[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"Yeah."
"Sorry you took the part?"
Ward leaned on the bar and shook his head. "Everyone who comes
to see me--They'll know. They'll feel it. They'll be the special ones."
Leah pressed her forehead against her glass. Waiters wheeled out
the cake with blood-red icing.
"Apropos," Leah said.
"Cool," Ward said.
"It's like a wedding. As soon as we eat the cake, we can leave."
"To the happy couple," Ward said, raising his glass of water.
Leah clinked.
Glick was there taking photographs as the director, Macbeth's lead,
and Sophia smiled and cut the cake, all three hands on the oversized
knife. And then the waiter took over and Sophia took the first two
pieces and struggled through the mass of people.
"I hope one of those is for me," Ward said.
"Go away," Leah said.
He slunk toward the cake and Sophia came to her side.
"No forks?" Leah asked.
"I thought we could eat back at the hotel," Sophia said and then
looked away, as if avoiding the way Leah's expression changed.
"Do you need to say goodbye to anyone?" Leah asked.
"Nah."
Leah took the cake from Sophia. "Lead the way."
Sophia raised her eyebrows. "You have the keys."
"Oh, right."
They headed straight for the door, ignoring all cries of "Miss
Medina!" and "Miss Fisher!" and refusing to talk to anyone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sophia drove to Adam's with Leah's hand resting on her thigh.
When the car stopped, Leah looked longingly at the house. The lights
were on in the living room.
"Would you--um," Sophia started.
"I was just thinking, a shower, maybe some more makeup... I'm
fine. Right? I'm fine," Leah said, mostly to herself. She glanced at
Sophia as they got out of the car.
Sophia tilted her head. She took the cake.
Leah turned away from the house and put her hand on Sophia's
back. "Let's go," she said.
They walked together down the street, too enchanted by each other,
too worked up, too expectant, to worry about muggers or drive-bys.
The theater was dark as they strolled past. They held hands, walking
together, listening to the crickets and frogs and the distant traffic. A
block past the theater, just before the lights of the hotel became visible,
Leah pulled Sophia to a stop. Sophia looked at her curiously. Leah
hesitantly leaned in toward her mouth until she could feel Sophia's
breath against her lips. She swallowed.
Sophia said, "Um."
"Yes?"
"Okay."
Sophia licked her lips reflexively. Leah kissed her gently enough to
not spill the cake, firmly enough to taste those lips, to try and still the
trembling in her own body. Sophia hugged her with one arm and kissed
her back, letting Leah see her hunger too. She was surprisingly strong
even one-armed. Leah broke the kiss when Sophia threatened to rob her
of breath.
And the ability to stand.
She opened her mouth to say something, couldn't think of anything
reasonable though a thousand mumblings were in her mind. She looked
toward the hotel.
"Too much?" Sophia asked.
"I'll let you know when it's too much," Leah said.
Sophia grinned and squeezed Leah's side and resumed walking.
* * *
Leah stood nervously between the beds in Sophia's hotel room.
Beige carpet, white sheets, cheap paintings on the wall. The motel
didn't seem worthy of her moment. She glanced toward the exit,
thinking of them going back home, to the house with the piano.
Sophia had closed the door and then kicked off her shoes.
"Right," Leah said. She sat on the bed and lifted up her foot,
bending it onto her knee to undo the strap.
"Let me," Sophia said.
"Really?"
Sophia sat down on the opposite bed and gestured. Leah extended
her foot. The touch of Sophia's fingers on her skin sent lightning up her
calf. The dull ache that followed her wherever she was with Sophia
became urgent, hot desire.
She gasped.
Sophia ran her thumb over Leah's toe.
Leah unwittingly remembered her first time with Grace; awkward,
lustful, bad. They'd been drunk and had given into unspoken flirting of
a month's duration. Only after several more attempts did they really
look at each other and acknowledge what they wanted.
"I want you," Leah said.
Sophia smiled and got the strap undone and loosened Leah's shoe.
She looked shyly at Leah, peeking out from under lidded eyes. Leah
offered her other foot to Sophia.
Sophia worked off the shoe. Then she dropped her hands to her lap,
looking down, and said, "I want you, too."
Leah stood up and took Sophia's hands. Sophia stood with her.
Leah tried to control her heartbeat. Standing should be easier than this.
They kissed, only lightly.
Then Leah asked, "How does the dress come off?"
"The same way it got on."
"Ripping and tearing?"
"I've never had anyone rip off my clothes before."
"Is it an expensive dress?"
"I--" Sophia halted. She breathed audibly, and quickly, and looked
down at her dress. "I can afford a new dress."
Leah sat on the bed and pulled Sophia down beside her. She pressed
a quick kiss to Sophia's lips. Sophia kissed her back, coquettishly, but
made no move. Leah gathered enough boldness to urge her back on the
bed. Sophia smiled. Her longing for what Leah had to give was
palpable and Leah wanted to surge forward. She hesitated, considering.
Heat pooled. Her chest constricted. Desire was taking her over, making
her yield to need.
She knelt over Sophia and captured her lips. The kiss became hard
and passionate. Sophia whimpered as Leah's tongue plundered her
mouth. She breathed hard between kisses, and then urged Leah back if
they paused for breath too long.
Leah grabbed the neckline of Sophia's dress, right above her breast,
and yanked.
"Ow!"
Leah ducked Sophia's involuntary kick and tugged again, more
gently. The fabric didn't budge. Disappointment warred with frustration
as Leah considered. She decided not to try again.
"This always works in the movies."
Sophia brought her down for another kiss. "I think they use a
different fabric."
"I think they use Velcro." She resigned herself to kissing and
accepting that she lacked the barbarianism her fevered imagination had
suggested lurked inside her. She'd had animalistic sex before, but with
Sophia she--She buried her face in Sophia's neck and sucked at her
throat, and kissed her collarbone and at the underside of her chin.
Sophia squirmed. She tugged at Leah's dress, leaving nail marks on
her skin. Leah found her mouth again. Sophia arched back, giving more [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]