“Well, you have me at a disadvantage,” Rory snapped, waving a hand at her nearly naked torso.
Gemma shook her head, which made her hair ripple around her head like she was in a shampoo commercial. In one swift motion, she took her own top off and stood with her hands on her hips.
“There,” she smirked, “I think that evens us up a bit.”
Rory tried hard to keep her eyes on Gemma’s face but eventually her gaze drifted down to Gemma’s full breasts, nestled in a functional cotton bra. Never had something so simple looked so good. She tried to swallow but found her mouth suddenly dry as all the moisture in her body settled in her groin. She had no idea what was going on right now, so waited for Gemma to make the next move.
“I do like you.” Gemma sat next to Rory and snuggled into her. The feel of Gemma’s skin brushing hers made Rory’s pulse quicken. Gemma snuggled into Rory’s chest and feathered kisses along Rory’s collarbone. Rory shivered and felt her body respond instantly to Gemma’s touch. “I really like you, Rory.” She kissed her way up Rory’s neck, leaving a trail of heat in her wake. “And you look really, really hot with this new haircut.” She kissed her again and buried her nose into the crook of Rory’s neck. Her hand rested on Rory’s chest.
“Any other day, I’d be naked right now.”
“But then…” Rory started, and Gemma brushed her lips with a kiss again.
“More accurately, any other day when I’m not finishing my period.” She sighed, and Rory felt her frustration deep in her chest. Relief flooded her system.
“So, you’d like to…”
“Hell yes.” Gemma cupped Rory’s cheek and turned her face towards her. “I’ve been physically holding myself back for weeks because I thought you didn’t want to.” Gemma captured Rory’s lips with a gentle kiss. “What changed?”
“I did.” Rory shrugged. “Actually, it was something Craig said. It made me realise I could go on this journey of self-discovery only to find that someone else had caught your eye. I was so scared that you wouldn’t want me anymore that I didn’t think about the fact that I could lose you because I’d pushed you away so much.”
Rory shuffled on the bed and moved her arms so that she was hugging Gemma to her. She kissed the top of Gemma’s head before continuing in a shaky voice.
“The thought that I’d push you away and lose you scared the crap out of me. I’ve already nearly lost you through my foolishness in walking away ten years ago. I don’t want to do that again.” She threaded their fingers together. “I want to see if there is something between us, to see if we can make it work, because I have a feeling there is and that it will be magical if we just give it a chance.”
“That was some haircut.” Gemma lifted her free hand to brush the floppy bit of hair from Rory’s forehead. Rory didn’t flinch as she would have done yesterday. Gemma abruptly pulled her hand back.
“Sorry, I forgot.”
Rory felt a wave of love wash over her at Gemma’s thoughtfulness. “It’s okay,” she said quietly and then shivered as Gemma moved her hand back to the lock of hair that Craig had styled so that it would flop over her brow. Gemma’s fingers grazed her forehead as she played with her hair, and more shivers coursed through Rory. Rather than the rolls of revulsion that had previously run through her, these were shivers of desire, of heat. Gemma fixed Rory’s eyes with a deep gaze of her own and moved her hand over Rory’s head.
“This looks really good.” She played with the short stubbly bits at the base of Rory’s neck, and Rory instantly found a new addiction. Earlier, she thought it had been a fluke when Gemma’s touch had turned her on. Now it happened again, she was sure that she would never get enough of this feeling.
“You need to stop that.” Her voice was husky.
Gemma’s hand shot away, and she worried her lower lip with her teeth. “Sorry, I thought you said it was okay.”
“Oh, it is.” Rory had never heard her own voice be so husky, so sexy. She dipped her head and nuzzled into Gemma’s neck. She paused for a moment before adding, “It’s more than okay. It’s really nice.”
She pulled back and captured Gemma’s lips for another kiss, attempting to convey just how nice it was. Now that she was free to kiss her, now that they had both confessed that they couldn’t fight what was bubbling between them anymore, she wanted to kiss Gemma at every opportunity. With a soft sigh of contentment, Gemma lazily kissed her back, lips touching and caressing, tongues probing. Their bodies fitted together like two pieces of a puzzle. Rory angled her head slightly and deepened the kiss, and Gemma’s arms tightened around her neck.
“We need to get out of here,” Rory rasped. “Won’t Teagan be waiting?”
“Fuck her.” Gemma nibbled on Rory’s neck.
“I’d rather fuck you,” Rory replied with a smirk that earned her a slap from Gemma.
“I’d much rather you made love to me all night long.” Gemma trailed her fingers over Rory’s arms and kissed along Rory’s collarbone.
Rory’s entire body was on fire, and her brain filled with images of her and Gemma entwined around each other.
“I think after ten years and two months of foreplay you owe me all night, don’t you?” Gemma sucked Rory’s earlobe into her mouth, and Rory’s brain combusted. She trailed her fingers along the raised bumps of Gemma’s spine, smiling when Gemma shivered in her arms.
She desperately wanted to ask Gemma if this meant they were dating, or what this meant from now on, but was scared to say anything in case Gemma retreated into herself. Over the past few weeks, Gemma had shared details of her disastrous dating life and how she worried she would never make a relationship stick. Rory sensed a deep fear of commitment from Gemma and so endeavoured to rein in her natural temptation to define the parameters of their relationship. She decided to live a little more like Gemma and see where the relationship would take them. The only problem with that was that Rory knew without a doubt that she was falling for Gemma, and didn’t know what she would do if Gemma didn’t feel the same.
21
GEMMA
