“Hope.” Angelica breathed her name. “Hope. Stop.”
“What?”
“Stop.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
“Stop?” Hope pulled her hand from between Angelica’s legs, her fingers damp. “What’s wrong? What did I do?”
“Nothing. I just…” Angelica breathed slowly and cupped Hope’s cheek, pulling her closer. “I need to get off my feet.”
“Oh.” Hope laughed lightly, the fear that had rushed through her instantly vanishing. She kissed Angelica hard and then stepped back to give her the space she needed to move and get settled.
Angelica didn’t wait. She instantly plopped onto the edge of the bed and sighed in relief as she angled her foot so there was no longer any weight on it. Hope sat next to her, putting an ankle over her knee as she pulled at the laces of her nonslip tennis shoes. Her heart was ready to burst. Everything Angelica had said in the last five minutes had been exactly what Hope wanted to hear.
She pulled off one shoe and then the other while Angelica just lay on her back, hand over her face and breathing slowly.
“You okay there, boss?” Hope asked before she pulled off any more of her clothes.
“Yeah.” Angelica nodded but other than that she barely moved. “Yeah, I am.”
“Do you still want?—”
Angelica moved then. Their eyes locked, and Hope’s breath was stolen. “I don’t ever say anything that I don’t mean.”
“No, you just won’t speak if you don’t want to say something.”
“True.” Angelica’s lips quirked slightly. “I meant what I said.”
“That you want me to finger fuck you?”
Angelica groaned in answer.
“That you want me to…” Hope’s voice grew husky, “eat you?” The coil of arousal that had been there before tightened back up again. Hope clung onto that feeling. She scooted in closer, tracing her hand up from Angelica’s hip to over her breast to her chin. She held Angelica’s face lightly, making sure that they were looking directly at each other when she said the next thing. “That you love me.”
“Yes,” Angelica answered, breathily. “Yes, I love you.”
Elation burst in Hope’s chest. She bent down, kissing Angelica. She loved hearing those words from her. She hadn’t realized before just how hard it was not to know, to be left in the dark. That love hadn’t died in San Diego, despite both of their best efforts to move on. Hope kissed her again briefly before she sat up and pulled at Angelica’s shirt.
Angelica moved slightly as Hope divested her of the material.
Instead of taking Angelica’s bra off, Hope immediately bent down and pressed kisses along the top of her chest. Her heart was ready to burst. A year ago, she’d told Angelica that she thought she was falling in love with her, but she was already there. The old adage about U-Haul lesbians was so true. One “date” and she was ready to jump in with both feet. She trailed her tongue along Angelica’s collarbone.
With a kiss to the top of Angelica’s breast, Hope shifted her weight and slid off the edge of the bed. She pressed her knees into the old wood flooring and pulled the zipper against Angelica’s hip down. While her fingers had been warm pressed inside Angelica, she wanted Angelica bare in front of her this time.
“I can’t stay the night,” Hope said as she pulled the skirt down Angelica’s legs and neatly avoided the black cast.
“W-what?” Angelica cupped her breasts and squeezed them before lifting up and looking down at Hope. “What are you talking about?”
“I have Eva this week. I can’t stay the night.” Hope bit her lip, staying on the floor where she was.
“But you can stay for this, right?”
“Oh yes. I’m not leaving any time soon.” Hope pressed a kiss to the top of Angelica’s thigh. “Unless you want me to.”
“No.” Angelica reached behind her back. Her bra loosened and fell away. “I want you right where you are.”
