to lie next to Tristan, Claire could see the tears glistening on her lover’s cheeks. She pulled her into her arms, and with so many questions unanswered, she reluctantly gave in to her own exhaustion, and sleep overtook her.
Tristan however, lay awake watching the candlelight fading into the darkness. She’d allowed Claire to touch her in a way that no one had been allowed to before, and myriad emotions flooded her.
She accepted that she was in love with the woman who lay sleeping in her arms, and with that, she felt so vulnerable and fearful that she may one day lose what had become so precious to her.
During their first night together at Tristan’s place, Claire got a taste of what it would be like to be in Tristan’s shoes when the phone rang at 3 a.m. She felt Tristan pull away from her as she reached for the phone. “Hello?” Tristan answered groggily.
“How bad is he?” Claire heard Tristan ask in the darkness. “What hospital is he being taken to? Notify his port manager, and let me know what the hospital says after they look him over. Thank you for the notification.” Tristan dropped the cordless phone and groaned.
“Do you have to go out to the boat?” Claire asked, hoping that the answer would be no, as she snuggled up against Tristan.
“No, they are way up on the Ohio River. If he is admitted to the hospital, one of the port managers will go up.”
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“Good,” Claire mumbled as she drifted off to sleep with her lover cocooned in her arms.
An hour later, the phone rang again. Tristan untangled herself from Claire and answered it. “What?” Tristan sat straight up in bed. “He knows better than that! We do not stop a boat to wait on a crew change!” She remained silent for a minute, and Claire figured the person on the other line was doing some serious explaining. “Tell him to get that boat back in gear, and the crew will catch up with them!” Tristan barked into the phone and hung up.
She lay back down, and Claire snuggled up next to her, trying to soothe her annoyed lover. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
she asked as she ran her fingers through Tristan’s hair.
Tristan sighed. “I shouldn’t let them get me so angry. They just pull the most moronic stunts sometimes, and I get so aggravated.
I’m sorry I woke you up. I can go sleep in the living room if you want.”
Claire tightened her hold. “Not a chance, Tris. The calls aren’t bothering me enough to let you out of this bed.”
Blissful sleep claimed them once again, but just before sunrise, the phone rang for a third time. “Hello!” Tristan barked into the phone. “Yes, I remember. The guy with the chest pains, right?” She sat quietly for a moment, listening to the report. “So, you’re telling me it was gas, and he was not having a heart attack, he just had to belch or something?” Tristan paused a moment before speaking again. “Chad, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up on you. I know you’re just the messenger.”
Claire rolled over and buried her face in the pillow and laughed until she cried. She never got to hear the rest of the conversation and was still laughing when Tristan lay back down. “You can stop that laughing, you little brat,” Tristan snickered.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Tristan woke up and untangled herself from Claire and spent a long time admiring her sleeping lover before getting out of bed.
She pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before making her way to the kitchen to feed her tiny tiger and start the coffeepot. For a fleeting instant, Tristan felt the familiar fear and apprehension well up inside her. Pausing for a moment, she leaned against the wall, fighting the nausea that accompanied her panic. The compulsion to run nearly overwhelmed her, and she silently questioned her decision to allow Claire to stay.
Glancing down at the orange tabby awaiting his breakfast, Tristan realized how foolish it would be to flee her own home. For the first time she could ever remember, she put someone else’s feelings before hers, knowing it would devastate Claire to be left alone again. “Not this time,” she whispered to the cat. The fear receded after her admission, making her believe that she had won a pivotal battle in the war against herself.
Lost in thought, she sat down at the kitchen table, ignoring the cat’s demands to be fed immediately. Wincing as she rubbed the back of her neck, her entire body ached from the previous night.
She had taxed muscles she didn’t even know she had. One part of her body in particular was sorer than the rest.
In all the dalliances she had enjoyed, she had never allowed anyone to touch her there. Feelings of fear and vulnerability kept her from giving that part of herself to anyone. Claire had obviously been shocked to discover her secret, that much had been evident on her face in the pale light. Yet, she was gentle and introduced Tristan to feelings that she had craved for so long. A grin made its way across Tristan’s face at the memory.