“Do we have any water nearby?” Carmen lifted her head to look down her own body at Ash and smiled shyly. “Hi.”
“Well, hello.” Ash blew her a kiss. “Yes, I can get you some water.” She eased away from Carmen’s warmth and shimmied off the bed.
“Oh my God! Ash, your tattoo is fantastic.”
Ash looked over her shoulder to see Carmen staring at her back. “Oh, yeah, of course! You’ve never seen it.” She turned a little to look at her own back in the full-length mirror on the wall beside the bed. “You really like it?”
Carmen crawled to the edge of the bed and trailed her fingers over the phoenix’s wings. “It’s stunning.” She met Ash’s gaze in the mirror. “And it’s so perfect for you.”
Ash nodded and shivered as Carmen’s fingers continued to trail over the design.
“It’s also rather sexy.” Carmen threw her a wink in the reflection.
“I’m glad you think so.” Ash cleared her throat. “Let me get you that water.” After finding a bottle in the minibar, she twisted the cap off and brought it back to the bed.
Carmen took the proffered bottle and gulped greedily before handing it back.
“Wow, you needed that.” Ash took a few mouthfuls herself.
When she lowered the bottle back down, Carmen was staring at her, her gaze raking over Ash’s naked body.
Ash swallowed hard. She put the bottle down on the bedside table.
“Come here.” Carmen held out one hand. “Please.”
Ash joined her on the bed. When Carmen pushed her swiftly onto her back, she let out a small yelp that turned into a moan as Carmen lay on top of her. The pleasing weight of her, pinning Ash to the bed, had her libido roaring back into top gear.
Carmen kissed her and pressed herself against Ash even more.
Ash wrapped her arms around Carmen’s back, but they only got to stay there for a few moments since Carmen reached around and lifted Ash’s arms above her head. “Leave them there? Please?” she asked huskily.
“Anything you want.” Ash was on fire; Carmen taking charge like this was a delicious surprise.
Carmen smiled seductively at her, and Ash’s heart almost stopped. Then Carmen was on the move, and Ash could only surrender. First stop was Ash’s breasts, which Carmen seemed to revel in exploring. Ash’s nipples ached from all the attention, but there was no way she would ask Carmen to stop.
When Carmen’s mouth drifted further down her body, Ash tensed. “You don’t have to; it’s—”
“Shush.” Carmen gazed up at her, over the swell of Ash’s breasts. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do. Trust me.”
Ash nodded slowly. “I do.”
Carmen kissed Ash’s belly before continuing on her way. Her first few touches, with both tongue and fingers, were tentative, but that was okay because Ash could barely breathe as it was. As Carmen’s confidence grew, however, and her licks and caresses became firmer, Ash writhed beneath her, wondering if she would actually survive this. Carmen took her time, bringing Ash to the edge over and over again, whether by design or accident, and it was the perfect torture.
“Please, Carmen. Harder. There.”
And Carmen gave her just what she needed, at just the right time, to send her over that delicious edge into pleasure-filled oblivion. Ash arched her hips off the bed, then collapsed back onto it with a loud exhale.
Carmen quickly crawled back up Ash’s body and lay on top of her once more. Her eyes were wet as she gently cupped Ash’s face. “My God, that was… You’re so beautiful,” Carmen whispered. “Sharing that with you was incredible.”
“It…was.” Ash sucked in a breath, needing to fill her lungs as well as push past the lump in her throat.
Carmen kissed her tenderly, and soft drops fell onto Ash’s cheeks.
“Hey.” Ash pulled back from the kiss. “Are you okay?”
Carmen nodded and wiped at her eyes. “I am. I’m just so happy. So incredibly happy.” She inhaled deeply, then bit her bottom lip. “I’m in love with you, Ash. Completely and utterly in love with you.” She looked a little afraid, as if unsure what Ash’s response might be.
Ash’s heart swelled with emotion. She’d dared to let go, to allow herself to love this woman, yet she’d still feared, deep down, that her feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated. Hearing Carmen say those words and be the first to say them out loud meant everything. “It’s true for me too. I love you. And I think I have for a while now.”
“Oh, Ash.” Carmen seemed to melt into her. She wrapped her arms around Ash and pressed their lips together in a tender kiss that rapidly became so much more. Soon they were perfectly entwined once again, skin hot and slick, mouths fused together as they explored each other’s bodies. Their tiredness was set aside as their passion soared, and later—much, much later—they whispered their words of love once more and held each other close as sleep claimed them.
Epilogue
Ten months later
Carmen gripped Ash’s thighs and couldn’t help smiling as Ash swore softly above her. Soon, darling, soon . She focused back on her task and marvelled once again at how aroused making love to Ash could make her . Her own needs would have to wait, though; there wasn’t even time for this, but Ash had looked so ridiculously sexy when Carmen had awoken, she hadn’t been able to resist.
Moments later she upped her pace, rewarded by a long, wrenching groan and then, seconds after that, Ash’s hips launching off the bed and her familiar guttural groan as she orgasmed. Carmen kissed her way back up Ash’s body until she was wrapped in her arms. Their lips repeatedly met in soft kiss after soft kiss.
“You,” Ash said in between kisses, “are so good at that.”
“It helps that it’s my absolute favourite thing to do to you.”
Ash kissed her once more. “And yes, amazingly there was time
