“We should talk about this,” she said, but her hands were still fisted in Maddox’s shirt.
“We can talk after.” Maddox’s voice came out low and rough. “Right now, I just need?—”
“I know.” Jade’s thumb brushed across Maddox’s jaw gently. “Me too.”
She took Maddox’s hand and led her to the bedroom, and Maddox followed without hesitation, choosing this, choosing her, choosing to finally let the walls stay down.
Maddox didn’t pay attention to the details of Jade’s home, just on the woman in front of her. When they got to the bedroom, Maddox pulled Jade’s hand and brought her closer toher and kissed her deeply, biting Jade’s lower lip as they pulled apart. She lifted Jade’s shirt over her head and discarded it on the floor as she kicked off her own shoes. Jade stood there in a black bra, the lace covering the tops of her breasts, and Maddox reached around and unclasped it, letting it fall to the floor next to her shirt. She quickly took off her own shirt and peeled her pants off while Jade took off her own. Maddox stood there in her olive green boxers and stared at Jade, then licked her lips and lightly pushed Jade onto the bed and crawled in next to her. Jade’s gaze softened, and Maddox leaned in for another kiss, this time snaking her hand up and cupping her breast. She squeezed, then ran her thumb over her nipple.
“You feel amazing,” Maddox breathed in between kisses.
Jade moaned softly and tilted her head back on the pillow. Maddox felt heat pooling deep within her, and she planted hard kisses on Jade’s cheek, nipped her earlobe, then trailed kisses down her neck and over her collarbone. Maddox ran her hand over Jade’s body, feeling her muscular thighs and curve of her hips. Maddox kept kissing lower, down to the swell of her breasts, and she shifted her hand to run up Jade’s inner thighs then cupped over Jade’s heat and massaged slowly with her palm as she kissed her nipple and flicked the hardened peak with her tongue.
Jade writhed underneath her, and Maddox pushed her back down on the bed to prevent her from chasing the motion as she kissed lower, over the softness of her stomach and her mound. Maddox moaned as her lips kissed closer to Jade’s wetness, and she positioned herself in between Jade’s legs. She spread her lips with her left hand as she looked up at Jade and made eye contact. She ran her right thumb over Jade’s slit, feeling her wetness, and dragged her thumb up and circled her clit. Slowly and softly at first, letting the pressure take its time to build. Maddox kept her eyes trained on Jade’s and felt a wave ofsatisfaction when Jade rolled her eyes and bucked her hips in rhythm. Maddox applied more pressure, then lowered her head between Jade’s legs. She licked her from bottom to top, then inserted two fingers and curled them upward as her tongue drew tight circles on her clit.
“Oh my god,” Jade moaned and lifted her hips higher. “Right there.”
Maddox kept the pace as she ran her tongue over Jade’s swollen clit, drawing it into her mouth and sucking on it as she pumped her fingers deeper into Jade, finding the soft spot to make her see stars. Maddox reached around the small of Jade’s back and pulled her closer, burying her face deeper into Jade’s pussy. She felt Jade reach down and run her fingers through her short hair, pulling on it, drawing her even closer.
She pulled out her fingers and licked them before inserting them again and swirling her tongue over Jade’s clit, ravenous for her. Jade’s scent spurred her on, and she flattened her tongue and ran it over Jade’s slit then back up to her clit, feeling Jade’s body twitch stronger.
“Mmmm, you like that?” Maddox asked in between licks.
“Oh my god, yes,” Jade barely managed to say. “I’m so close.”
Maddox kept the rhythm steady, her fingers plunging deep and her tongue working fast over her clit. She slurped Jade’s juices that were streaming down her face and continued to slide her tongue over her clit with pressure.
She could feel Jade’s body coil tight with pressure before Jade’s thighs trembled and she threw her head back, arching her back, and let out a deep moan.
Maddox didn’t let up until Jade’s body slackened, then she slipped her fingers out and licked them before rubbing them on her leg. Jade reached and pulled her up near her, and Maddox let her, laying her head down on the pillow next to Jade. For amoment, she just stared at the beautiful woman on the bed next to her, still tasting her orgasm on her lips.
Maddox repositioned and lay with Jade’s head on her shoulder, her heart still racing. The room was quiet except for their breathing.
“You okay?” Jade asked quietly, minutes later.
Maddox had to think about it. She was more exposed than she’d been in years, maybe ever. “Yeah,” she said, and meant it. “I’m terrified, but yeah.”
Jade lifted her head to look at her. “For what it’s worth, I don’t regret this.”
“You might,” Maddox said, old instincts surfacing. “When you think about the complications.”
“Maybe.” Jade’s fingers traced patterns on Maddox’s skin. “But I’d rather deal with complications than keep pretending I don’t want you.”
The words filled spaces that had been empty for too long. Maddox tightened her arm around Jade.
“I should probably go,” she said, though she didn’t move. “Zeus has been alone all day.”
“You could stay.” Jade’s voice was careful. “Just for a while.”
Maddox thought about getting up and driving home to Zeus and the familiar solitude. But she also thought about the therapy session this afternoon, about not drowning when speaking Titan’s name, about letting someone in after years of keeping everyone out.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “For a while.”
They lay there in silence, and Maddox felt the exhaustion from the sleepless night and emotional weight of the day finally catching up. Her eyelids grew heavy.
She should’ve been panicking and cataloging all the ways this could go wrong. Instead, she just felt tired and held and, possibly, safe.
Somewhere between one breath and the next, her eyes drifted closed. The last thing she registered was Jade’s warmth beside her and the thought that maybe needing someone didn’t have to end in loss.
